In his passing, Ober broke a great internet boundary, turning the traditional internet paradigm on its head and becoming the first subject of a false death rumor, wherein the rumor of its falsehood was what turned out to be fake, and the death itself was sadly real. While the false death rumor is a venerable online genre, having prematurely claimed the passings of Jeff Goldblum and Patrick Swayze among others, the false rumor of a false death rumor has been until today, an unexplored frontier of the internet.

Ober was best known for his work hosting MTV's trivia show from 1987 - 1990. He went on to host several other game shows including Make Me Laugh and Smush before fading from the airwaves. Recently he worked off-camera as a writer/producer on shows such as The New Adventures of Old Christine and Mind of Mencia.

Enjoy the clip below for a taste of the wry, mop-topped, sardonic host in his prime.

After appearing in commercials and as a guest star on various television shows, Farrah rose to fame after posing in a red bathing suit for a poster that went on to sell millions of copies. Later, as a star of the popular Charlie's Angels, she became a bona fide American star. Fawcett went on to star in many theatrical productions and TV movies, most notably playing a battered wife in The Burning Bed, a role which earned her the first of three Emmy nominations she received. In 1995, at the age of 50, Fawcett made headlines when she posed nude for a pictorial in Playboy magazine.

Fawcett was married to actor Lee Majors from 1973-1982. Since 1982, she's been in a relationship with actor Ryan O'Neal. Together they had a son, Redmond. Fawcett and O'Neal were set to marry, though we've no word on whether they were able to go through with the ceremony before she passed.

In 1997 Fawcett made a bizarre appearance on David Letterman's show to promote another Playboy spread that she'd done, an appearance she later claimed was an act intended to engage the audience. Act or not, it will likely remain one of the most memorable moments of her time in the public eye.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Vid via YouTube

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Charlie's Angels opening credits

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Fawcett in one of her more dramatic roles, the unfortunate Extremities

While most famous for being Johnny Carson's go-to man (an able backboard for jokes, an incredulous-yet-always-rolling-with-it co-witness to bizarre moments and personalities), McMahon also acquitted himself nicely on the long-running Star Search. While recognizing the show's inherent cheesiness with a wry twinkle in his bespectacled eye, McMahon was never condescending or dismissive of the dreamers who danced and sang and acted and told jokes so earnestly on center stage. Maybe that was just the style of the time, but when compared to the detached smugness of a Ryan Seacrest or the acrid British lady on So You Think You Can Dance, McMahon carried himself with an air of, well, genuine class. We know "class" is word that's become something of a joke, but McMahon knew that the word was sincere and important. Ed wanted you to enjoy what you were watching, and for the people performing to enjoy what they were doing. He made everyone comfortable and kept things moving. A lot easier said than done. He was even good at giving people enormous checks!

While McMahon ran into some slighty embarrassing financial problems late in his life, he briefly reentered the public eye in a great way with a hilarious, gently self-mocking bit in a Cash-4-Gold commercial that ran during the Super Bowl. Amid all the glitzy expensive beer ads, his was the funniest and, yes in a strange way classiest, of the evening.

Some highlights:

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.
Johnny poking fun at Ed

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.
Singing on a telethon with Jerry Lewis

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.
Playing MC on Star Search

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.
The Cash-4-Gold ad

A friend told the Post: "Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him this morning."

The actor started the left-leaning Creative Coalition in 1989 but switched to the GOP following the Sept. 11 attacks, speaking at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

His West Wing character Bruno Gianelli underwent a similar conversion on that TV show. Silver also took on movie roles, including 1990's Reversal of Fortune, in which he played constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz.

Silver's cancer had not been previously publicized, judging from a quick Nexis search.

Silver had a son and a daughter, according to TV.com.

His publisher, Knopf, sent out the following memo today:

It is with great sadness that I report that John Updike died this morning at the age of 76, after a battle with lung cancer.

John was one of our greatest writers. He was a part of the Knopf family for over fifty years. We will all miss him terribly.

Updike traded chiefly in a kind of suburban rumble—much of his work dealt (quite frankly at times) with sexuality and, frequently, the spiderwebbing effects of adultery. Best known for his Rabbit series (from Rabbit, Run to Rabbit Remembered), Updike was also the author of the Bech series, The Witches of Eastwick (he just recently published a sequel, The Widows of Eastwick), many other novels including In the Beauty of the Lillies, and several works of poetry and non-fiction.

One of my favorite stories of his is the quiet, moment-in-a-life "A & P", about an adolescent boy and the woman who briefly fascinates him. Updike was one of the masters of modern American yearning, the predecessor (and, because of his prolificacy, the contemporary) of the likes of Tom Perrotta and other explorers of our darker, leafier corners.

He also had a hilarious cameo on The Simpsons once, as the ghost writer of Krusty the Klown's autobiography. So, basically, a hero.

He leaves behind four children and his second wife, Martha.

Winston was particularly adept at practical effects, earning his first Academy Award nomination in 1981 for the otherwise unwatchable Andy Kaufman robot comedy Heartbeeps before joining James Cameron in 1984 for their first groundbreaking collaboration on The Terminator. More pioneering work followed with Aliens and Predator, with a few forgotten directorial efforts (Pumpkinhead, A Gnome Named Gnorm) added in as well; he later directed Michael Jackson in Ghosts, a long-form 1997 music video attempting (and not quite managing) to reclaim the luster of the star's Thriller period.

Returning to special effects that same year, Winston nabbed the 13th of his 14 career Oscar nods for The Lost World; his earned his last in 2001 for AI. He was one of the best — another good guy taken away in a cruel month for class acts — and he'll be missed.

• Stan Winston, dead at 62 [LAT]

· Jack Valenti, Champion Of The Ratings System

· Jack Valenti Shares His Thoughts On Politics, Elves

· MPAA Chief Jack Valenti: Really, We Love This Inter-Thing

· Nerd Stumps Jack Valenti

· Jack Valenti: Cigarettes Are Stealing Our Movies!

· Jack Valenti Won't Go Quietly

[Photo: Getty Images]

• Jack Valenti, 85; former Hollywood lobbyist pioneered film ratings system [LAT]