"When you saw Rodney on 'The Tonight Show' sitting on the couch with Johnny Carson, you didn't want it to go to commercial," comic Bernie Mac said in a statement.

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON — Pictured: (l-t) Comedian Rodney Dangerfield during an interview with host Johnny Carson on July 14, 1977 — (Photo by: Tom Ron/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via ...

LOS ANGELES -- Rodney Dangerfield, the bug-eyed comic whose self-deprecating one-liners brought him stardom in clubs, television and movies and made his lament ''I don't get no respect" a catchphrase, ...