So now we know why Billy Mays was so hyped in his commercials -- he used cocaine. The autopsy results for the TV pitchman confirm that he died of heart disease, but there were also traces of cocaine in Billy Mays' system from a few days prior to his demise.

There was a family history of heart disease, and cocaine can elevate blood pressure and contribute to coronary blockages. The coroner, Dr. Chrostowski, reported that "cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of Mays' heart disease and thereby contributed to his death."

First off, everyone keeps using the word "infomercial" when describing the ads that Billy Mays did, including this piece at TampaBay.com. Actually, infomercials are longer form ads, usually 30 minutes. What Mays did were commercials (though yes, he did infomercials too). After a meeting between his widow, his son, friend Anthony Sullivan, and marketers, they have decided to resume running all of Mays' ads next week. I'm sure that's going to seem weird to some viewers.

I guess it's not completely odd, because we still watch a TV show that a celebrity has starred in after they die. But commercials are more recent, more "alive," more "of the moment" than some TV show that we all know is a repeat from one, ten, thirty years ago. And that's what's going to be odd about seeing these ads.

News of someone's death always implants a little sadness in my brain, whether its the passing of a major celebrity or some innocent bystander who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Part of it is completely selfish. Someone's passing always reminds me of the frailty of human life and lets me know I'm always one less beer away from reaching the end of my time.

The other part is the projection of my own pain. We've all lost someone close to us and know what that pain feels like when our brain is scrambling to catch up with the reality of that loss. There is someone out there who has to deal with that same pain, whether the person who died was worthy of Catholic sainthood or the Bastard of the Year Award.

Famous (and loud) TV pitchman Billy Mays was found dead in his Florida home today. He was 50.

There's no cause of death yet (an autopsy will be performed tomorrow), but Mays was one of the passengers on a US Airways flight that had a bumpy landing in Tampa, FL yesterday.

I think most people would agree that this been a remarkably strange week for celebrity deaths. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, then Michael Jackson. We thought those three celebs would be enough for one week (and celebrity deaths often come in threes, as the common wisdom goes). And now we have a guy who is still on our TVs all the time. It's not like he was old or he had retired or he wasn't doing much in public anymore. Commercials with May run all day long, every day. I saw several last night. He also has a weekly show with Anthony Sullivan on Discovery called Pitchmen. The pair were also on Conan's show last week. Video of that appearance is after the jump.

Isn't it funny how the best parts of Jay Leno's show are the parts that he has absolutely nothing to do with? Where the personalities of Letterman and Kimmel and O'Brien are all over their shows, shows that they make better by the stuff that they actually do and the way they react to things, the funny/great things on Leno's show are things like Headlines, stand-up comics, and the musical guests at the end of the show.

For example, the clip after the jump. It's a bit where Leno talks in his monologue about how President Obama is taking questions from just about anyone in his press conferences. This could be dangerous, though, because a very loud guy could suddenly jump up during the press conference and not only take over the whole event but also try to sell you various cleaning solutions, clothing repair kits, and portable grills.