ED McMAHON, whose foreclosure woes recently became public knowledge, spoke with ET outside "LARRY KING Live"'s studio on Thursday night.

Ed told ET, "We're very optimistic that we're going to work this thing out." He also noted that he hoped his story would help others: "There's a lot of people [who] have problems and I'm hoping that this will help them help themselves. That's what my plan is."

Earlier that evening, Ed, with wife PAMELA by his side, made an upbeat appearance on "Larry King Live," candidly discussing his financial state of affairs with Larry.

"It's like a perfect storm. The economy problems ... selling the house right now is a tremendous operation," Ed said, admitting also: "If you spend more money that you make, this can happen."

"I think that because you're a celebrity, people think you have a lot more than you have," Pamela added, attributing their troubles to "a combination of Ed working so hard and [our] not looking at proper management."

On the bright side, JOHNNY CARSON's longtime announcer told King that his recent publicity has actually inspired renewed buyer-interest in his $5.75 million home, located in the same neighborhood as BRITNEY SPEARS'.

"Now there's all kinds of interest. I'm optimistic," Ed said, adding that his experiences landing fighter jets on battleships during WWII have given him a practical life-outlook: "Once you've done that a couple times, this is easy."