Hollywood Deep

Longtime TV host and game-show producer Merv Griffin passed away yesterday at the age of 82. He had been battling prostate cancer since 1996.
I must be getting old, the talk show hosts of my youth keep dying off. I spent many an afternoon watching the “Merv Griffin Show”, after school with nothing to do. When you talk about daytime talk shows, it all starts with Merv Griffin, not Oprah, not Ellen, not Rosie, or any of the other daytime talk superstars of present. Merv and his buddy Mike Douglas invented it, and made it what it is today. I, personally, was more of a Mike Douglas guy to be honest, they both were a bit corny, but had top guests, and entertained me as a youth. Merv always had a kind of weird quality that creeped me out a bit, but through longevity, he became part of our daytime household. If Oprah is a daytime TV icon, then Merv is a daytime TV god. Like comparing Tom Snyder to Larry King, there is no comparison when discussing daytime talk host of today with Merv.
Merv the business man is a different story. This guy was a showbiz visionary, seeing what was popular on TV, and producing it. Talk Shows and Game Shows in some form or another will always be a hit, and Griffin recognized this long ago. He started to produce and create a variety of game shows from the 70’s through present. The wildly popular shows, “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune”, were both his creation, and will live on as part of his legacy for a long time. He also was a forerunner to all the dance shows that are popular today, coming up with “Dance Fever”, capitalizing on the disco craze of the late 70’s. The rumors about the shows host Deney Terrio and Merv being gay lovers, turned people off a bit back then. Terrio ultimately sued Merv for sexual harassment. Like I said, Merv was always a little weird, but a TV icon none the less.
He also was super successful in real estate, opening Resorts Int. casinos in Atlantic City before anyone ever even heard of Donald Trump. In L.A., buying the famed Beverly Hilton Hotel, home of the Golden Globe Awards, and running it with class for years. He made a fortune from both of those ventures. Merv built a billion-dollar empire, over the years. He certainly understood the business of show business.
…RIP MERV

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