Merv Griffin dead at 82. I grew up with you, sir. Rest well. Link:

[Subdivisions]

http://cbs13.com/topstories/topstories_story_223163105.html

[babylonsister]

1. Damn! I always liked Merv. RIP, Mr. Griffin. nt

[Bluebear]

2. Created the most successful game shows ever.

Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune

[terrya]

4. I was just going to post this.

And I remember his talk show.

Sad news.

RIP, Merv.

[malaise]

6. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune

have been part of my life. RIP Merv Griffin.

[Kadie]

3. Oh no!

:cry:

[BlooInBloo]

5. RIP.

[rurallib]

7. The latest celebrity to die

Who is Merv Griffin?
(small nod to jeopardy)

[Obamarama]

8. Closeted gay man who contributed heavily to the Republican party...

I thought he was already dead actually. Now that he is, it really isn't earth-shattering news.

I'm not dancing on his grave, but I'm also not going to hypocritically feign sadness and say "oh no." He may have been a megastar in his day, and a powerful one at that, but when all is said and done it's one less wealthy Republican supporting his party's pathetic pablum.

[Bluebear]

9. Edited as the question posed was edited out

[Babsbrain]

23. I hope he has no trouble finding a Church to funeralize him

Sorry he was a Repub and gay, but those two somehow go together.

(Not that there is anything wrong with being gay).

[Sapphocrat]

30. "those two somehow go together"

Excuse me?

[Hidden Stillness]

10. Merv Griffin had one of the Best Talk Shows Ever

Merv Griffin had one of the best talk shows ever, real "variety shows," and interviewed everyone from Robert Kennedy to Martin Luther King, Rose Kennedy, and a very young Richard Pryor during the '60s, when I was still too young to stay up that late, to these great "theme shows" during the 1970s, that I remember very well. There were truly great discussions on Old Hollywood/the Golden Age, with people like David Niven, who was one of the great storytellers amd even wrote best-selliong books about this time, to great journalists suach as Adela Rogers St. Johns--they were really informative and a lot of fun to listen to. Many of the great game shows were created by Griffin, of course, (with Alex Trebek, one of the best game show hosts ever), but I always remember the great "theme shows" on the Merv Griffin Show during the 1970s--it made me want to write movies for Hollywood, but of course it was already dead by then. Griffin was a rich Republican, but mercifully, generally hid that bias.

[vireo]

14. Yes, many great moments

Sadly, few of which appear on the DVD compilation: http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?EAN=89218010599&z=y

Memorable omissions include Abbie Hoffman, George Harrison, Judy Garland.

It also is surprising that Rodney Dangerfield, who had many early appearances, is not included.

Merv also had a great band, anchored by Jack Sheldon, Ray Brown and other jazz greats.

[AwakeAtLast]

11. RIP, Merv.

5th K & R for a very talented person!

:kick:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

12. RIP Merv and thank you.

:cry:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. I grew up with him too, and...

...my single all-time favorite episode of Seinfeld came from the final season, the one in which Kramer finds "the old Merv Griffin set" in a dumpster and proceeds to set up a Merv-style talk show in his own apartment.

I also fondly remember the "Merv Griffith" riffs from SCTV (The Andy Griffith Show, but with Merv in the Andy role...the main joke was that every time he was faced with a crisis he'd say "Ohhh....we'll be right back").

:-)

He was unique, he was surreal, he was Merv...and for a lot of Americans, he was in their living rooms five days a week.

Rest well, friend.

:toast:

[RufusTFirefly]

15. What was the duet that Merv and "Little Jack Sheldon" frequently sang?

They did it on the show a number of times as I recall.

Anyone?

[Wilber_Stool]

26. "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"

Down at an english fair one evening I was there
When I heard a showman shouting underneath the flair

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
There they are all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That’s what the showman said
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands my wife, the idol of me life
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball, roll a bowl a ball
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts (they’re lovely)
There they are all standing in a row (one, two, three, four)
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head (and bigger)
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That’s what the showman said
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands my wife, the idol of me life
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch (all together now)
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch (harmony)
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball, roll a bowl a ball
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch

#1 On the Hit Parade 1950 I think.

[RufusTFirefly]

27. Hmm. That's not the one I was thinking of

It might have been something like "You Made Me Love You." But I'm not sure that's it. Whatever it was allowed Sheldon to do some of his scat singing while Griffin crooned.

[blogslut]

16. He'd been failing for a few days

RIP, Merv. I dug your show.

[Crabby Appleton]

17. RIP Merv Griffin

[DesertRat]

18. I enjoyed his talk show. RIP Merv.

[Wilber_Stool]

19. Every time I eat a coconut I'll

think of you. RIP Mr. Griffin.

[FloridaJudy]

20. He was in "The Man with Two Brains"

He did a marvelous self-deprecating job of portraying himself. The plot turned on his "accidental" appearance. I always admired him for that.

RIP, Merv. And thank you for "Jeopardy".

[Kingshakabobo]

24. The Elevator Killer

[oldtime dfl_er]

21. RIP

to the man who might be responsible for my wasting more hours in front of the TV than anyone else, with the possible exception of Lucy.

www.scarebaby.com

[derby378]

22. One more time for the old guard at DU

Rest well, Merv. We're gonna miss you.

[TahitiNut]

25. He got rich for producing low-cost, high ratings TV.

Cheap 'talent' was from private citizens ... unpaid and entertaining. (On the same basis as 'reality TV' - people-watching.) The 'prizes' in the game show was advertsing from those companies providing the prizes ... again, at no production cost. The sets were cheap. The writing staff was virtually non-existent.

In effect, he looked at the typical TV show - like a stcom - and eliminated everything that cost money. Actors? None. Replaced by "regular" people. Scenery and sets? One static, cheap set. Writers? low/no talent ... just simple-minded questions.

The Master Of TV On The Cheap.

[vireo]

28. Merv's most memorable unpaid guest

Lillian "Miss" Miller. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Miller
:D

[Booster]

31. Brilliant, huh?

[Philosoraptor]

29. Aurthur Treacher, Monty Rock III, Brother Theodore, Tiny Tim, Prof. Erwin Corey