Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin just died. He started as a singer and rose to fame as a talk show host. (If you have any SCTV DVDs, see if you can't find one of my favorite impressions--Rick Moranis as Merv.) However, he's probably best known as the creator of the two most popular game shows of our time, Jeopardy! and Wheel Of Fortune.

The legend of how he invented Jeopardy! is a classic. Not long before, there'd been the quiz shows scandals which led to congressional hearings. Some shows were fixed, with the contestants given answers. So Merv came up with the simple idea of avoiding this problem by giving everyone the answers, and having the players come up with the questions.

(The whole answer-question thing doesn't really make any sense, but has become so ingrained in the public consciousness that when people try out for other game show, they often start their answer with "what is..." I know, I've done it.)

I met Merv a couple times. I was on the list of people he'd call in to help test new game show formats. He wasn't the kind of producer who sat in his office letting underlings do the work--he was a hands-on sort of guy, closely involved in the development process. He was also a gracious man, very friendly and open.

One time I was asked a question and gave a humorous answer. Merv stopped the runthrough (it was very casual--just people in a room, no cameras or anything) and asked me if I actually knew the answer or was just trying to be funny. I told him if I knew the answer, I would have said it. On the other hand, if we were really playing for money, I might have tried to figure out the answer a little harder.