Merv Griffin

[racersforcoffee]

....Hollywood's erudite daytime answer to Johnny Carson. With stereotypical Brit sidekick and Fish and Chipsmonger, Arthur Treacher, Merv played to Mom's needing a 4 o'clock tea time break. Never dumbing down, he repeatedly challenged celebs with real questions about their real feelings and opinions. Famous for having Clive Davis as a semi-permenant fixture, he opened up said 'Moms' to cutting edge Arista artists who profited by needful exposure as average American creative types.

Nostalgia racers and fans owe Merv big; he hired a former punk rocker named Cole Coonce to do sound for 'Wheel' and Jeopardy. Freed up from financial stress, Cole was now able to expose the nascent '90's Calif. front engine TF scene with collectible contributions to Super Stock and Drag Illustrated and Full Throttle News. Retired (for now...) from motorsports journalistics, Coonce still mans the soundboard for Alex Trabek----part of a crew still refusing to dumb-down.....

[draglist]

Terrific memorial. Thanks, Coffee... and thanks to Merv, who had a huge impact on popular culture in the late 20th century. bp

[jim sanders]

allways enjoyed him....

[Gator]

R.I.P. Merv

[WildcatOne]

He's a guy that I missed; I knew who he was but I didn't keep up with his show or his life. I didn't know hardly anything about him. Thanks, Coffee, for the great information on Merv. RIP and thanks for among many things, Cole Coonce, to Merv Griffin! WC1

[Danny White]

I loved how Rick Moranis used to do him on SCTV, but Merv was such a easy target! Brings back memories of the 3 channel days!