DLEGs, tell us about The Merv Griffin Show

Carson's show was too loud and busy, a foreshadowing of the late-night cacophony to come. Merv could sit and chat with a guest or guests, and the audience was totally rapt.

Merv seemed genuinely interested in his guests (like Cavett) while Johnny did the whole show to Fred de Cordova sitting just offstage.

He was the best ever.

He kissed the asses of all his guests. There eere no hard hitting interviews. But he had a long performing career behind him and he knew everybody in show biz. He also became filthy rich in television. He had no trouble getting guests.

Everyone in show biz will suck up to money, so Griffin was always in charge. He teased good stories from his guests and since he had a sick amount of money and he was a producer, they did not refuse. They gave up the stories.

Op given the time period I wonder if he gave that black actress the same compliments before she came out. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if you are on a stage then the host says that the next guest is simply a knock out and tells her how great he looks? It just seemed like an odd thing to do with other guests already seated.

Merv Griffin was a singer, not a comedian, so there was little to no sarcasm, at least not from him. Talk shows booked people who could actually talk, not just people with projects to promote. The atmosphere was less rushed. A raconteur could tell a funny story. I watched him and Mike Douglas in the afternoons after school.

Merv's shows often had themes and he liked those young, handsome males. He did total fag hag shows like Broadway Divas. One had Merman, Barbara Cook, Bernadette Peters and Kaye Ballard. Ballard was such a cunt that Merman told her to shut up. Another had Merman on with Ann Miller who was equally obnoxious.

Total fag hag shows? You mean like the one organized around star ladies featured in Blackglama ads?

He was a Golden Girls fan:

R3 Damn right I did.

Cocksukers of a feather.

I war Blackglama because it had GLAMMA in the name!

Merv had his greatest success in the 1960s, with an afternoon talk show out of New York. He had on Broadway legends, giving Middle America a chance to see Merman, Martin, Channing, Bankhead and the like. He also had on the old-style Borscht Belt comics like Jack E. Leonard, Jackie Vernon and Jackie Mason (they all weren't named Jackie). And he introduced talented newcomers like Bernadette Peters, Madeline Kahn and Diane Keaton, who would just sit on the couch and just giggle and not say a word. He loved funny ladies. I remember seeing Jo Anne Worley, Marcia Wallace, Renee Taylor and many other New York-based performers before they became famous. (Lily Tomlin and Joan Rivers also probably appeared, but I don't remember them).

Merv was tres gay, but most Americans were still too naive to catch on. He was friendlier and kinder to his guests than Carson, but sometimes he went too far with the schmoozing.

Then CBS moved him to nights to compete against Carson, where he was unable to repeat his success. However, he did manage to last longer than other Carson competitors like Dick Cavett and Joey Bishop.

He never sucked my dick.

And not from want of trying I tell you.

Where else could you see people like Rula Lenska, Aliza Kashi, Moms Mabley and Hermione Baddeley being interviewed along like people like Orson Welles, Rosa Parks & Dr. Jonas Salk?

I bought a DVD set of some of his 70s shows. They're so much fun to watch because he acted interested and enthusiastic about his guests, and gave them time to talk.

One of his more bizarre shows from the 60s, which is, I believe, available to watch on Amazon Prime, is an appearance by Jayne Mansfield and her children, in which a three-year old Mariska can be seen conversing with Arthur Treacher.

'Then CBS moved him to nights to compete against Carson"

Not in my market. It was syndicated so we watched it every weekday at 4pm throughout the 1980s. We really enjoyed it.

Merv's show was a Flyover's glimpse into wealth and glamour- well before Robin Leach and "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous".

The closest we have to it now is James Corden, with his several guests on the couch. But it's not the same; he's too manic and the guests always look uncomfortable.

One Rita Mae Brown was on, mentioned women's tennis and "all the dyke-o-drama" and Merv about shit,

Just like Ginger or Mary Anne, Bewitched or I Dream Of Jeannie, or Munsters vs. Addams Family, it was always Merv Griffin vs. Mike Douglas.

He would have funny collections of people, but he did tend to get into their laps. And he tended to have a lot of the same people and they weren't headliners or necessarily very interesting--Totie Fields, Anson "Potsie" Williams, Kaye ballard, London Lee. His show was a bit less fluffy and low rent than Mike Douglas (both were washed-up band singers), but he lacked Carson's polish and Carson's ability to make stars. Carson also was better at letting people be themselves without seeming needy, whereas merv indulged that sort of thing. Merv did theme shows that had pretensions of seriousness, but he was no Cavett and never really carried it off well. I think his syndicated show replaced one with Steve Allen that had that was syndicated by Westinghouse. Somebody else syndicated his post-CBS show.

He liked old timers--William Demerest of all people was a frequent guest on his later show. Fellow washed-up band singer was a frequent guest---she'd whine about "music these days" and then do some second string version of something recent. She obviously was no Rosemary Clooney or Ella Fitzgerald, but lived a long time hawking nostalgia crap to the greatest generation.

Merv also had oddities, like George Lindsay who really didn't have much to say.

The best thing you could say about Merv was that he was never nasty to guests as Letterman sometimes was, but the guests and conversation could make you groan.

Merv and Letterman seem to come from completely different eras but they did overlap in the early 80's

I remember it always being old-time stars. Like a walk down memory lane for eldergays - of the time. Now it’s only modern current stars on talk shows.

Was there dancing?

John Davidson tried to be the younger successor to Merv and Mike in the early 1980s only to find that the younger generation wanted someone quite a bit edgier. Hence the success of David Letterman, who failed in daytime but thrived in late night. Meanwhile, Davidson had more success taking over [italic]Hollywood Squares [/italic] from Peter Marshall. Some people can be wrong for one thing and right for another thing.

Helen O'Connell was the whiney washed-up band singer he licked to have.

Occasionally, there were dance acts--I think he had Hines, Hines, and Dad a few times.

Toni Tenille and Stephanie Mills also had talk shows in the early 80's.

I became obvious to me long ago that these talk shows where just about celebrities coming in to publicize their latest projects.

Some of the old timers were probably drumming up business. Debbie Reynolds and Florence henderson often were on Merv Griffin when they didn't have a lot going on. Carson specialized in breaking-in new comics.

When I was a little kid this was the TV lineup at my Grammy's house.

Young & The Restless

Days of our Lives

The Doctors

Another World

Somerset

Merv Griffin

Something came on between Another World and Somerset, but I can't remember. Maybe Guiding Light.

His testicles tasted like a lovely bunch of coconuts.

Jaysus. I'd forgotten he weighed about 500 lbs at the end...

My mom's favorite Merv guest was Miss Pamela Mason (shown here with Ms. Gloria Allred).

Love the interview segment at R8. That was also near the end of Merv's syndicated run, when he swtiched up his format to a studio-talk-show format to keep up with Phil, Oprah et al., who were taking over the afternoon syndicated airwaves and reshaping TV programming in the middle '80s. His show was always so much fun before then, bringing a little bit of Las Vegas/Hollywood pizzazz from Caesar's Palace to our home on the small screen on weekday afternoons. I love how he showcased the old Hollywood guard on his show especially in the 1970s and '80s when he'd gone syndicated. In his shortlived late-night network run opposite Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," in 1970 he gave Diana Ross her first TV solo appearance, as well as in syndication later also showcased appearances by The Supremes. In comparison, although featuring equally talented guests and a wonderful host demeanor, oftentimes-counterprogrammed Mike Douglas's show on one of the other network channels always sounded and seemed so smaller-budgeted.

Merv and Mike Douglas owned the daytime/syndicated talk shows and ran almost the same run (mid 60s to early 80s).

Both were pleasant enough and hosted at a time where the host was more of a party host. But both shows were relatively uneventful in terms of guests and topics. R12 and R19 did a good job covering the types of guests.

Griffin's ultimate wisdom was investing in game show production, since he made pisspots of money from that and real estate. But as talk shows, they were as innocuous then as Ellen (mostly) is today.

Mike Douglas always had a weekly co-host. For someone so conventional, his cohosts were not. One week it was John Lennon, one week it was Sly Stone. Very bizarre.

"You don't get on Merv Griffin unless you get on Merv Griffin."

Mike also had Mason Reese (of Underwood Deviled Ham fame) as his co-host one week!

Mike called him his "little buddy"!

The Anti-Trump!

r28, Mel Brooks was a fill-in guest for Johnny Carson when someone canceled at the last minute. He's admitted to some lean times when he needed the checks for those appearances.

One week Mike Douglas' cohosts were the fabulous Kate Jackson and her grifter hubby, Andrew Stevens, the next week would be Kristy and Jimmy McNichol. What a time to be alive!

^Here's Cher (with a great haircut) showing up on Mike Douglas as a surprise guest during Kate Jackson's cohosting week.

A friend lived in LA then and got invited to one of Merv's parties. He said the house and grounds were pretty cool but there was this gross stupid twink vibe about the place. Every one of the other guests were these nasty skinny methy flit boys that Merv couldn't keep his hands off. My friend got skeeved out and left, and had to walk about six miles to his apartment.

Rick Moranis as Merv Griffin.

I'm quite fond of Helen O'Connell, r25.

Joan

His afternoon show from NYC in the 1960s was the best talk show ever.

He had a lot of young people just starting out, completely unknown to the general public at the time. As a kid I remember Lilly Tomlin, Richard Pryor, Bernadette Petters. Renee Taylor was on often and was hilarious. He was the first to give Moms Mabley mainstream exposure.

He had a lot of the Warhol people. Ultra Violet, Edie Sedgwick and lots of weird acts like Monty Rock and Brother Theodore.

Once he even had Judy Garland host the show in his absence.

The show was a blast and as far as I'm concerned nothing since has surpassed it.

The thing that stands out about Merv's show to me now is that it was the adult version of Mr. Rogers: Nice. Happy. Safe.

Merv's show was on in the 80s when I got home from school in the afternoons and I'd watch it with my mom. I had no idea who many of the guests were, but for those I didn't' know my mom was there to explain why they were famous enough to be on his show. It was great TV for a grade school aged kid to watch with his mom. Happy times.

R42 When I was in college, my "pawnbroker-to-the-stars" boyfriend had some business to conduct with Merv, so before going on our date that evening, we had to stop by Merv's house in Trousdale Estates. When we walked in, my boyfriend was actually wearing a handcuff-briefcase full of cash like you see in the movies .. lol! .. Anyway, there Merv was -- "holding court" at a large dining room table with four twinks who looked much like your own friend described. There was at least one other that I could see milling about in another room and an older guy, more of a jock type, out in the kitchen cooking or something. Merv himself wasn't as bloated as he eventually got, but yes. he was wearing a caftan. My boyfriend and Merv went off to another room to make their exchange, and I had to sit there and try to make polite conversation. Awkward.

My compamy had our Christmas party at Merv's Beverly Hilton. Every year Merv would do a walkabout in a green or red blazer. He would stop and chat with us all. He was always accompanied by a handsome blonde guy holding a bag passing out Beverly Hilton candy canes.

Well I stuffed Santa's stocking many a Christmas.