Merv Griffin Enterprises

Merv Griffin Enterprises logo, used from 1984-1986 with bylines used from 1986-1993.

Merv Griffin Enterprises was a television production company founded by Merv Griffin, in business from 1964 to 1994.

History

The company was first established as Merv Griffin Productions in 1964 and Griffin's first production was Jeopardy! In 1965, his talk show The Merv Griffin Show returned to television. Also, he created the game show called Shopper's Bazaar, which was later changed to the famous name Wheel of Fortune in 1975 after Jeopardy! was cancelled. Griffin revived Jeopardy! as The All New Jeopardy! in 1978, though it was proven to be unsuccessful.

The 1980s and 1990s

In 1983, the company joined forces with King World (now CBS Television Distribution) to syndicate a nightly version of Wheel of Fortune. The company also had the rights to syndicate The Merv Griffin Show until 1986 when Columbia Pictures Television distributed the final episodes and the first two pilots of Jeopardy in 1983 and January 1, 1984. In 1984, Griffin expanded his company as Merv Griffin Enterprises. That same year, Jeopardy! also returned to television in 1983, but was syndicated nightly on September 10, 1984. On May 6, 1986, Griffin sold the company to The Coca-Cola Company (then-owner of Columbia Pictures Industries) for $250 million during his retirement and after finding out that the company had experienced financial difficulties. Griffin however, still held the copyrights of the game shows. The company later merged into Columbia Pictures on December 21, 1987, and was sold to Sony Corporation along with CPE's other companies on September 28, 1989.

Merv Griffin Enterprises ended in summer 1994, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune were taken over by Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television), while Griffin remained executive producer for both game shows until 2000. Griffin later founded Merv Griffin Entertainment in December 1995.

Television programs

• The Merv Griffin Show (1962-1963; 1965-1986)
• Jeopardy! (1964-1975, 1983 pilot, 1984 pilot, 1984-present; production responsibilities assumed in 1994 by Columbia TriStar Television and later Sony Pictures Television; distributed in syndication since September 10, 1984 by King World, now CBS Television Distribution)
• Let's Play Post Office (1965-1966)
• Reach for the Stars (1967)
• One in a Million (1967)
• Memory Game (1971)
• Wheel of Fortune (1975-1991 (Daytime version), 1983-present (Nighttime version); production responsibilities assumed in 1994 by Columbia TriStar Television and later Sony Pictures Television; nighttime version distributed since 1983 by King World, now CBS Television Distribution)
• The All New Jeopardy! (1978)
• Dance Fever (1979-1987; co-production and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television)
• Headline Chasers (1985; co-production with Wink Martindale Enterprises and Distributed by King World)
• Monopoly (1990; co-produced by King World)
• Super Jeopardy! (1990)
• Ruckus (1991)

External links

• Merv Griffin Enterprises at the Internet Movie Database