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American television, premieres on NBC on January 6, 1975. Created by television legend Merv Griffin and hosted since the early 1980s by Pat Sajak and Vanna White, Wheel is one of the most popular television shows in the world. Griffin, who had already created another iconic game show, Jeopardy!, conceived of Wheel as a combination between Hangman and roulette. Contestants guess letters as they attempt to solve a Hangman-like puzzle, spinning the wheel to determine how much money they will earn for a correct guess, with the ultimate goal being to solve the puzzle and accumulate as much money as...

Word came Sunday that entertainment industry titan Merv Griffin passed away at age 82. Back in October of 2003, when CBS planned to air a derogatory mini-series about Ronald and Nancy Reagan, The Reagans, Griffin went onto MSNBC to denounce CBS as “cowardly” for belittling Ronald Reagan and distorting his record when the former President (who would die eight months later) was on his deathbed. Thanks to controversy over the movie, fueled in part by a letter from the MRC to all advertisers urging them to review the movie before placing ads and to consider what their customers would think...

"Hiya, Pat...it’s Merv Griffin.” “G’bye, Pat...give my love to Lesly and the kids.” Those were the first and last words uttered to me by Merv Griffin, and there were 26 years of joy in between. Our first conversation occurred on the phone from my office at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles in November, 1981. It was, indeed, one of my early heroes, Merv Griffin, calling, and he wanted to know whether I was interested in taking over the hosting duties on a daytime game show he was producing for NBC called Wheel of Fortune. The final words came in a quiet...

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan issued the following statement Sunday on the death of Merv Griffin: "This is heartbreaking, not just for those of us who loved Merv personally, but for everyone around the world who has known Merv through his music, his television shows and his business. "Ronnie and I knew Merv for more years than I can even remember -- more than fifty, I'm sure. He was a dear, dear friend and we became even closer in the last fifteen years. He was there for me on some of the hardest days when Ronnie was fighting Alzheimer's and...

LOS ANGELES - Merv Griffin, the entertainer turned impresario who parlayed his "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" game shows into a multimillion-dollar empire, has died. He was 82. Griffin died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his the family that was released by Marcia Newberger, spokeswoman for The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment. Griffin, who began his career as a $100-a-week radio singer in San Francisco, created the "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" game shows, soon moved on to become the featured vocalist in Freddy Martin's band. That led to a brief film career, in which he appeared opposite...

Just reported on FOX News TV

Merv Griffin, the entertainment mogul, singer, talk-show host and horseman who has called La Quinta home for 20 years, is in grave condition with cancer. “Entertainment Tonight” has reported that sources tell the Hollywood show that Griffin’s prognosis is not good. Griffin’s representatives have not returned calls to The Desert Sun to confirm or deny. Griffin, 82, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in mid-July after a recurrence of the prostate cancer he battled in 1996 was found during a routine examination. The creator of “Jeopardy!” “Wheel of Fortune” and the host of the iconic “Merv Griffin...

Just seen on AOL...... Merv Griffin to sell Beverly Hilton...! He must of been so disgusted over the HATE BUSH RALLY that took place there the other night!

Entertainment mogul Merv Griffin said Thursday he has signed a binding agreement to sell the Beverly Hilton Hotel, home to Hollywood award shows and charity benefits. Griffin entered into the agreement with Oasis West, LLC, a company owned by computer industry entrepreneur Beny Alagem. Terms of the deal, which was expected to close by the end of the year, were not disclosed. "After 17 years, I am pleased to turn over the reigns to Beny and Oasis West, who I am confident will continue the proud traditions of this extraordinary property," Griffin said in a statement. Griffin had been in...

CBS's The Reagans, Item Two of Three. Amazingly, in a full hour with CBS Chairman Les Moonves on Friday night, PBS's Charlie Rose failed to raise with him The Reagans mini-series, only the biggest controversy now facing that network as its scheduled November 16 air date rapidly approaches. But segments Friday night on FNC's O'Reilly Factor and MSNBC Scarborough Country yielded interesting new information and perspectives from Reagan friends. Former Reagan economic adviser Martin Anderson informed John Kasich, filling in for Bill O'Reilly, that contrary to the claims of the producers of the CBS movie, he cannot find any Reagan...

Nancy Reagan is in anguish over CBS's miniseries "The Reagans," says close friend Merv Griffin. "I talk to her quite often," Griffin said Tuesday on MSNBC, the New York Post reported today. "She's hurt. "Here is a man who is on his deathbed. He's in the last stages of Alzheimer's, and a woman who has been sitting by the bedside there holding his hand for nine years," said the TV big. "They can't fight back."

Veteran television host and producer Merv Griffin, a long-time friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, appeared Tuesday night on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann and used the opportunity to blast CBS for "the most cowardly thing I've ever heard" over the reported tone and content of CBS's upcoming mini- series, The Reagans. "It's a cowardly act," he charged, asking: "Is that what the 'C' stands for in CBS?" Griffin, the owner of the Beverly Hilton who created the Wheel of Fortune game show after many years as host of his own daytime Merv Griffin Show, relayed how Nancy Reagan feels...