cd637299 said:
Griffin seemed to have this knack of sometimes picking people from other walks of life and saying to them, "wanna be a star?"....Mike Reilly (Monopoly) IIRC was a waiter, wasn't he? Rolf Benirschke (sp?), an NFL kicker....I think I read that even Art Fleming was doing something unrelated to TV. Merv definitely struck gold with the last one there....
BTW, the Hyatt book said re Memory Game: Merv G asked that his name be removed from the final product; his NYC roduction company created the series while he was in Hollywood. (I still kinda liked the show; but NBC losing Monty's "Let's Make a Deal" to ABC was a dagger in NBC's lineup. Of course, I was 12 at the time.....)
cd
When Monty moved "LMAD" to ABC as part of a block with "Newlywed Game," "Dating Game," "General Hospital," "One Life To Live," and "Dark Shadows" (and, later, "Password," "Split Second," and "All My Children") ABC's ratings jumped to number two, while NBC's dropped to third. Between the loss of "Deal" in 1968 and the expansion of "Days Of Our Lives" to an hour in 1975,
NBC was able to come up with exactly one show which filled the 1:30/12:30 slot for more than a few months; Bill Cullen's
"Three On A Match" lasted from 1971 to 1974.
Jefferson Graham's book on game shows says that Art Fleming was anchoring the 11 PM news on Channel 4 in New York when Merv saw him; Fleming had done some acting in the '50s, namely on the Western "The Californians." Pat Sajak was a weathercaster on Channel 4 in Los Angeles; Chuck Woolery had been a guest on Merv's show when he was trying to establish himself as a country singer (he proved to be a better talker than singer). Mike Reilly had been a contestant on "Jeopardy!" and had impressed Merv with his outgoing personality. Bill Mazer ("Reach For The Stars") was a sportscaster; Danny O'Neill ("One In A Million") was a singer. Only a few had prior hosting experience: Trebek, of course, but also Don Morrow ("Let's Play Post Office," and "Camouflage" for another producer before that) and Bob Goen (the '80s version of "Perfect Match" before he became the last host of the network version of "Wheel").
Still, you can't blame Merv for reaching beyond the Cullens, Barkers, Rayburns, and Luddens; Sajak, Trebek and Woolery owe their success in large part to him, and in Woolery's case, had it not been for Merv he might have ended up scrounging on the fringes of show business.
Slightly off-topic, I can think of two other producers who were willing to go beyond the obvious hosts: Chuck Barris hired Jim Lange after Tennessee Ernie Ford's daytime show ended, and Bob Eubanks when he was best known for promoting the Beatles' first West Coast concert (Barris also hired himself to host "The Gong Show"). Merrill Heatter had the good sense to pick Peter Marshall over the more dramatic Bert Parks to host "Hollywood Squares"; he gave Trebek his first big break with "High Rollers" (Trebek had done the unsuccessful "Wizard Of Odds" for Alan Thicke) and Wink Martindale his with "Gambit" (he'd hosted several short-lived games before that one clicked in '72). Heatter also hired Monty Hall to replace Jack Narz on "Video Village" when Hall's U.S. exposure had been limited mainly to hosting old Westerns on "Cowboy Theater" and subbing for Jack Barry on "Twenty-One."
