Merv Griffin Enterprises
 The company's logo from 1993–1994 | |
| Fate | Folded into Columbia TriStar Television |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1964 |
| Founder | Merv Griffin |
| Defunct | June 4, 1994 |
| Headquarters | USA |
| Products | Television Production |
| Owner | Sony |
| Parent |
Independent (1964–1986) The Coca-Cola Company (1986–1987) Columbia Pictures Entertainment (1987–1991) Sony Pictures Entertainment (1991–1994) |
| Subsidiaries |
Trans-American Video (1981–1986) Califon Productions Jeopardy Productions Anthony Productions |
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 Milbarn Productions in 1963 and later as Merv Griffin Productions in 1964. Griffin's first production under the Milbarn name was Word for Word and Jeopardy! as Griffin's first production under the MGP name. In 1965, his talk show The Merv Griffin Show returned to television. Griffin also created the game show 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. Merv Griffin Productions also owned the post-production studio Trans-American Video (TAV) that was founded on June 29, 1981.[1]
In 1982, 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. KW also distributed the first two pilots of Jeopardy in 1983 and January 9, 1984. In 1984, Griffin expanded his company as Merv Griffin Enterprises. That same year, Jeopardy! also returned to television on September 10. On May 5, 1986, Griffin sold the company to The Coca-Cola Company (then-owner of Columbia Pictures Industries) for $250 million during his semi-retirement.[2] TAV however, was not included in the deal. 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 November 8, 1989.
Merv Griffin Enterprises was folded into Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television) on June 4, 1994. Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune were taken over by CTT starting in September of that year, while Griffin remained executive producer for both game shows until 2000.[3][4] Griffin later founded Merv Griffin Entertainment on May 13, 1996.[5]
Television programs
- The Merv Griffin Show (1962–1963; 1965–1986)
- Word for Word (1963–1964)
- 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 in the US)
- 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)
- Winfall (1988; unsold pilot for CBS hosted by Clint Holmes)
- Monopoly (1990; co-produced by King World)
- Super Jeopardy! (1990; co-produced by King World)
- Ruckus (1991)
Trivia
On a Jeopardy! episode aired on December 23, 1993, the 1993 logo was seen on a "Video Daily Double" question along with the Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures logos. The 1993 logo appear to be close-up and there is no text below the griffin statue.
References
- ↑ Google Books – Lights, Camera, Computers! InfoWorld, June 20, 1983
- ↑ "Structuring and restructuring". Broadcasting: 66. 1986-05-12.
- ↑ "Los Angeles Times" Company Town Annex articles.latimes.com, Retrieved on July 1, 2013
- ↑ "New York Times" Sony-Griffin Deal nytimes.com, Retrieved on July 1, 2013
- ↑ "Business Profiles / New York" MERV GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. businessprofiles.com, Retrieved on February 10, 2013