The Paar incident forced NBC executives to take notice of Griffin. First, Paar booked him as a guest on "The Tonight Show." Soon after, he was asked to fill in as host of the show during the transition between Paar and Johnny Carson, according to CBS News. The decision-makers at NBC saw what Griffin brought to the table and gave him his own daytime talk show, "The Merv Griffin Show" in 1962, but pulled the plug on it in 1963. Griffin thought he could do better and rebooted the show for syndication in 1965. Some stations ran it during the day, while others put it in primetime — and some aired it in competition with Johnny Carson's run of "The Tonight Show."
The show ran for 21 years, which was something of a surprise to Griffin. "I never anticipated ever being a talk show host in my life," he said (via PBS). "Every day of it, every day of my career, I've cherished. I love it." During his time on television, Griffin went on to found his own production company, which created some of the most beloved and enduring game shows, including "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune." Upon retiring from full-time television work in 1986, Griffin sold his production company to Columbia Pictures Television (then a part of the Coca-Cola Company) for $250 million, per The New York Times.
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