Logos[]
1st logo: We see a griffin (with the head, wings, and forelegs of an eagle and the body, hindlegs, and tail of a lion) standing on his three legs holding out his left arm on the left side and on the right side says in Old English MT font "A Griffin production".
Variant[]
On the series finale of the Art Fleming version of Jeopardy!, there was a caption below the logo reading "This program was pre-recorded".
2nd logo: We now have an outlined detail of a griffin (having the head and wings of an eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion), sitting and holding up his left paw inside a rounded rectangle. There is also a line separating the griffin with the name "MERV GRIFFIN productions" underneath.
MERV GRIFFIN
productions
Variants[]
- Some mid-'70s episodes of The Merv Griffin Show would have the text "A GRIFFIN PRODUCTION" above the logo.
- The Merv Griffin Show and the 1983 Jeopardy! pilot: Above the logo would carry the text: "A MERV GRIFFIN PRODUCTION".
- Wheel of Fortune: The early years uses a copyright stamp year underneath. Starting in 1978, the words "WHEEL OF FORTUNE Is Produced by" were inserted above the logo along with a Califon copyright stamp below. Would appear in yellow in later 1983 episodes.
- On Dance Fever, the text would say "A MERV GRIFFIN PRODUCTION in association with TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION" with the in-credit MGP logo and the print 20th Century Fox logo next to each other below the text and underneath has the copyright stamp to Anthony Productions and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.
- Starting in 1979, the logo appears in shadow mode.
3rd logo: Against a black background, inside a box with a sky blue border, we see a very detailed drawing of a griffin (a Greek mythological creature with the wings and head of an eagle, and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion) based on the 1975 Merv Griffin Productions logo, in front of what looks like a chain-link fence. Below that, in a white italic font, we see the text "MERV GRIFFIN PRODUCTIONS". Inside the text, a light blue "chrome" color moves inside it. The griffin later blinks its eye.
Bylines[]
- Merv Griffin Enterprises would use one of the following bylines below:
- 1983-1986: (Standard logo with no byline)
- December 22, 1986-1987: Logo and name are smaller and are shifted up to make room for the byline "A UNIT OF THE Coca-Cola COMPANY" or "A unit of The Coca-Cola Company" (in red, with "Coca-Cola" in its signature font; "The" and "Company" in Loki Cola font) underneath the name.
- June 1987-February 5, 1988: "A unit of Coca-Cola TELEVISION" (in red, with "Coca-Cola" in its signature font).
- February 8, 1988-1992: "A Unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." (in the Souvenir font (used for Columbia Pictures from 1975-1993) in yellow or orange).
- September 2, 1991-Summer 1992: (Bylineless again, because the CPE byline was removed. Logo remains shifted up. Not to be confused with the original 1984 version. This was used during the early years under Sony Pictures Entertainment.)
- September 7, 1992-March 31, 1993: "a Sony Pictures Entertainment company".
Variants[]
- On September 10, 1984, the name was changed to "MERV GRIFFIN ENTERPRISES" after Griffin expanded his company.
- Some 1984 episodes of Jeopardy! and the 2nd episode of Headline Chasers, the griffin doesn't blink his eye.
- Mostly, the logo is animated with the griffin blinking its eye. For Wheel of Fortune episodes from February 1984-September 1991, it's just a still picture.
- On the November 12, 1986 episode of Jeopardy! during the 1986 Tournament of Champions, the company name is missing, and the byline "A unit of The Coca-Cola Company" is shifted further up. Plus, the byline is a bit smaller.
- On Ruckus, the logo is completely centered.
- Strange Long Version Variant: On post-October 1992 rerun episodes of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune on GSN, the standard 1992 MGE logo with the SPE byline had been extended due to Johnny and Charlie's closing voice-overs. This would plaster over both the J! and WOF copyright cards and part of the 1990 King World logo when they both say "Distributed by" and then bring forth the 1996 CTT logo with Charlie O'Donnell announcing "Columbia TriStar Television" over the logo.
Wheel of Fortune Variants[]
- Wheel of Fortune used different custom variations of this logo:
- Late 1983/early-February 1984: Standard logo. It uses the Califon copyright stamp below the MGP name.
- February 27, 1984-1987: A still version of this logo placed onto an art card. The border of the box was silver instead of sky blue and the sides were pretty close in on the griffin. The text, which consisted of the company's name and a Califon Productions, Inc. copyright stamp, was in a Peignot font (as seen on the 1971 Viacom logo and the MTM logo). Some 1985 episodes of the 1984-1985 season would have this logo borderless. Plus, several 1984-1985 episodes would have the copyright stamp say "Califon Production, Inc." Starting in the 1985-1986 season, the company name and the copyright stamp were pacific blue instead of silver. On December 22, 1986, the Coca-Cola byline was placed under the MGE name in the same byline setup as was used on the 1986-1987 Embassy Communications logo in red, with "Coca-Cola" in its signature font and "The" and "Company" in Loki Cola font except "A unit of" wasn't italicized. The name and logo were made smaller and shifted up to place the byline under. A few December 1986 and January 1987 episodes start with a close up of the text with the 1986-1987 Coca-Cola byline and zoomed back to reveal the picture of the griffin. Later 1987 episodes reverted back to the still image.
- Spring 1987?: The text "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" was added below the copyright stamp in blue.
- November 10, 1987-September 20, 1991: The background was yellow or yellow-orange instead of black. The MGE and Califon copyright stamp (with a copyright "©" symbol) were in dark blue Peignot font and the Coca-Cola Television (later CPE in February 1988) byline was in red, with the phrase "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" placed at the bottom of the logo. The border on the box was still silver until the end of the 1988-1989 season, when the color of the font and the boarder were changed to the original blue.
- On September 7, 1992-March 1993 episodes, the logo would have the byline "a Sony Pictures Entertainment company" in school bus yellow Arial font shifted down a little lower from the company name.
- Some 1984-1993 Wheel of Fortune episodes would have an effect to bring in the logo:
- 1984-1990 (Nighttime): Some episodes would bring the MGE logo by a wipe effect from the bottom.
- January 29, 1990-1991 (Nighttime): This effect would have the MGE logo flip down and flip back up like a fan to bring forth the King World in-credit logo.
- December 25, 1990: The logo was brought forth with a trilon effect on the Christmas Day 1990 daytime episode.
- January 11, 1991 (Daytime): Many times, the end-title scene zooms back onto a gradient background and flips over to reveal the MGE logo.
- January 14, 1991-1993: A page flipping effect that starts from the upper-left hand corner showing a gold background page behind and bring itself downward to the lower-right hand corner to reveal the logos. Some 1992 episodes didn't feature the full gold background page. This effect was edited out from September-early October episodes and was replaced with the standard 1992 MGE logo with the SPE byline when reran on GSN.
- November 1992: When Wheel of Fortune was taped in Philadelphia, PA during "Philadelphia Week", the logo was brought forth with a straight fade effect.
Dance Fever Variants[]
- 1983-1984: "A MERV GRIFFIN PRODUCTION in association with 20th CENTURY - FOX TELEVISION" in Arial font.
- 1984-1986: "MERV GRIFFIN ENTERPRISES" in association with and bring forth the static 20th Century Fox Television logo.
- 1986-1987: MERV GRIFFIN ENTERPRISES with "A unit of The Coca-Cola Company" underneath and with the phrase "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fading in below to bring forth the static 20th Century Fox Television logo.
The Merv Griffin Show Variants[]
- November 1983: It uses the Anthony Productions copyright stamp below the MGP name.
- 1984-1986: Some episodes have the griffin blinking twice.
- 1986: A still logo of the MGE logo. The logo and name were shifted up a little to place the Coca-Cola byline with "Coca-Cola" in its red signature trademarked font underneath the name.
4th logo: Against the same cloud background as the then-current Columbia Pictures Television logo, we see a gold-colored statue of a griffin on a pedestal (appears to be a statue). Underneath the griffin, in the same Bank Gothic MD BT font used on the CPT and TriStar Television logos of the time, is the text "MERV GRIFFIN ENTERPRISES," and under that, the byline "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company." This logo was always followed by a graphic with the show's title card and copyright stamp.
Variants[]
- On most episodes of Wheel of Fortune, this logo would appear as a turning page effect.
- On a Jeopardy! episode aired on December 23, 1993, the logo was seen on a "Video Daily Double" question. The logo appears to be close-up and there is no text below the griffin statue.
- On several season 9 episodes and one season 10 episode of Jeopardy! from 1993 and 1994, the logo appears on the big board after Johnny Gilbert's voice-over before cutting to the title logo with the copyright stamp and King World logo.
Music/Sounds[]
1st logo: Just the end title of the theme from any show playing.
2nd logo: Just the end-title theme or the show's theme from any show playing. Normally you'd hear announcer spiels on any program.
- The All New Jeopardy! (John Harlan): (This is) John Harlan speaking), Jeopardy! is a Merv Griffin Production!
- Wheel of Fortune (Charlie O'Donnell 1975-1980, Jack Clark 1980-1983): Wheel of Fortune is a Merv Griffin Production. (Distributed by King World Productions, Inc. (Prior to fall 1983 syndicated episodes of Wheel of Fortune with Clark announcing)).
- The Merv Griffin Show (Arthur Treacher/Merv Griffin): (1975-1980) The Merv Show is a Merv Griffin Production, in association with Metromedia Producers Corporation. This program is pre-recorded. (1980-1983): This has been a Merv Griffin Production in association with Metromedia Producers Corporation. This program is pre-recorded. (1983): This has been a Merv Griffin Production in association with King World Productions, Inc.
- Jeopardy! (Jay Stewart): This has been a Merv Griffin Production! Distributed by King World, Inc. (September 1983 pilot episode)
- There were no announcer spiels on Dance Fever, Shopper's Bazaar, the 2nd Wheel of Fortune pilot in 1974, or on a December 25, 1981 episode of Wheel of Fortune: the final daytime episode with Chuck Woolery.
3rd logo: The closing theme of the show. This logo and the King World logo following it were accompanied by the following announcements:
- Jeopardy!:
- Johnny Gilbert, Pilot episode on January 9, 1984: "This has been a Merv Griffin Production! (on the King World text screen) Distributed by King World Productions".
- September 10, 1984-1985: "Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises, distributed by King World."
- 1985-1986: "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking, Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises and distributed by King World."
- November 1986: "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking, Jeopardy! is produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises and is distributed by King World."
- 1987-1992: "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking, Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises and is distributed by King World."
- October 1992-1993: "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises. (copyright screen appears/snare drum roll is heard) (on the 1990 King World logo with its music) Distributed by King World."
- Wheel of Fortune:
- Jack Clark, November 1983-Fall 1984: "Wheel of Fortune is a Merv Griffin Production. (Distributed by King World Productions, Inc.)"
- Fall 1984-1992, Jack Clark (1984-1988)/M.G. Kelly (1988-1989)/Don Pardo (Two weeks at Radio City in 1988)/Charlie O'Donnell (March 1989-1992): "(This is Charlie O'Donnell speaking) Wheel of Fortune is produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises (Distributed by King World)". (Note: O'Donnell used his name on the final NBC episode of WOF in 1989.)
- October 1991 at Disney-MGM Studios with O'Donnell: "Wheel of Fortune is taped at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida and is a Merv Griffin Enterprises Production. Distributed by King World."
- October 1992-1993 episodes with O'Donnell: "Merv Griffin Enterprises produces... (copyright screen appears/drum roll starts) Wheeeeel of Fortune! (on the 1990 King World logo with its music) Distributed by King World."
- Headline Chasers (Johnny Gilbert): "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Headline Chasers is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises, in association with Wink Martindale, Inc. and distributed by King World.".
- The Merv Griffin Show (Carol Bilger): "This has been a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises. Distributed by King World and Camelot Entertainment Sales. This program has been recorded.".
- The logos were not accompanied by announcer spiels on Super Jeopardy!, Monopoly, Ruckus (an awful 1991 game show hosted by "The Amazing Jonathan" that only aired on WNBC, GSN later re-aired reruns of the show), and some episodes of The Merv Griffin Show.On GSN reruns in 1997, the King World logo would be replaced by the 1994 and 1997 Columbia TriStar Television logo with a Charlie O'Donnell voice-over, resulting in an awkward transition between the two voices. This would happen on Jeopardy!,1984-1988 and 1983-1988/1992-1993 episodes of Wheel of Fortune with Jack Clark and Charlie O'Donnell, and Headline Chasers.
4th logo: The closing theme for the show (Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune) would fade out as this logo appeared and the show's announcer (Johnny Gilbert on the former, Charlie O'Donnell on the latter) identified the company. A drum roll would play while the title card/copyright info graphic was shown, followed by the (then-current) 1990 King World logo with its music and the announcement "Distributed by King World." Here are the announcements used:
- Jeopardy! (Johnny Gilbert): "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises.".
- Wheel of Fortune (Charlie O'Donnell): "Merv Griffin Enterprises produces... (copyright screen appears/drum roll starts) Wheeeeel of Fortune!".
Scare Factor[]
1st logo: Minimal. The design of the logo may unnerve some.
2nd logo: None.
3rd logo: Depends on the logo:
- None for the still version.
- Minimal for the animated version with the griffin blinking its eye, as it may surprise those who weren't expecting it.
4th logo: None.
Video[]
Merv Griffin Enterprises Kingworld (long version) (1991)