Mike Douglas & Merv Griffin Shows

Mike Douglas was more down-to-earth and natural, where Merv fawned and brown-nosed his guests and acted like a true star-fucker.

One was a fag!

HAHAHA HAHAHAHA HAHA!! What a hilarious word, r2! The jokes just write themselves!

Merv interviews all 3 of the Golden Girls.

Shit, I meant all 4 (including Estelle Getty).

Merv was a total insider and power player. Kind of the Andy Cohen of his day. Mike Douglas was so plain of a man and Cleveland Show that his many great guests and co hosts seem diminished. Great performers deserve at least a backdrop. I wasn't born when these shows were on, but they are very available to watch or seek out. Dick Cavett - WTF? Dude was pissing his white pants and a terrible interviewer. He did more long form interviews, but he tried so hard to be witty & intelligent that he ruined most all of them. His voice literally shakes. All in all, Merv was best. Talk shows were about presenting some good chat with interesting personalities. Stars looking great, but being human. Merv did that best. Mike Douglas presented moments like this. In Cleveland!! Stripped of all glamor or sense of theater - Bette brought her own.

Totally agree about Dick Cavett. Insufferable and self-conscious. He was also horrible on the $10,000 Pyramid. Too fucking slow.

Mike Douglas was the only white man ever made me moist ...

Mike Douglas had no LIPS or ASS. No MAN of color wanted to fuck that.

Merv Griffin was far superior. He was all Hollywood, and Merv served up the best dish with Zsa Zsa, Eva, Hermione Gingold, Pamela Mason and all of old Hollywood and the new up and coming talents like Jane Oliver and Gloria Loring. Merv and his old British sidekick, Arthur Treacher, had a great rapport. Merv's show was broadcast from Los Angeles so it had more show business glamour.

Mike Douglas had a good show, but it was kinder, gentler and more boring or homespun. He had a lot of top talent, but the show didn't have the glamour of Merv's show. Mike didn't go for the dish the way Merv did, and Merv was just all-around better interviewer. Plus Mike's show originated from Philadelphia so it was a bit more subdued. Mike's co-host changed each week with a different "star."

Mike was daytime tv. Merv was on at 9pm and on for 15 years before Mike showed up. Merv had clout. Mike was fluff.

R6, The Mike Douglas Show started out in Cleveland, but production moved to Philadelphia in 1965, and then to Los Angeles in 1978.

I was a kid (mid 20s, looked younger; I was blond and ever I was cute in my life it was during this time) and living in LA working show biz events. I had to show Merv to his seat at some big fundraiser gala; looking back I think he was flirting with me a little.

I was soooooo naive back then. How much life might have changed for better or worse if he'd shown some interest.

"IF ever I was cute..."

Y'all realize that you sound pathetic R14? I'm sure Merv was not about to change your life, 50 years ago - when you were "cute."

R11 hit it.

Daytime television was seen as an opiate by my mother and her group -meaningless blather to control the lazy, dingbat housewife.

Ugh.

Merv was insufferable interviewing the Golden Girls.

He looked as though he was about to climb over the arm of the chair and sit in the interviewee’s lap.

Was this what Martin Short was parodying while performing Glick?

R15 So what's pathetic? We've all had what-if moments in our lives that still intrigue us. It'd be really pathetic if we didn't.

(And next time you want to imitate a Southerner, better learn proper use of y'all. Nothing more pathetic than a Yankee trying to pass.)

R15, just sharing a memory...who peed in your corn flakes?

I'm neither a yankee or white, R18. Don't lecture me about the proper use of anything gramps. Your memory was pathetic. There is nothing to it. Don't bore people late at night. Put down the bottle and go to bed.

"who peed in your cornflakes?"

I love your old time expressions Nana. Put down the bottle and go to bed. Now.

When you watch early years B/W Merv on Youtube, it is shocking what a prick he was to his guests! He had some British guy as a sidekick which was weird. He would also have certain guests sit next to him behind his desk, as sort of co-hosts. It was as if they were trying to figure out the "Late Night Talk Show" format.

Who the fuck says yankee? This place is riddled with diseased old RACIST fags.

Merv's show seemed to have a higher production budget and quality, and was especially fun to watch when he used to broadcast out of Caesar's Palace. (His syndicated afternoon show referenced here -- I'm unsure if his live, short-lived late-night network show was broadcast on the West Coast or out of New York?)

Mike was always such an amiable host, but his musicians backing up the talented guests always sounded like a bad Bar Mitzvah band, giving any live song renditions a cheesy backdrop sound.

R20 Whatever you're pretending to be you ain't no Southerner. Pathetic to see a wannabe fall on his face like that.

We used to watch Mike Douglas in the afternoons, eating junk food after school. It was so square and dull, but there was nothing else on.

Merv was on in the early evenings and brought a bit of glamour.

I sometimes wonder now if guys like Steven Colbert or Jimmy Fallon are to Gen Z what Mike/Merv were to me.

I remember that when Phil Donahue and then, especially, also Oprah solidified talk shows mania as a daytime television thing in the early 1980s, the existing major daytime syndicated entertainment programs featuring Mike, Merv and even Dinah Shore all abruptly updated their formats to more talk-show-and-chair-set formats and more conversational subject matter, while reducing their Tiny Tim and Charo guest moments--and then, regardless, they all began folding soon after in the wake of the bigtime ratings onslaught of the Phils, Oprahs, Mortons, Richard Beys, John Davidsons, et al.

Mike was down to earth, who seemed to respect and not kow-tow too much toward his guests. He even had John Lennon and Yoko Ono guest host a week, plus had Janis joplin and othr rock musicians. He also had Mason Reese as a co-host when Mason was still kind of adorable and very precocious. Mike didn't have the budget like Merv, and mind you, Merv was fun, but Mike Douglas just seemed like "good people".

R4 why does Betty get to go on first? She was second-billed.

Betty was already starring on tv while Bea was barely doing off-Broadway.

Betty was more recently well known for MTM and The Betty White Show whereas Maude was off for a while when GG's came along.

Dick Cavett was -- and is -- indeed insufferable. Always reminded of the kid who'd sit at the front of the class and keep raising his hand trying to answer every question.

R20 you sound old sad alone and bitter.

I hope you get some love in your life and become less bitchy and nasty.

Merv. Whenever I think of Merv I think of Merv and Zsa Zsa. And Zsa Zsa was the far more genuine and simpatica of the two.

Mike Douglas was real and had a pretty good show. It just seemed to lack pizzazz. Maybe not enough Zsa Zsa.

WHO, AUNTIEOP????

[quote]Mike was daytime tv. Merv was on at 9pm and on for 15 years before Mike showed up. Merv had clout. Mike was fluff.

R11. I don't recall Merv being on at 9pm. In Boston, Merv was on at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

Merv's show was syndicated, so it aired at whatever time the local station decided to air it.

Judy sings on Mike Douglas

Merv never had Moe Howard on the show.

R28 Betty is the best at banter. Makes sense she would go first.

R4 I LOVE how Bea puts Merv in his place on his misogynistic questions.

1960s Merv was a vast improvement over 1980s Merv

It's interesting that they both started out as big band singers.

this sums up Mike Douglas' appeal

Douglas never interrupted his guests like Griffin did. That always bugged me. Oprah did the same thing.

Sam Cooke was on Mike Douglas's show.

Mike Douglas was never imagined as Sheriff of Mayberry.

Merv’s fat ass ^

Merv had a set. Mike had patio chairs.

Mike didn't rim his guests.

R41, Merv, Mike, Dinah! They all were Big Band era singers.

R48... yeah, the great episode where merv looked like he wanted to devour jon erik hexum... i bet old merv was tenting in his grey slacks and leaking as well under the desk! laugh!....

merv did bring glamour interviews like a young tom cruise and farrah at her zenith..

also didn't merv occassionally have the handsome muscle man/bodybuilder on for whatever reasons? (of course no hosts did more than that than regis philbin! hell, i remember one time when he had Michael Rapp from the Chippendales and Rapp was in a hot tub on the set and talking about skincare, and Regis actually took the "mud" of whatever skincare line it was and proceeded to rub it on Rapp's Chest!) regis always had bodybuilders on his various shows over the years...

There wasn't many "intellectuals" on the TV back in the days. That was Dick Cavette's selling point. It made you feel smart and better than your neighbors if you watched him and not Merv or Mike.

[quote]Merv had a set.

Damn right.

[quote]He had some British guy as a sidekick which was weird.

Actor Arthur Treacher, who had a decent career playing butlers in Hollywood movies, and then went on to lend his name to a Fish & Chips chain.

Talk show sidekicks. They seem to have gone the way of the horse and buggy.

Merv's talk shows:

NBC daytime: 1962-1963 (live, 55 mins.)

Group W (syndicated): 1965-1969 (60 mins.)

CBS late night: 1969-1972

Metromedia and King World (syndicated): 1972-1986 (90 mins. and 60 mins.)

[Quote] Mike was always such an amiable host, but his musicians backing up the talented guests always sounded like a bad Bar Mitzvah band, giving any live song renditions a cheesy backdrop sound.

For what it's worth, many of the Mike Douglas orchestrations were by Jonathan Tunick.

R54 Not only have they forgotten me as a sidekick, they've forgotten my fish and chips, too.

No one will ever forget you, Arthur.

[quote] Merv, Mike, Dinah! They all were Big Band era singers.

Dinah certainly was a singer, the other two were B-list wannabe's at best.

R10 gave an accurate description. I used to watch both Merv and Mike, and didn't see much difference between them. Mike seemed a little more boring, but now I appreciate him more. The worse part of both shows was when they would sing, and Mie used to that more than Merv.

(I'd even add Dinah to that list since she lost her voice sometime in the late 50's).

r51 BITD the intellectuals were in the news division, just like today. Oh wait.....

I fondly remember Mike Douglas(grandma never missed a show) it was a big deal that his show was based in Philly for several years. It limited, somewhat, the type of guests he could get, but I think his reputation for being a nice guy made a lot of celebs detour through Philly just to be on his show. He was always entertaining, a gentleman, and as noted up-thread that recording of "The Men in My Little Girl's Life" endeared him to many.

Merv could be manic, snide, cheeky and bouncing all over the place(very Jiminy Glick as noted above) Mr. Treacher had no fucks left to give. And WEHT Denny Terrio?

R59 Things only Boomers know: the Chevrolet song.

The Merv Griffin Show

The Mike Douglas Show

Cavett was considered quality or highbrow in terms of interview style as this was the era of erudition, wit, and the proper use of language. How he asked what now appears to be long winded questions was half the point of watching

As long as we're talking about Merv, where did his money go? He was rumored to be worth well over $1.5 billion when he died in in 2007. His son doesn't seem to have wealth in the billions. Yet there's no Griffin Foundation around.

He was certainly the shrewdest of businessmen, so he must have put a lot of work into estate planning. Seems odd that such vast wealth could just disappear.

[quote] Talk show sidekicks. They seem to have gone the way of the horse and buggy.

The photo at r63, the Wikipedia entry for the Mike Douglas Show, looks nothing like the Mike Douglas I recall watching.

Below is a photo of the Mike Douglas I recall.

Merv started his show in New York and was syndicated for daytime airing throughout the country. He then signed with CBS to go against Johnny Carson at night, moved to Hollywood and dumped sidekick Arthur Treacher. It was a disaster in the ratings, so Merv went back to daytime in syndication but stayed in California.

I prefer his old hipper shows from New York, when he was not a brown-noser and was not obsessed with making money. He introduced many young theater talents in the 60s, including Bernadette Peters, Madeline Kahn and Diane Keaton. And had off-beat guests like Moms Mabley, Marcia Wallace, Jo Anne Worley and Monte Rock III.

My favorite Merv.

[quoteWhat was the difference between these two shows? Mike Douglas seems really cool here on this episode. Liberace was his co-host.

There's your difference, Mike NEEDED a co-host Merv did not.

Merv was "MERVelous" Mike was not even sure if he was Griffin or Griffith

[quote]What was the difference between these two shows?

Merv used to dance around me in tiny leather thong that his enormous gut cascaded over his mounds of heaping flesh.

Mike used to make ME put on the leather thong and dance.

[quote]Cavett was considered quality or highbrow in terms of interview style...

Yeah it was so highbrow that one guy literally died while Cavett was interviewing him and Cavett failed to notice.

[quote] Mike was daytime tv. Merv was on at 9pm

Not where I lived. They were both on during the day.

Syndicated shows liked theirs were shown at different times nationwide.

OMG op! A 1970 talk show?? You must be ancient!

A fur fashion show on a television talk show. That wouldn't happen today.

R73 Folks are unfortunately forgetting David Susskind, who for decades had a serious discussion program and who made Cavett look like a little twerp.

Agree, R67, that was an odd pic for them to use.

While we're talking about talk shows from that era, David Frost should be thrown into the mix. He had the intellectualism without the pretentiousness of Cavett.

r78 Yes. When I think of "intellectualism," the first name that pops into my head is Connie Francis.

Eva was Merv's beard, not Zsa Zsa.

A friend and I always referred to The Mike Douglas Show as The Mike Dummy Show. Mike could not read cue cards. He must have had a reading disability. When Tallu co-hosted the Dummy Show, she shampooed her hair in lighter fluid! And, Mike had early sex change, Paul/Paula Grossman, on his show too!

Merv used to have Monti Rock III, Aliza Kashi, Lillian Briggs, Moms Mabley, and Tallulah on his show. Pure heaven.

Cavett was so sexy and patrician, but he was always injecting himself into the interview; and he went to Yale unlike Mike and Merv who dropped out of the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music after their first year there.

R81 Susskind graduated from Harvard but unlike Cavett wasn't so insecure he had to keep reminding viewers of his Ivy pedigree.

The models walk like housewives.

Really? Nobody has posted this yet?

R6 dude what the fuck are you saying? You're very unclear

They were both perfect for their timeslots.

Mike had the pleasant afternoon show that housewives could enjoy while getting ready to prepare dinner. I remember how many were shocked and some outraged when John Lennon and Yoko Ono took over his show for a week, and Jerry Rubin was a guest.

Merv’s evening show had more of a party atmosphere and Merv was a lively, gossipy rascal.

I prefer Dick Cavett to both of these.

Mike's big hit...

I preferred Tom Snyder to all of them.

R80 But Zsa Zsa was a frequent guest and he had this very particular way of enunciating her name. He never said Eva quite like he said Zsa Zsa.

Cavett's show is being shown daily on DECADES, along with Ed Sullivan. And there are syndicated "Best of Carson" packages floating around. But I don't think anyone ever has or will show stuff from Mike, Merv, or Dinah on a regular basis.

[quote]Mike was daytime tv. Merv was on at 9pm and on for 15 years before Mike showed up.

Not true.

Merv's show out of NYC broadcast live from the Little Theatre in Times Square was a daytime show.

It ran from 1965 to around 1970. And it was peak Merv. The show was very cool, sophisticated, very NY-centric.

Mike's show was from Philly and geared more towards the housewife kind of audience. The show was homey...he was sort of the Mister Rogers of talk show hosts.

My mom always had Mike Douglas on the days we ate dinner before my dad got home. Some nights, full family dinner, some nights just me and my sister, earlier. Those were the Mike Douglas nights.

I remember my mother on the phone gossiping to my aunt about when Sonny & Cher appeared on Mike Douglas post divorce. "You could tell he felt crummy about it, 'cause he gave her her start."

Mike also had Jimmy and Kristiy McNichol quite a bit. Singing and dancing. There's one uncomfortable one with Burt Reynolds and Kristy- he makes lots of jokes about being in love with her. Totally inappropriate.

R91 Amazon has added The Jim Nabor's Show, from the late 70s, where he basically tried to be the gay country version of Merv, Mike, and Dinah.

Well, I was a Tom Snyder fan when on one show he actually went their and discussed the biggest penises in Hollywood; I forget who he was talking to, but the names of Milton Berle and Forrest Tucker were named on broadcast tv in that context.

went there, that is -- heading of an "oh, dear!"

Merv had Moms Mabley on his show. Merv introduced us to Miss Miller.

heading "off" that is -- sorry, my typing is off today, too.

Does anyone recall the name of that young guido actor who had a bit part in The Godfather? Merv had him on at least every other week. He looked like The Situation from Jersey Shore and was about as talented. Merv must have been riding that italian sausage regularly as he obviously had a case of amore.

Mrs. Miller

They were good, but I preferred Dinah. She did a memorable guest shot on Mary Hartman and had Tony Clifton "perform" on her show. Merv, Mike or Dick would never. Despite her downhome persons, Dinah seemed like she was in on the joke and had no problem satirizing herself.

She also did a lot of theme shows. She did one that was a roundtable discussion of veteran hollywood actresses like Shelley Winters, Olivia De Havilland, Eva Marie Saint and Debbie Reynolds discussing the industry.

Todays talk shows are such garbage compared to what was back then. Even watching 70's reruns of Carson, it was a much more relaxed atmosphere with guests conversing with each other. It was like sitting in a living room at a cocktail party.

Now you have throngs of morons being directed to scream their heads off and stilted "Conversation" that is nothing more than product placement.

Does anyone have the Dick Cavett show from PBS where he had Gwen Verdon as a guest. She did some amazing dances and songs, including part of the "Garden of Eden" ballet from "Can-Can". Really superb stuff.

[quote] A friend and I always referred to The Mike Douglas Show as The Mike Dummy Show. Mike could not read cue cards.

It's no wonder Rosie O'Donnell idolized him then, because she couldn't either. You could always see her eyes move when she read off cue cards or a teleprompter, and she looked vaguely hypnotized.

My grandmother loved Merv. Every 4pm she would have me fire up the Sylvania to watch him and Arthur Treatcher. She blind sided me one day with this pithy comment:

" He's (Merv) is such a nice man, pity he's a homosexual."

R102 What part of MIKE DOUGLAS & MERV GRIFFIN did your feeble mind not get?

That’s not the one who was a Merv regular R100.

[quote]One was a fag!

And you know how bitchy they can be.

Good Lord, r105. You'll burst a blood vessel.

Control issues much?

I remember during sweeps week, Merv and Mike would have flavor-of-the-month teen idols on, sometimes guest-hosting or making two-parter appearances, and my older sisters would put a tape recorder up to the tv speaker and record the whole interview and music performance. They would play back that recording over and over all week long, reliving the moment. The days before VCRs!

Mother Merv had a lot of facetime with moi.

Merv debuted Olivia Newton John's Physical video.

Merv and the audience were shocked by the ending of two guy holding hands. Karen Carpenter got a big kick out of it.

[quote]Merv had Moms Mabley on his show. Merv introduced us to Miss Miller.

Mrs. Miller was an audience staple on Steve Allen and Jack Parr. Audience knew her well when she finally turned up on the Merv Griffin Show.

Merv's show introduced us to the Andy Warhol crowd...Viva, Ultra Violet, Edie Sedgwick as well as Andy himself. Watch Merv cooly navigate a very difficult interview at the link.

That's Renee Taylor on the left.

Patti

Merv spent part of his considerable wealth on his Madonna Nancy Reagan. He donated millions to build the ostentatious shrine know as the Reagan Library. He even got a marble plaque near the old homophobic harridans tomb. Playing fawning courtier at the White House while millions of his fellow cocksuckers were dying due to Ronnie's AIDs denial. Hope the old closet queen rots in hell.

R88, And ONLY hit.

R114, They shared the same July birthday and it was Merv who introduced Nancy to astrologer Joan Quigley.

R99 are you thinking of Peter Lemongello? He played a wedding singer in the film and was all over the talk shows trying to breakout after that but I remember he was on Merv often.

He finally had a bestselling mail order album in the mid 70s.

R99, Gianni Russo. He and Dionne Warwick were a couple for a while.

Didn’t know Mike Douglas was broadcast from Cleveland (to young to think that much about what I saw on TV). But in my memories, Mike Douglas is brown plaid and orange shag, Merv was white leather and sequins.

Accuracy might be suspect.

*too

Grammar might be suspect also.

Merv's shows were usually a higher budget proposition. The idea of having a co-host for a week began in Cleveland as a way to get bigger names (have them stay the week) and it continued in Philly. Douglas had some people very early in their careers like Streisand and, by necessity he had more eclectic rosters of people esp. in Cleveland and Philly. Both were washed-up band singers of limited fame and talent and who were pleasant interviewers. Merv became more unwatchable over time with regular guests like Charo, He liked getting into his guests laps (metaphorically) which also was Cavett's problem, although his use of long form interviews made Cavett often more interesting than Merv or Mike.

Susskind had a huge ego and often went for exploitation. Still, he attempted to test the limits of the format more than anyone else.

Was Susskind on public television?

[quote] Mike also had Jimmy and Kristiy McNichol quite a bit. Singing and dancing. There's one uncomfortable one with Burt Reynolds and Kristy- he makes lots of jokes about being in love with her. Totally inappropriate.

Sally Field, who Burt did date, is like a grown-up version of Kristy McNichol. I guess Burt had a type. But then he married Loni Anderson. 😮

R117 Grazie mille . That's him. Obviously his talent was below the waist.

[quote]Merv debuted Olivia Newton John's Physical video.

It was on Later with Tom Snyder before that.

Dahlink he flipped my vig and then he vore it.

Somebody order the Lemongello?

Susskind was syndicated. The show was called "Open End" at one point and could run on for hours, so until he changed the format it usually ran in late night and wound up on independent channels. Even later, because of the subject matter you never saw it before 10 pm eastern time.

Sometimes I remember the Suskind show when I have a nectarine. There was some show about Jewish comedians or old-school comedy in general with Mel Brooks, possibly Carl Reiner and some other comedians, and they start riffing on the virtues of eating a nectarine. It was actually very, very funny.

Now, of course, the idiot who yelled about Dick Cavett and Gwen Verdon will start gunning and ranting about David Suskind and Mel Brooks.

Pfooey! in advance. Phooey, I say!

Is this it, R129?

Merv's son is an ass. One of his car's license plates is I'm rich

I wouldn’t be surprised if Merv financed Lemongello’s album. Lord, that untalented hack was forced down our throats and probably took more than one trip down Merv’s.

Mel was on fire that show R131

Was this Mike's last tv appearance?

R131 I think it might be the very show! Thanks!

I watched these shows with my grandmother as a kid. At the time, I didn't really know old movies or TV shows, so I often wondered who the guests were. For instance, who was Zsa Zsa and why was she always on every show? I thought they were just people famous for being famous.

This article mentions the son inheriting Merv's Estate, that there wasn't as much there as there should be, and one man received $500k to take care of dogs Merv didn't have.

I remember he is credited with launching David Soul's career as a masked singer. Rumors are he had a casting couch so who knows about David Soul.

As a Philadelphian, I have a soft spot for Mike Douglas. My Irish grandmother used to tear up when he sang Danny boy. He wasn't the brightest bulb and his show was pretty corny but he didnt try to hide from that. And I remember he moved to LA to get the better guests, but by then it was probably too late.

No R135

In Zsa Zsa's case... actually, she did do some movies, theater and tv work. But she was famous also for being beautiful, glamorous, much married and divorced and rich. Eva, similarly, though Eva was a better actress. I read years ago that Johnny Carson and the other talk show hosts loved having them because they are always fabulously interesting conversationalists and obviously very glitzy eye candy. It usually boosted their ratings to, also possibly their pants.

[quote]Jack Parr

Oh, dear.

[quote]The Jim Nabor's Show

And again.

R140 boosted their rating too, that is -- trying to stop an "Oh, dear!"

R1 nailed it.

Mike seemed very relaxed and at ease. Merv always acted like he had a stick up his ass.

Blair!!!

[quote] But Zsa Zsa was a frequent guest and he had this very particular way of enunciating her name.

No one pronounced Zsa Zsa like Dion, who elided the "s."

R144 she really does seem so genuinely nice - at least at interview I’ve ever seen.

Didnt he have some show in the mid 80s that aired on the USA network? I seem to remember something vaguely like that (I was too young or not alive to remember anything before)

I did actually like the Rosie O’Donnell show - sue me.

I didn't find Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor to be attractive at all.

Oh c'mon, r147...

r130

It was an apricot

R149 Yes. Any comedian will tell you apricots are funny. Nectarines are not.

Merv had a lovely bunch of coconuts.

Zsa Zsa Gabor decorated a few films in the 1950s, but she was never a full-fledged movie star. She was more like a perennial starlet, who generated a lot of ink in the gossip columns and rags for her dalliances with rich playboys, multiple marriages, and love for wealth and extravagance. TV guests spots on Merv, Mike Douglas, The Tonight Show, and game shows like What's My Line? and Password kept her name in the public consciousness.

She earned a Golden Globe nomination R152.

Sorry, she won a Golden Globe.

^^ Pia Zadora won one of those things.

Recall seeing a story about 300 lbs 70 yo Merv chasing 130 lbs 16yo Leo DiCaprio around a manse in the Hollywood Hills. He told his pals that was "one boy he wanted to bag" At the end of the party a red faced smiling Merv triumphantly told his pals he had indeed "wrangled his chicken delight".

Merv waddled so Bryan Singer and Miss Spacey could FLY

1951

The 1965 Merv was cute.

Merv with some southern fried chicken

Mike Douglas began as a competitor to a very popular local talk show (the 1:00 Club with Dorothy Fuldheim and Bill Gordon) in Cleveland. It was an instant hit and Westinghouse very quickly syndicated it. When the local NBC affiliate in Cleveland was swapped with one in Philly, Douglas' show moved with it.

Besides Douglas and Merv, I think Westinghouse also may have syndicated Steve Allen's show, too. Mike Douglas usually aired early in the afternoon (or in the morning), while Merv and Steve were usually on late in the afternoon.

Peter Lemongello was an attem.pt to jump on the Engelbert Humperdink train.

Lemongello spent the first part of his career as a cabaret singer, with several appearances on national TV, including 25 on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Hermione Gingold was a favorite guest on Merv's show. What a hoot. And Merv drew out the eccentric nuttiness.

Hermione

I'm intrigued by the Merv Griffin and Tony Danza connection.

Why was Tony Danza never on any of the Mafia movies & TV shows, e.g., The Godfather, Goodfellas, Sopranos, etc.? Probably due to his limited range as an actor.

Pamela Mason was the dishiest, rather cuntiest Hollywood wife who married married to James Mason. Being British, she could pull off the haughty, entitled attitude like no other. And it was right up Merv's alley when he wanted to gossip and have the audience peek in for an hour of dish.

It was particularly funny and cat-like when Pamela would be on with Zsa Zsa both vying for the title of the cuntiest Hollywood "star."

Merv Griffin was one of the talk show hosts who introduced the great, great, great Jane Oliver to American audiences. I couldn't fine a video with Merv, but Johnny Carson was also quite taken with Jane. She was one of the best ever and deserved a much bigger career.

Merv had a thing for Gorgeous Gilbert Price. Who wouldn't?

Merv also tried to make Anson "Potsy from Happy Days" Williams happen as a singer. He had a number of proteges.

And Jane wasn't even fucking Johnny like Donna Theodore was, r167.

Who knew Merv was so sexually-charged? He seems so bland to me.

Please correct me, but I recall Mike Douglas as having second rate guests. Former stars of Broadway musicals or others a young kid would not have were it not for his show. There were more people who used to be something was my young impression. It was more the workaday entertainment stars.

Merv Griffin sucked up to glamor, and if not glamours enough he made you think they were. It was a better known and posher set of guests, as I say it. The guest seemed more relaxed and told their stories as you would at a cocktail party, in no hurry. (Douglas's guests were so happy to be on TV and so mindful of their time that they tattled off, machine gun style.)

Mike Douglas was never on WML.

Diana Ross and The Supremes were on Mike Douglas early in their career.

For the Supremes' fans who know the words to all of their songs, you'll notice that Diana flubs the lyrics to the beginning of "I Hear A Symphony," at 7:35. However, she deftly corrects herself around 30 seconds later into the song.

Mrs. Steele

[quote]She was one of the best ever and deserved a much bigger career.

She also deserves to have her name spelled correctly.

It's OLIVOR.

I watched both when I was young. I like Merv better as he had his girlfriend Eva Gabor on all the time.

Another SCTV take on Merv.

Merv introduced Lily Tomlin and Richard Pryor. Frequent guests.

When it come to the Gabor sisters, I would say Zsa Zsa was better known when they were alive, but Eva has had the longer lasting impact because she was the female lead of a classic sitcom which is still rerun everyday. You never see any of Zsa Zsa's film appearances expect for something like when she cameoed as herself in The Brady Bunch movie or something similar.

In the 60s he also would have Charo, Bernadette Peters, Renee Taylor, Ronny Dyson, Melba Moore...all unknown nationally.

Eva and Zsa Zsa just seemed like old ladies to me. Maybe it was the up-dos, their outfits. They also both just seemed dumb.

I watched both shows from the late 1960s to their end.

While Mike Douglas had a "natural" quality, he also had a dumb quality, such as repeatedly asking a gay guest why he wasn't married, as with Van Johnson. He also sucked up sucked up sucked up in a way that Merv simply wouldn't do.

Douglas tried SO HARD to make his show entertaining, even when he went over the top as in this painful 1970 show with a greatly diminished and dying Louis Armstrong. His wife Lucille is making Louis' favorite dish for the program. I cringe watching this.

We called Seacrest the Widow Griffin.

They were stupid old whores with bad nose jobs who knocked decades off their age and lied about being Jewish. The Gabor sisters were republican grannies and vile tempered morons.

R184 Fuck that lil bleached blonde home wrecker..

R185 Compared to us they were fucking royalty.

R161 Brava for being a font of knowledge!

I remember Dorothy Fuldheim! I'm certain Margaret Thatcher took hair and style tips from her.

Johnny championed all the young female singers as did Mike and Merv. Donna Theodore, Jane Olivor, Helen Schneider and Kelly Garrett. Performing on Mike and Merv was considered second rate but appearing on Carson was still the Golden Ticket.

Remember the faux pearl clutching when Adrian Zmed sued Merv for sexual harassment decades after he was booted off Dance Fever. Think it was one of the first same sex harassment law suites. Of course Griffin settled out of court.

R187 not really actually. That’s just nostalgia talking.

Linda Lavin co hosting Mike Douglas.

DL needs to collective search to find that Linda Lavin/Phyllis Schaffly appearance! ASAP!

Denny Terrio, r190.

Jane Olivor had exactly the career she deserved. She was a wimp, a drip, the American Nana Mouskouri but without the Gold Records.

The cast of Alice singing together on Dinah Shore.

With Polly leading at the piano!!!!

My mother and I used to love watching Jane Olivor on Merv. We even went to see her at Carnegie Hall in about 1977 after watching her on his shows.

"Green Acres" gave Eva creds that Zsa Zsa just did not have.

Jane Olivier sounded like a cello. In its case.

R191 Really actually. You're just vulgarity talking dahlink.

R167: I agree, Jane Olivor's voice was a treasure, and her Columbia albums were all fantastic. I actually knew someone who was very close friends with J.O., and according to him, she was an extraordinarily kind, lovely person. While my friend was never specific about it, he alluded several times to Jane "having suffered terribly" in her life. I had the feeling it might have been debilitating anxiety or depression, not sure why. Anyway...she is a great who deserves to be well-remembered. Merv apparently did one thing right!

[quote]Jane Olivor had exactly the career she deserved

All I know is that I found her boring and affected, though ALL the gays around me were fawning. Then I heard she was an out lesbian. Then an inned lesbian. Then......please explain.

Well, Carol Burnet had on Lena Zavaroni! Talented girl, sadly she died pretty young.

[quote]Jane Olivier

Oh, dear! Was she Larry's girl?

Janey Olivier had a mid life nose job and stopped sounding like Streisand's weak adenoidal sister.

Celine Dion has the voice Janey Olivier wished she had.

And Merv would have a whole cast of odd characters on his show: Brother Theodore, Professor Irwin Cory, Donna Jean Young, Aliza Kashi, London Lee...

When I was a kid I ran to the TV to see his 4:00 clock show.

Poor little Lena Zavaroni...

Oy. This is a star?

This is horrifying You might hate Whitney, but you can see why she became a superstar and made this a hit. Olivor makes this both wimpy and overbearing at the same time.

I watched The Virginia Graham Show.

^ Because you're a big ole gurl who loves to talk.

Janey Olivier???

For someone so bland,Mike Douglas had some interesting co-hosts, like John and Yoko, and Sly Stone. Rosie O'Donnell said she modeled her talk show after his (at least for a while).

Merv seemed like such an ass-kisser. And he could certainly make you cringe, like when he had KC and the Sunshine Band on, and did a few notes of That's The Way I Like It.

Perhaps you watched to see if Virginia’s hair would ever move R209.

Gypsy was fun...

[quote]Merv seemed like such an ass-kisser.

And Mike WAS NOT? Mike Douglas kissed the asses of celebrities when he didn't know who they were.

I was not a ass kisser. I was a ass licker.

[quote] Merv Griffin was far superior.

Like hell he was. His ass kissing was unbearable. Telling Lucille Ball that "word is around that your "Mame" may be one of the best musicals ever produced!" Whew! Was he tongue up her asshole on that one!

R200, Didn't she marry, only to have her husband die tragically and she retired from performing?

No one remember that Merv was the anti-Trump back in the day? Even Dorothy Zbornak mentioned it.

Not a lot of people know this clip but Gypsy was fucking hilarious on The Dating Game.

Merv would act really excited when he announced Eva or Zsa Zsa Gabor as his guests, as if they were some special treat, when nobody gave a crap about them. They were never actually in anything, always looked like wax figures and half of America couldn't tell them apart anyway.

When either Gabor was on Merv, I'd quickly switch over to Mike Douglas as they were both on at 4:00pm in the Boston area.

R207 In the 1970s NYC was full of cabarets. So many venues...all long gone.

The cabaret singer was a thing. Jane Olivors voice and style epitomized that era. She could never be more than that.

She was a chanteuse...

Who the fuck is this whore Jane Olivor and why has she hijacked our thread?

Jane Olivor was very much a gay phenom in the cabaret scene. Helen Schneider was a bigger mainstream star in that scene, which isn't saying much. They had very different approaches and it's not a surprise that Schneider went on to be a pretty big star in Germany starring in many of the Hal Prince shows. She was considered for the US Evita.

^ What thread do you think you're on hon?😂

Jane Olivor's asshole was not as tight as Ryan Seacrest's

Jane Olivor had no gag reflex.

Jane Olivor ate pussy like a champ.

Connie was quite intelligent. She was the Salutatorian of her class and received a full scholarship to NYU for pre-med. Later in life, with all of the trauma, she often allowed her emotions to take over.

I’ll never tire of that r219. Maybe she was getting back at him for his sexist comments 6 years ago, haha.

Like Ellen Foley, Helen had that rocker period before she went the theatrical diva route, r225.

2002 Lena Zavaroni suffered frim severe depression and anorexia and she elected to undergo a lobotomy to eliminate depression. Sadly, she died due to an infection after the surgery. I believe Jane Oliver did some duets with Johnny Mathis. Alisha Kashi was the Connie Francis imitator and Julie Budd, the Stresiand imitator.

I'm aging myself quite a bit, but was I ever the squealing bobby soxer for these two guys when they were big band vocalists back in the 1940s.

How very *dare* you, r233.

Julie Budd should star in a film remake of GYPSY!

Merv had Dody Goodman on as a guest. They played the game Twister and ended up in some embarrassing positions.

Dody Goodman and Totie Fields were frequent guests on Merv. I used to get them mixed up. I did like Hermione Gingold but could have skipped the Gabors and Charo. He was helpful to Debbie Reynolds when she didn't have much of a career going on by having her as a frequent guest. He also seemed to like Florence Henderson--in those days she was someone who showed up without having a clear reason to be famous. She seemed like Phyllis Newman only blonde and goy.

[quote] Susskind was syndicated. The show was called "Open End" at one point and could run on for hours,

One of the finest obstetricians in the country, Dr. Abraham Sapirstein, was on that show!

I remember the Mike Douglas show that featured both Kiss and Totie Fields. Gene Simmons came out and behaved in cringeworthy fashion, proclaiming himself to be "evil incarnate." Totie Field wasn't buying it; she said he was probably a nice Jewish boy under all that makeup. "You can't hide the hook!", she said. She really was a funny comedienne.

R240: She was probably right. Kiss and Totie Fields, I wonder who was playing co-host?

Here, r240...

I falsely recalled this as having been on Merv or Mike but it's Frost. Loved her.

John & Yoko on Mike's show!

Fred Willard on being on "The Mike Douglas Show" when John Lennon and Yoko Ono cohosted

At first, I thought you guys were kidding about someone named Lemongello. I grew up with that joke about Lemonjello and his brother Orangello (although I can't remember it right now).

Just a little song we're workshopping....who knew that ALW was such a terrible pianist?

[quote] I believe Jane Oliver did some duets with Johnny Mathis.

No, but Jane OLIVOR did. The theme from "Same Time, Next Year." Here they are on Oprah.

I am forever in love with Jane Olivor. I saw her at Boston Symphony Hall. She was brilliant.

I also saw Jane at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston when she recorded her live album on the coldest night in February. A night to remember forever.

When I moved to California, I went to see Jane again in San Francisco. She was magnificent again and always.

I met Jane...lovely, delightful, kind and talented. In the '80s, she took a hiatus to deal with the pressures of fame coming too fast and some financial disputes with Columbia Records. I don't know if she were a lesbian or not. However, she was married for several years. Her husband got sick and she stopped performing to take care of him. He was supposed to die but ended up living longer than anticipated; still sick, but living nonetheless. When he finally died, Jane tried to resume her career. She remained wildly popular with her devoted audience. She continued to perform between Boston, NYC, San Francisco, etc. However, her absence hurt her career and Columbia Records dropped her as an artist. She had stayed away too long. She continued to record on smaller, private labels, but she never regained her wider mainstream popularity that she had begun to acquire prior to her husband's illness, although her cult following stayed with her. She eventually moved to Florida, stopped recording an retired. Damn, I just love Jane.

Jane Olivor "One More Ride On the Merry-Go-Round"

Janey Olivier was not so special. Nice resonance but she had a rather small voice and overly precious presentation. Her singing is ponderous.

Jane Olivor and Johnny Mathis singing the Oscar-nominated song, "The Last Time I Felt Like This" from "Same Time, Next Year" with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn. Great performance.

Nobody ever said at the end of their life, "Boy, I wished I had seen more Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin shows." It was always the path of least resistance. The television was on, you were home, you sat on the sofa or bed and were too bored to get up and change the channel.

I thought Mike Douglas' show was done in Philadelphia. (?)

R275, it was mostly done in Philadelphia, but started in Cleveland & ended in LA.

"I also saw Jane at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston when she recorded her live album on the coldest night in February. A night to remember forever."

I saw her there, but not that same evening.

It was Jane's unique rendition of "Some Enchanted Evening" that first earned her attention.

She chose her last name from the Olivetti typewriter she used while working as a secretary.

R255: At least 3 people posted the history.

Douglas' TV academy interview is more interesting than you'd expect. I was impressed at the range of guests even back in Cleveland.

R250, Jane Olivor married a gay man dying of AIDS, it was a marriage of convenience.

How have we never had a whole thread on the clip at R195??!???!???!??

I miss being on talk shows!

Dr. Joyce & the $64,000 Question...

If only you hadn't died, Dr. Brothers.

June & Dinah

I like when Mike had Olivia Newton-John and the Carpenters on it. And you can tell ONJ hated Richard and then Mike asks her directly, "So there's a rumour you've been sick, had the "wasting disease."

Then Richard barrells in with "No, no she's just tired." And Karen says that she was working very hard is all.

Karen looked skeletal and Olivia looked skeptical.

Gypsy is fabulous on "What's My LIne" as a a mystery guest. She even does a little striptease with the way she takes off her gloves. The audience is on to it, too, based on their wild reaction to her appearance. Stars around 16:55

I've created a Jane Olivor thread for all you JO queens. Enjoy!

Mrs. Miller

R259. Wikipedia says Jane Oliver's husband had prostate cancer, not AIDS.

Both Merv and Eva were homos according to Zsa Zsa's daughter Francesca. So they were perfect for eachother.

Jane & Roger...

Merv your toupee was nothing beside my glamorous locks.

(God I hated Merv. Like Andy Cohen, Merv was a huge celebrity suck up and egotist who preferred to hear himself talk.

R257. We should talk, obviously we're both Jan Oliver devotees--Ha.. I just love her. Her Berklee Performance Center appearance Feb 1982 was fucking heaven. I have seen her several times in concert. I even met her backstage and kept in touch with her manager for a while way back when. I was a stalker before it was chic.

When I saw her at Symphony Hall in Boston, I went alone. I sat in the second row as it curved toward the end of the row. From my seat, I could see her music stand, so when she turned the page, I could see the play list and could see the name of the song that was up next. I was out of my mind. Still am over Jane.

I remember watching Merv Griffin when Jane Olivor told him that she chose her name from the Olivetti typewriter when she worked as a secretary and wanted so much to be a singer.

Mike Douglas was a prince!

Welcome: Jane Olivor Tribute

(But Jane is not a blond. Why doesn't the webmaster show her as her authentic brunette self?)

I liked Merv Douglas

Merv would get right up in the guest's face, almost like a big secret were coming and dish with the best of them. I loved Merv in the afternoon.

[quote] I like when Mike had Olivia Newton-John and the Carpenters on it. And you can tell ONJ hated Richard and then Mike asks her directly, "So there's a rumour you've been sick, had the "wasting disease." Then Richard barrells in with "No, no she's just tired." And Karen says that she was working very hard is all. Karen looked skeletal and Olivia looked skeptical.

ONJ's boyfriend disappeared, was thought to be dead, then reappeared 12 years later in Mexico. I wonder if ONJ was skeptical about him. Also, I won't blame her parenting skills on her daughter, but the daughter seems to have body dysmorphic disorder and seems like a plastic surgery addict.

Dearest darling R274, Won't you please give a big hello to R257?

[quote]R28 why does Betty get to go on first? She was second-billed.

This may have been the seed of Bea Arthur’s feud with Betty White. It was shortly after this that Arthur began shitting on Betty’s dressing room floor, no?

I don't get why some of you don't think Mike Douglas wasn't as much a suck up as Merv Griffin. The only reason he got John and Yoko was because their agent booked them for a Douglas week in daytime, and a Dick Cavett Show in late night. There was no Johnny Carson appearance, and Merv didn't do weeks with the same co-host. The weekly co-host thing was pretty good and unique - I got to see Mason Reese, James Coco and Totie Fields in that role!

^^The Mike Douglas thing didn't do much for me. I liked Arthur Treacher as Merv's permanent sidekick (until of course, he wasn't).

Lily used Mike in The Incredible Shrinking Woman because she knew how big he was with housewives, He also had guest hosts for the entire week so we really got a chance to know them.

Treacher was dreadful and used to doze off. he was no Ed McMahon. Mike Douglas was no man of courage as an interviewer but face it, Merv sucking up to Lucy about "Mame" sets a high bar for sucking up. Even she had to know that it was a turkey by then.

[quote] Both Merv and Eva were homos according to Zsa Zsa's daughter Francesca

Francesca said that about her aunt? Link please.

[quote]Treacher was dreadful and used to doze off.

He was charming.

His very proper British persona act was perfect for the era of the British Invasion when all things English were in style.

The audience loved him. He was a great choice to have as side-kick.

R270 Look if Eva was straight, gay or bi I do not know, because I didn't know her. But, what I can't understand is why a beautiful wealthy lesbian, even back then, would marry 5 times. Once, I could see so it would always be referenced and give them cover like Rock Hudson's marriage. And, her husbands were successful but they weren't super wealthy she never married and oil tycoon or something.

But, by the time she and Merv were linked "romantically" I could see her just looking for companionship, so a gay friend was probably perfect.

[quote]Merv sucking up to Lucy about "Mame" sets a high bar for sucking up. Even she had to know that it was a turkey by then.

Cavett did the same in his interview with her about the upcoming film.

Lucy was a guest on their shows, she was there to promote the film, she was an icon....what would you expect them to say?

Also the combo Lucy, Robert Preston, Gene Saks looked promising. The film was scheduled to open at Radio City over Easter. It looked like a success.

Fun fact: the film got a good review in the NYTimes.

Francesca died in the shitter at a tacky Hollywood coffee shop, Norm's.

Merv had daily audience attendee, Mrs. Miller.

Lillian Miller

When Paar left Tonight to start his prime-time Jack Paar Program in 1962, Miss Miller then became a regular on that program as well as on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Merv Griffin Show. On at least one Paar program, shown on November 29, 1962, Miss Miller was an on-stage guest alongside Liberace and Cassius Clay.

R289 Exactly, she was a icon, whom the public loved, basically a national treasure, and she was making one last "big film" of course they would puff it and her up. If an interviewer had the Eternal Queen of Television on just to tell her that her new film was crap, their career would never have recovered.

Does anyone think the current tv talk show hosts wouldn't have done the same?

If the Jimmys or Stephen, etc... were on the air then, they would've been puffing so much smoke up Lucy's ass she could've given up smoking.

[quote]In the 1970s NYC was full of cabarets. So many venues...all long gone.

Yeah it took people quite awhile to realize they hated cabaret shows.

The three-hour interview Mike Douglas did for the Television Academy is excellent. Mike has a gift of storytelling and remembers everyone. He fills in lots of details. His section on the 1968 Judy Garland appearance on his show is rather heartbreaking. Then you watch the tape and while looking a bit drastic Judy sounds great and performs three songs quite touchingly.

I've watched the whole thing and might watch it again after this thread.

R294 AIDS did its number on the cabaret crowd.

The 1980s rolled around and the scene changed....Studio 54, disco, the cabarets ....gone.

I think and have always thought Mike Douglas is a classy guy and Merv is a perv at the most.

[quote] But, what I can't understand is why a beautiful wealthy lesbian, even back then, would marry 5 times.

Would you understand why beautiful gay male, even back then, would marry 5 times?

Maybe it was for "companionship."

R298 Well Cary Grant was in therapy and even took LSD as part of it, so I guess I can understand him doing that. But, Eva never seemed psychologically damaged.

R297, Mike was a Catholic boy who seemed very ignorant to the ways of show business even if he was in it. And he didn't drink, he thought his daughter was a virgin, and he was a regular churchgoer.

Miss Miller was no Miskel Spillman.

R289: You give a respectful plug and say as few words as possible. Everyone knew she couldn't sing and had limited range as an actress. It was dated and out of step for its time.

Was Merv really part of that gay Hollywood set in the 50s? (Tab Hunter, Monty Clift etc). I recall reading something (I think it was the Clift bio) which mentioned that he was in the scene but no one liked him.

R301. It's Mrs. Miller...not Miss.

Mike’s show was cozy.

Betty

Incorrect correction, R304. She was known as Miss Miller. Mrs. Miller - a different person entirely - was a recording singer of the era.

R307 Although to be fair, the way Jack Parr in particular pronounced her name -- sort of "Miz Miller" -- it was easy to start thinking of her as a Mrs.

(How and why do things like this stick in the brain for decades?)

Paar, not Parr, R308.

Catherine Parr, not Paar.

Merv's girlfriend Eva was in a bowling league at The Palms Bowling Alley in Palm Springs

[quote]You give a respectful plug and say as few words as possible. Everyone knew she couldn't sing and had limited range as an actress. It was dated and out of step for its time.

You are wrong. You are seeing it in hindsight.

Out of step for its time? Culturally, Hello Dolly was as out of step for 1969 as you could get, but there was still an audience for that type of entertainment.

Lucy couldn't sing? That was rarely an issue in musicals. Roz Russell had help from Lisa Kirk and no one knew. Who knew what magic would be concocted to overcome Lucy's vocal problems.

Remember too: Lucy was in an unexpected smash hit film in 1968.

And only 2 years prior to Mame, her TV show (as awfull as it was) was in the top 10 for ratings. Lucy was still popular, still had an audience.

So really, no one knew it was going to be a bomb.

[quote]You give a respectful plug and say as few words as possible.

Oh c'mon. Tell that to Colbert and Kimmel with some of the guests they have promoting their shlock.

These people have a show to put on.

Alas, it's Miss Miller.

R302 is correct. Carson or Letterman didn't faun over a well known star's bad work. They either finessed it by saying they hadn't seen it or talked about how BIG a deal their new movie was. Letterman did this with Streep for Mamma Mia. He talked about how fucking much money it was making and joked about her cold. He didn't lie and tell her she could sing! Or mention that it was shite and that she was 15 years too old for the part. And fat. Or that she can't really sing at all. Meryl, as always humbly drank in his sideways worship. That's how she worships herself.

You used to be able to host a chat show and promote a project without needing to cum all over it. Merv was the oooh guy. He knew great singers and actors - but he presented the bad ones with the same fanfare.

Lucille Ball seemed like a pretty sad woman.

Jane Oliver was of a time and place. She's really boring old dudes. But love your memories.

You know who did her best and most restrained work on Carson and Merv? Patti Labelle. She's a dramatic soprano. She curtailed some of the drama and delivered the damn song.

Francesca Hilton was interviewed for the recent book "Finding Zsa Zsa" and revealed that Aunt Eva was a lesbian and that among her lovers was Marlene Dietrich.

Miss Miller was the audience member

Mrs. Miller was the Florence Foster Jenkins of the '60s.

Two different people.

Jane fucking Oliver who?

Bring on Rosemary Clooney. That woman could sing. There are a few great songs from her on Merv.

Merv and Mike gave no special presentation to their singers. Aretha was forced to sing "Yesterday" with Mike Douglas!?!

Carson and Letterman knew how to present talent.

R314, you're right, that was a restrained performance (Patti Labelle, O Holy Night). The background singers were driving me nuts, though, blasting through Patti's voice on the high notes. I wanted to see if Patti could really hit those peak notes. I am thinking she could, but those fucking background singers drowned her out. It's probably not their fault. Their mikes should have been turned way down.

[quote]r289 Lucy was a guest on their shows, she was there to promote the film, she was an icon....what would you expect them to say?

If only the late stage Larry King could have interviewed Ball about the film.

“So, MAIMED… a musical about a gal wounded on the battlefield. Here to tell us about it is that beloved star, Lucy Lui.”

Both Merv and Mike were once band singers, Merv with Freddy Martin and Mike with Kay Kyser.

Of the two, Mike was the better singer.

I recall two amusing moments from the Mike Douglas show in the 1970s.

Diahann Carroll was a guest and in talking about her diet, she mentioned that she had not eaten a hot fudge sundae in many years. During the next commercial break, a staff member went to an ice cream parlor and brought one back. Mike practically waved it in front of Diahann's face, daring her to take a bite, but she refused.

A week when George Carlin was Mike's co-host and he was in his long hair and t-shirt phase, Lana Turner was a guest. She totally ignored George and kept her back to him during the interview with Mike. When George interjected with a question, Lana just turned and looked at him with disgust at his appearance.

And then she married him.

Merv has some play in this beautiful performance. He introduces her as an artist. This is great singing. Rosemary Clooney... never once a nostalgia act.

[Quote]Aunt Eva was a lesbian and that among her lovers was Marlene Dietrich.

I would have paid to have seen this and I'm a gold star gay

R319 Which is a needed reminder that whatever shortcomings Mike and Merv may have had, they were not count our blessings Larry King.

Arthur Treacher would always bring out the host by saying "... and now here's the dear boy himself -- MERRRRVIN!"

Who had Merv?

My mom loved Mike Douglas.

Jane Olivor was a talent for the ages. One of the all-time greats. Heartbreaking and soaring. Streisand doesn't even get me as emotional.

Merv had a soft spot for other washed up old band singers. He used to have Helen O'Connell on regularly and she would drone on lamenting the state of the contemporary music.

Mike was a better singer and Merv could laugh about his only hot being a novelty song about having a lovely bunch of coconuts. Both of them were David Frost-like in comparison with Larry King.

The Lucy troll really knows how to take the bait. Those talk shows never used so much vaseline on the camera as when Mame came out. Roz Russell was at least age appropriate when she did the non-musical version

.

R323, I believe that was Rosemary's first television appearance after her mental breakdown.

I believe Merv and Monty Clift were roommates in NYC at some point in the 50s. It turned up in passing in one of heh Clift bios. So, yes, same circle, but not clear how close.

I miss how these older shows spent much more time with their guests. Now they are often pushed off after a few minutes, Whoopi always says ‘You’re just gonna have to come back’ when they run out of time, Maybe you should schedule more time with your guests and stop wasting most if it.

The longer interviews were not necessarily better. A little Zsa Zsa or Charo goes a long way and old timers like Helen O'Connell droning on about the same stuff get old quickly. Among the most painful experiences must have been inexplicably frequent Merv guests, George Lindsay ("Goober" from "The Andy Griffith Show") and William Demerest ("Uncle Charlie" from "My Three Sons")--talk about people with nothing much to say, ever.

[quote]Culturally, Hello Dolly was as out of step for 1969 as you could get, but there was still an audience for that type of entertainment.

Hello Dolly, and all of those Broadway shows of the 1960s, were not out of step. Their audience was working people over 30, not students at Berkeley.

R332, Merv also once roomed with Errol Flynn when he was between wives.

I'd be willing to bet Merv serviced Errol's schlong more than once.

R335, Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway in 1964.

Yes, darling R337, but it ran on Broadway until 1971-72 to standing room only.

Around 1970 a lot of older showbizz stars went totally overboard with their fashions.

[quote]Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway in 1964.

The film opened in 1969.

1970 was around the time of peak ugly for everyone's clothing. Wide lapels, wide ties and flaired pants, leisure suits, earth tones that didn't exist in nature. Just awful. No wonder preppy stuff made a comeback after this.

It was SRO when it closed, r338?

George "Goober" Lindsay should have been asked about Josh Logan's staging for the locker room scenes in the musical "All American" in which he appeared. I think Logan wanted some bare asses on stage, or at least more skin showing than was set eventually settled on.

Ethel Merman closed Hello Dolly on Broadway, R342. SRO, yes. How could you not know this.

There was some old dish about Helen O’Connell touring with Margaret Whiting, Gisele McKenzie and two other female singers from the Big Band era, and how difficult she was. The show had a decent cross country run too…

Ooooh. Tell me about your gallbladder operation. Oooohh.

[quote] 1970 was around the time of peak ugly for everyone's clothing. Wide lapels, wide ties and flaired pants, leisure suits, earth tones that didn't exist in nature. Just awful. No wonder preppy stuff made a comeback after this.

A lot of it was ugly, but I do like wider lapels on jackets.

R338, Actually, dahhling, it closed on December 27, 1970.

And, r348, I understand the entire run it was SRO! Can you imagine?

R349, Not sure if it was SRO for Phyllis Diller.

According to r338 it did, r350.

Did Merv not have a husbear?

Pearl Bailey was a sell out in Hello Dolly in 1968

The great Mary Martin - who turned down the show originally - starred in an international tour.

Martha Raye, Yvonne De Carlo, Eve Arden, later Karen Morrow, Michele Lee, even Lainie Kazan, played Dolly. They offered the role to Lena Horne toward the end of the Broadway run, and she turned it down as being too old fashioned. Humpf.

I'd have paid big to see Bess Myerson in it, ha!

R270 that bearding stuff goes on all the time even today.

On one hand, it's nobody's business and on the other, it's sad that people can't be who they are.

I get it. You hear someone's gay and all you can imagine is them with a dick in their mouth or up their butt.

Ethel...making the song her own.

Nobody's business? Oh, hun, you're in the wrong place.

Did Mrs. Miller ever appear in "Hello Dolly!" on stage?

Love that Ethel Merman clip even though she sounds like shit. Was Merman a decent person?

She made swell stuffed cabbage, r358.

Oh good, I love cabbage.

[quote]Was Merman a decent person?

She was low class and celebrated it. She was Brooklyn and reveled in it. She wasn't bright and got paid for it.

Fuck off, r361, she needed the softness.

Why for the love of god is Merman 's resting place Colorado Springs?

She had a thing for Air Force men?

She told Loretta Young to go fuck herself so she's OK by me.

She was friendly with J Edgar Hoover and knew he was gay--happy to talk about that once he was dead.

[Quote]Borgnine was/is a homophobe. Merman liked the ladies on the side. Borgnine probably wasn't aware of this before the marriage.

^^ From an earlier DL thread.

R363 I figured it out, Ethel's daughter who died of a drug overdose in 1967, died in the area and was buried there. My guess is Ethel wanted to spend eternity near her daughter.

Merman was a total Repug and sang "Everything's Coming Up Roses" at Reagan's inauguration. I'm glad Borgnine Dutch Ovened her.

R363, Ethel is not really buried there, it's just a cenotaph.

She was cremated and her son Robert spread some of her ashes along Broadway one morning at dawn shortly after her death.

The rest of her ashes are still in NYC with those two close male friends of Ethel's, who also have her parents' ashes, given to them by Robert.

Ethel with Mike.

It would seem her ashes will go eventually to Colorado Springs.

R372, Ethel's ashes are discussed at 9:00. These gentlemen have in their possession the ashes of Ethel, her daughter, her parents and her former husband who was the father of her children.

Yes, that's what Find a Grave indicates. But it also states that her ashes will eventually go to the CS mausoleum. It's odd but there it is. Wiki states the same

She lived (at least part of the time) in Denver during her marriage (1953-60) to Bob Six.

Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin-

One was STRAIGHT and one was GAY

R375, Ultimately, an unhappy marriage. Bob Six later married Audrey Meadows and remained married to her until his death.

Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin-

One was an idiot and one was gay playing the game.

R377 But, it would explain why her daughter chose to live in the area, since she would've spent some of her teenage years in the area.

Merman wasn't Brooklyn -- she was from Astoria in Queens.

R363 That's where her daughter is buried. She died of a drug overdose near there in 1967, age 25.

Ummm Excuse me....

R380 such a difference!

R381, Ethel's daughter's ashes are NOT buried in Colorado.

If you'll access the clip at R373, Ethel AND her daughter's ashes are in NYC in the possession of those two close friends of Ethel.

R384- I did not know that Ethel and Fred had a daughter.

Again, another very good thread derailed.

R386, Then do something about it.

I never knew Virginia Graham looked like Fran Fine's mother

Thanks very much. Now, who'd like to hear ME do a duet?

How is this derailed? Ethel was on both Merv and Mike's shows. Threads like these always weave in other personalities.

Cesar Romero was a week-long guest host on the Mike Douglas Show. Look at this hot Daddy. The ladies loved him.

R390, Ethel even sang with Dick Cavett.

Ethel would sing with a dishwasher if there was pay involved.

Fcuk off with the Ethyl Merman shite. She couldn't sing by any modern standard and was a crude, stupid and ugly woman. She BLARED and her vibrato was two miles wide. NO ONE CARES. She was not a great at anything except atrocious LOUD "singing." A total anachronism of alleged talent. A fucking horror show of ham.

She didn't need a mic - who cares? She sounded like SHITE.

She had just filmed this commercial, r392. Dress look familiar?

r394 is doing everything in his power to turn this into an Ethel Merman thread.

R394 = Ernest Borgnine

[quote]That was Dick Cavette's selling point.

It's Ca-VETTE, we're French!

Mike and Merv both sang on their shows. Mike was fine, Merv was not a good singer any more - if he ever was. He had been a band singer with the Ted Weems Orchestra and had a hit with "I've Got A Lover-ly Bunch Of Cocoanuts." Merv had the awesome jazz trumpeter/singer Jack Sheldon in the band. Jack also acted, he was on Dragnet sometimes. He also sang Conjuction Junction ("What's your function?").

I'm astounded to learn Merman was Episcopalian. I would have thought Jew from Brooklyn.

Cesar Romero’s appeal was lost on me.

Even in his youth? I find him HAF. I would bet the house he topped Merv.

She was a bitch.

Merv & Eva...

Cesar Romero.

Omar Sharif.

Ricardo Montalban.

Sean Connery.

Unlike Merv, all great role models for the aging among us.

Does anyone have pics of Merv and Mike without their wigs?

This is Merv Griffin with his late in life facelift and nose job:

^ His ears look glued on. It's the skin that does old white men in. All those blotches and broken blood vessels. Merv just needed a bit of concealer and foundation. Seacrest knows.

Caesar Romero's ashes are just around the corner from my parents at the Inglewood cemetery. Ray Charles is down the hall.

This thread has spiraled off into tangents like a lunchtime chat in a senior care home.

Say what you want about Merv, but the clip at R404 is so charming.

By 400 posts, r410, what thread doesn't?

Let them go on long enough and all threads eventually wind up being about Joan Crawford:

Yes, R413. With duplicate posts.

Started being about Joan at r175, r413.

Ewww why’s his skin so blotchy? He looks like a burn victim.

^ He's Irish

Merv loved Gloria Loring. Who knew she was married to Alan Thicke and the mother to Robin Thicke?

How she looked in the '70s:

Back to Joan...

R417 He's an overweight drinker who spent way too much time in the desert sun. That'll do it to you.

Thanks for that clip, R412. Love the DeCastro sisters.

And as we see, Merv was also a smoker.

R420, THAT'S IRISH!

r399 Seeing Jack Sheldon's name rang a bell and I looked him up. I remember watching his short-lived sitcom "Run, Buddy, Run." Thanks for posting.

A little walk down 'Memory Lane.'

They *are* fabulous, r421.

This thread has been overtaken by the eldest of the eldergays. It's no longer fun or interesting. Eighty year old white drunks who can always talk about Ethyl Merman and Joan Crawford and the Dionne Quintuplets. 5 diapers worth of shit.

R420, I see you're Irish. Boo hoo.

Uh...it's a thread about Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin, r426. Why are you even here?

I'm here to inspire and be admired, R428.

You're the very definition of sour disposition.

I, for one, am happy to be introduced to the DeCastro Sisters! I love their hair in this pic.

Taking malodorous dumps in threads isn't quite the way to go about it, r429....

R426 You're always free to start a thread that'll appeal to people like you, all five of them here. Maybe a poll: 'What Will Brooklyn Beckham Be Doing In Ten Years?"

Were the Del Rubio Triplets the blonde DeCastros?

J'adore this thread.

Mike Douglas & Merv Griffin were no Joe Franklin.

Gosh, I think decades ago I had a book about Joe Franklin interviewing silent movie stars. He was a long time ago!

And after that you could stay up all night listening to Long John Knebel. Nobody ever did talk radio better.

Joe & Miss Mayo

[quote]I had a book about Joe Franklin interviewing silent movie stars.

Liar, you saw it when it originally aired.

[quote]Pamela Mason was the dishiest, rather cuntiest Hollywood wife who married married to James Mason. Being British, she could pull off the haughty, entitled attitude like no other. And it was right up Merv's alley when he wanted to gossip and have the audience peek in for an hour of dish.

Just remembering how my mom loathed Pamela Mason. I didn't even know who she was, at the time. Nowadays I wonder how a classy guy like James Mason could have been married to her.

R441, At the time of Pamela's divorce from James, she was awarded a record high alimony settlement for California.

Virginia Mayo was a bona fide movie star and was very popular.

I couldn't name even one movie she did and I assume she is completely forgotten except by those who knew her personally. It's so strange how some stars live on in the public's awareness, yet others are entirely forgotten.

I am 38 years old. Virginia Mayo was part of a fantastic film - The Best Years of Our Lives. Her part may have been meant to be unflattering and selfish, but she gave that character life and made her very relatable to a modern audience. Dana Andrews married that kind of girl - but neither could adjust to the change that the war brought to their lives. She's kind of fearless in her role. The war is over and she wants to live a little. She waited for him. But...

As the moll in White Heat, with Cagney - she is unforgettable. She's not exactly the film noir femme fatale - but something more real and dangerous. A blonde bitch who's invested in outcomes.

TBYOOL

R408 not all white men - rosacea is the “curse of the Celts.” You won’t see any (or many) Mediterranean or Jewish men with skin like that.

She's not liked on Datalounge, I don't know why. But Bette Midler was once so original. Sexy and fun. Open and unique.

This is a great example of the long form interview. It's a bit awkward at times - topics were discussed but the stories are unrehearsed. She's plugging her TV special. And that is not even mentioned until the last 4 minutes! She's there to talk about her life without being given an internal. During the rest of the half hour - we learn a lot about how Bette grew up, where she received musical inspiration, her time at The Baths and how she feels about performing. She talked about being vulgar and her celebration of that. A lot of insight into her professional struggle and the development of her live performing. Her love of girl groups, slutty back up singers and bad dick jokes. Dinah (whoever she was) - was clearly a fan. Midler makes 1970s approachable and honest. How she rocketed to stardom overnight - a long evening.

I remember when Merv used to have on top modeling agent Nina Blanchard !!!

The trouble with talk shows today is that the pre-show interview of the guest by a production assistant, where they identify and agree what the guest will talk about, has become far more important than it used to be. The line of questioning is so locked in, spontaneity and real discovery of the guest rarely happens. In the old days the host would probe around and interesting stuff would be thrown up.

Lainey Gossip posted an interesting piece today on how talk shows are performances of themselves.

There's not a decent interviewer on any current talk show.

ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE! ETHEL MERMAN IS A FAT WHORE!

R452 Grow up.

R453 Lick me where I shit.

It's immaturity....and meth, r453.

R454. Those words would never be spoken by Merv or Mike.

R456 But Ethel sang them many times.

To me.

r457=

They always did that, R449. Today's issues might be that Jimmy Fallon is no Merv Griffin. And guests of today rarely go off script because they don't know how to have a conversation.

Stars now only go on talk shows if they are putting out (promoting) a movie, etc. Some stars are really delusional and become upset if an interviewer asks them something that's not related to the star's new product.

I love how the women used to come on stage with their pocketbooks.

Mike Douglas interviewing both Judy and Diana Canova is very heartwarming. He apparently first met Judy Canova at a party held at her house. Since she did well financially she asks which house (that's epic in a way) and probably didn't remember Mike Douglas at all.

Judy Canova was no Martha Raye

R462, Judy Canova was too practical to own multiple homes simultaneously.

R113 Merv had Patti but Mike has Patti in 1977!

Neither Mike nor Merv ever wore wigs. WTF?

Neither of them were Cass Daley, r463.

Cass Daley was no Dorothy Shay

R467, Cass Daley's death was horrific . . .

"On March 22, 1975, alone in her apartment, the 59-year-old comedian apparently fell and landed on her glass-top coffee table. A shard of glass jammed into her throat and she bled out before her husband came home and discovered her. "

I'm old enough to remember Cass Daley, but I've never heard of her.

R469, These things happen.

1989 Green Acres reunion.

R463 of course not! She had her own teeth for starters and far better taste in men I do dare say.

Didja know Diana used to be a Scientologist?

Fuck Smelly Kelly!

Thank God for Drew. She is like the best of Mike and Merv rolled into one!

Did someone say glass coffee table?

I think what would help right now would be some Silvana...

I wish someone would remake The Men in My Little Girl's Life but reflect the love life of Liza Minnelli .

I liked The Steve Allen Show better, if we're talking syndicated talk shows. It's where I discovered Tallula Bankhead.

I was changing the channel and Bette Davis was on Dick Cavett. Then Arte Johnson came on. While Dick was talking to Arte, Bette (off-camera) starts having a coughing fit. They keep talking and all of a sudden Bette gets up and walks off stage. I wasn't paying attention so when I noticed she'd come back on, I don't know what her explanation was.

R480 I guess this would be the show?

Great clip R477! For those who don't know, Silvana is Giada De Laurentiis's grandmother.

R479 Steve Allen invented most late night schticks and his shows were always fun. But he became so conservative as he aged and worse had to lecture us on how the country was going to the dogs that I just can't remember him fondly.

I'm glad to know that Diana Canova is apparently out of Scientology.

Robert Urich once said on a talk show promoting "Soap" that Diana was an incredible kisser.

Mike Douglas could be an asshole sometimes.

Here, he was making Doris Day uncomfortable with his line of questioning and then by bullying her into singing.

Were Merv and Mike ever seen together?

Just askin'.

Doris Day was a whore. Mike and Johnny knew it. They didn't buy her I don't want to talk about that act when she had just iced her nipples before walking out.

That famous Oscar Levant remark remains one of the cleverest jokes of the era.

R476 Did someone say glass door?

From Wiki, r484:

Canova is a former member of the Church of Scientology, an organization she has since criticized. She found the Scientologists straightforward in their desire for money, declaring in 1993 in a Premiere magazine interview, "The first time I walked in those doors, they said, 'Just give us all the money in your bank account'". She also criticized the Church's counseling practice, called auditing, when she said, "They're telling you, 'Don't spend $100 an hour on a shrink's couch, it'll ruin your mind.' Auditing is so much better?"

Funny Merv Griffin interview with William Demarest (following an interview with Estelle Winwood).

R483. I don't think he became so conservative that he was a right-winger, or something. He remained a Democrat, I believe. But he was opinionated and went against the grain of pop culture of the time, when he was older.

R493, Steve Allen was his own biggest fan.

You have *no* idea, r494.

R494 Yeah well anyway, I thought he was funny. A lot of people did. Excuse me for not having the same opinions as you.

For the last four years of his life, Steve Allen was National Honorary Chairman of the right-wing Parents Television Council.

Steve Allen, like David Letterman and some others, had talent, he was a comedian. Merv Griffin had no talent, or very minor talent. He was a talk show host and made a lot of money in TV. MIke Douglas - nice guy, no great talent. I enjoy comedians and people who have something interesting and smart going on.

R497 All I said was I enjoyed his show. If you didn't, fine. I don't need to defend my opoinion any more.

Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs were the great innovators.

David Letterman owes so much of his shtick to Steve Allen.

And yeah, by the 1970s Allen was pretty insufferable.

It's very possible that, like many entertainers. Steve Allen was both a brilliant innovator & someone who had more than a healthy degree of arrogance.

No, R501, it's not possible.

Steve Allen thought he was a lot funnier than he actually was.

Jack Paar thought he was an overrated blowhard and said so in his autobiography. I recall him promoting his book on "Donahue" and Phil brought it up only to have Paar double down and express his dislike for the man.

[quote]Jack Paar thought he was an overrated blowhard and said so in his autobiography

I thought both Allen and Paar were overrated blowhards

I don’t believe that story about Merv and Errol Flynn…not a word. Was that book written by Darwin Porter?

Merv was a top. He didn't suck Errol Flynn's diseased dick.

R491 surprised they didn’t off her after that! And this must have been a long time ago if a shrink as charging $100/hour.

Canova has Phyllis on her resume. She has FOLLIES cred.

Merv a top? Lol 😂 I’m going out of my mind.

Burt Reynolds' Interview with....Ginger Rogers, June Allyson, Esther WIlliams and Jane Powell. 1991

R505, Merv often mentioned on his afternoon talk show that he and Errol were once temporary roommates. Merv's uncle was a tennis champion in California and a good friend of Errol's and that's how Merv and Errol met.

Merv Griffin was a top like Andy Cohen is a top.

BTW, Merv died of prostate cancer.

Merv died of being fat and old and rich. He lived a good life. Erroly Flynt was gross. Not everyone finds that kind of thing attractive. Merv liked to fuck twinks. He may have sucked their dicks too. Why not? But that's no reason to sink as low as Meryl Flynn. Datalounge eldergays have some kind of size queen fetish. Y'all are professional bottoms who survived AIDS. 70 years old +++.

I had to google Errolyn Flynn. He looked a bit like that cannibal dude from CMBYN. He wasn't really sexy at all. Tall and very white with even features.

Prostate cancer has nothing to do with getting fucked. It's good to stimulate the area. The only GAY cancer that results from getting fucked is the AIDS. Some of you are suffering it. But most are already dead. RIP.

R513, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264).

Don't call me by your Nami. I was born a king .

R514 What's the number of the troll hotline?

Who is Meryl Flynn?

Errol, post-transition.

Drew Barrymore is a funnier talk show host than Steve Allen!

Fact.

She's "Mrs." Miller to Carol Burnett.

R313 The woman in the audience was Mrs. Miller. MRS. MILLER. Not Miss. I'm old enough to remember.

R313 I mean, she may have been Miss Miller in real life but they always called her Mrs. Miller, on these shows - I swear.

R521, Sorry, it was Miss Miller, NOT MRS.

R523 Okay, you're probably right, but the fact is, apparently many people on TV erroneously referred to her as Mrs. Miller (including Carol). I always heard her called Mrs. Miller.

Jack Paar and Miss Miller have a reunion @ 8:35.

Per Wikipedia, she's "Miss" Miller.

Mike Douglas used to remind me of Ted Baxter.

Arlene Herson & Virginia Graham!

I always preferred being on Mike’s show.

I have nowhere else to post this - saw it on Twitter today. Suzanne Pleshette was FUN.

^^^ How old is this?

According to her Wikipedia page, Virginia Graham discovered that her husband - the much-mentioned Harry - was gay when she found him in bed with their butler.

R532, I hate when that happens.

[quote]According to her Wikipedia page, Virginia Graham discovered that her husband - the much-mentioned Harry - was gay when she found him in bed with their butler.

It would've made a better story (and a tie-in to the subject of this thread) if her butler had been Arthur Treacher.

R532, very interesting. It would be more believable if lesbian comedian KAYE BALLARD had been OUT during her lifetime.

R532 Somehow it just seems like Virginia Graham would be married to a gay man.

R536, Virginia used to boast that Harry sat in the audience of every show she ever hosted, though he often fell asleep.

If you've never heard this before, it's hilarious.

I didn't know of her illustrious radio career.

R538 I don't understand what made her crack up.

Graham looked like she fucked Ethyl Mertz with a BBC strap on. I know next to nothing about women, but too many Old Hollywood broads married to gay men keep getting outed in new bios Graham may be next

It seems that if there ever was a time for a tell-all Virginia Graham bio, that time was decades ago.

R541, Once and for all, Ted Casablanca was no fag.

[quote]According to her Wikipedia page, Virginia Graham discovered...

Virginia Graham also discovered the actual St. Valentine's Day Massacre in progress and was apparently the first person to report it to the police that day. I believe she was a young teen at the time.

R544, Virginia was also the inspiration for the Jack Lemmon character in "Some Like it Hot".

Are Virginian Grahame and Dame Edna Beveridge the same woman? I swear she said possums.

R546, "Impossible person".

[quote]Virginian Grahame

OH FUCKING DEAR!

That must be her loving husband Harry seated next to her at the beginning.

r548 But you were OK with "Edna Beveridge?"

Dame Edna Beverage is a transwoman from England who does chat shows and stand up comedy. Virginian Grahame looks very much like her and I suspect they are similar in age. I am OK with both or neither.

G-R-A-H-A-M

E-V-E-R-A-G-E

Yes, they are both Jewesses if that is your point R552? Virginian Grahame makes no secret of it but Edna Beverage doesn't like to discuss it. She hangs with the Royal Family and is sensitive to their prejudices.

Somethin with that gurl ain't right.

Around 1982, I was seated at Jim McMullan's restaurant in NYC waiting for someone, and guess who was at the table next to me? Virginia Graham! She started talking to me and wouldn't stop. I believe this was the first incident of a celebrity bothering a non-celebrity in New York history.

Virginia was at a single table, perhaps she was eating by herself. I lost interest after my friend arrived.

[quote]I believe this was the first incident of a celebrity bothering a non-celebrity in New York history.

LOL

The word “yenta” never fit someone as perfectly as it did Virginia Graham.

Virginia Graham was a jailbird. And a g-damn snitch.

A seriously over-the-hill Jack Paar, looking & acting much older than his 54 years, in his short-lived, 1973 comeback talk show (with Peggy Cass as his announcer). As a bonus, there's a reunion with Lillian Miller, but, alas for those debating her title, she is not identified.

R555 did Michael Dorsey wait on you?

R559, No debate necessary. She was Miss Miller.

Who gives a shit?

R399 Jack Sheldon was hot and hirsute. Always thought he was porking Merv.

R558 I never could understand what a sophisticate like Faulkner could see in her.

R564 Whoops! Make that Fitzgerald.

Sorry.

[quote]Whoops! Make that Fitzgerald. Sorry.

R565 F. Scott Fitzgerald had a relationship with Hollywood gossip columnist Sheila Graham. Not Virginia Graham. lol

Sheila did appear on The Merv Griffin show fairly often.

R566 Never mind.

Just because ... was there ever an attempt at a Rona Barrett talk show?

[quote]F. Scott Fitzgerald had a relationship with Hollywood gossip columnist Sheila Graham.

SHEILAH, not Sheila.

[quote]Just because ... was there ever an attempt at a Rona Barrett talk show?

She did 1970s specials, afternoon shows, but specials. She was DREADFUL, with big questions like "when did you lose your virginity?" and "was your first sexual experience gratifying?" Rarely was Rona taken seriously, which was her goal.

Then Rona got a interview spot on the 1980-ish re-vamped Tom Snyder Tomorrow Show. The new format was a disaster, and Barrett and Snyder were at each other's throats - in public - for the duration. Rona left and got to deliver hard show biz news (her wish), on Entertainment Tonight. Ironic since she'd previously trashed that show. Of course, no one really wanted to hear that kind of stuff on an entertainment program anyway.

Rona was a show business gossip reporter, not Mike Wallace or Barbara Walters (when she did news). It would have been far better for her if she had simply accepted that. Unfortunately, And Rona was a bitter, jealous bitch in her TV career, and that did not endear her to those who might have wanted to work with her on a daily talk show.

[quote] SHEILAH, not Sheila.

Is that you, Deborah Kerr?

R570: That pompous gasbag Tom Snyder. They were really funny (unintentionally) with each other. I used to work nights and occasionally caught that blowhard Snyder. Her attempt at being "hard hitting" was ludicrous.

Rona's specials were great. Networks didn't even think that celebrities could be interviewed like that and Barbara Walters made a career of it after Barrett. People really forget that she made her name on Good Morning America as the Entertainment Reporter. All shows like ET are direct steals from what she did.

The interview with Cher (on her bed) is very much why the specials were so good. The celebrities often seemed to reveal things they wouldn't have otherwise. It seems mild today, but in those days, those kinds of revelations were rare.

"The celebrities often seemed to reveal things they wouldn't have otherwise. It seems mild today, but in those days, those kinds of revelations were rare."

Demonstrating of course how a culture grows and matures.

R574, I remember Liza interrupting her interview with Rona because she had to pee.

Miss DeHaven

R575, I remember that as well, but I think it's obvious she needed a little tootsky.

[quote]People really forget that she made her name on Good Morning America as the Entertainment Reporter.

Rona Barrett did her minute of gossip syndicated to local evening news outlets every day from the late 1960s to the mid-70s, she certainly was know on TV, and had a "name." And don't forget her movie magazines, early on it was only one, Rona's Barrett's Hollywood. Funny, I remember the her on channel 5 news in New York (WNEW), and the anchors constantly made fun of her. Many times they couldn't show her report because "the film didn't arrive from Calif today."

Did Rona wear two wigs? One blonde and one black?

Those gossip segments definitely contributed to her camp image, but the GMA segments were legit Hollywood news and when she switched over to Today, there was a ratings bump for them. Despite her start as the fat girl trying to get even with the popular crowd, she became a very good reporter who took Entertainment news seriously.

Rona Barrett took Entertainment news seriously. Entertainment news didn't take Rona Barrett seriously.

R581, by the time she went national with GMA, entertainment personalities definitely took her seriously. It was said that when her reports aired at approximately 7:40am, Hollywood stopped and watched.

I remember Rona being the gossip reporter on an ABC morning entertainment show hosted by Joanna Barnes.

It was circa 1967, because I recall watching Rona break the news of Jayne Mansfield's death.

Ha ha, R582. Who said that? I'm sure "Hollywood" got up at 4:40AM to watch Rona on GMA.

Hey, Rona -- this is OUR thread!

Rona...who?

[quote]I remember Liza interrupting her interview with Rona because she had to pee.

I guess that explains this

Zsa Zsa looked especially beautiful on this 1982 Merv Griffin Show.

And Barry Bostwick looked hot as fuck.

I ran camera for a local afternoon news /weather broadcast for an nbc affiliate in the southwest / Miss Rona's feed from Hollywood came on every afternoon approx 4 25 / for a few minutes. A highlight for what was a pretty dull shift .... i was a freshman in college / it was the first time a guy hit on me / a married guy in ad sales / i couldn't figure out what the hell he was doing.... LOL

R589, Just what was he doing?

R590 He was chatting me up /he would corner me alone / / but I enjoyed his company ...at some point he made a grab at my crotch. I think I enjoyed the attention but really had no clue. Its strange to think 50 years later that behavior is so demonized....

I may have asked this already but....

Mike Douglas was set in Philadelphia? So guests were driven there from NY? He was popular enough to make the trip worthwhile.

Originally, R592, his nationally syndicated show was from Cleveland.

R592, Some guests used to mention having been driven to Philadelphia from NY, and some even shared the limo with other guests.

The show began as a local chat show with celebs in Cleveland---the guest list was eclectic because it relied on who might be doing a promotional tour, performing, etc. The co-host thing was to make doing it a draw. Westinghouse syndicated the show first among its stations and then nationally. The station where he did the show, KYW, was swapped for the one in Philly and the format continued.

[quote]He was popular enough to make the trip worthwhile.

Philly is not far from New York, and it was either Mike Douglas or Virginia Graham's show - take your pick.

[quote]Philly is not far from New York

It's 80mph as the crow flies and about 100 miles to drive. I would say it's far.

2 1/2 - 3 hr drive.

It's about 1 1/2 hours by train from NYC to Philadelphia. 1 hr and 15 on Acela.

Virginia looked like Harvey Weinstein in drag…