Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin began their television talk show careers on the same night — October 1, 1962.
That’s when Carson started his run on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” while Griffin launched a daytime hour, also on NBC and emanating from the same Studio 6B at Rockefeller Center. The difference is that Carson kept the gig for thirty years, while Griffin’s show was cancelled after one.
But he bounced back and launched a syndicated show in 1965 that ran in different dayparts around the country. In 1969, he was hired to do a late night show on CBS, up against Carson on NBC and Dick Cavett on ABC. However, Merv and the network didn’t agree on much, so after three years he was fired, at which point he immediately started a new show which he owned and had syndicated by Metromedia for stations to air in late afternoon or primetime.
Unlike his earlier efforts, that was the one that stuck, staying on the air continuously until September 5, 1986. By that point, Merv had become one of the richest entertainers in the world, having sold his company — including the two game shows he invented, “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” — to Columbia Pictures Television (a division of Coca-Cola) for a quarter-billion dollars.
During all those years, Merv and Johnny became friends, but the former didn’t appear on the latter’s show until the night Griffin’s final show aired. Here’s how it looked…