The Merv Griffin Jeopardy Quiz
Could you pass a quiz about the game show Jeopardy!?
A trivia quiz about the television game show "Jeopardy!"
Do you consider yourself to be the ultimate trivia wonk?
Answer a series of forehead-slapping anecdotal factoids. It’s up to you to weigh each fact in each anecdotal factoid. They’re tricky. One might seem like total B.S. until it’s revealed to be strangely and disturbingly “True.” Another anecdotal factoid might seem to contain all solid and verifiable facts until it’s revealed to be yet one more big fat garden variety “Bald-Faced Lie.” And here’s the trickiest part: an anecdotal factoid might even be “Half-True”; in other words, a mishmosh of truths and bald-faced lies, where you don’t know where one ends and the other begins, much like the usual slop served by Madison Avenue, Washington D.C., and the Internet in its entirety.
Category: The "What is Merv Griffin?" Quiz
Decide for yourself, and mark “T” for “Truth”, “F” for “Bald-Faced Lie” or “TF” for “Half-Truth” in the blank slot next to each factoid.
The answers will be revealed on the next page.
1) __ Jeopardy! executive producer Merv Griffin composed the show’s 30-second “think music” played during the Final Jeopardy category. Its title is “Time, for Tony”, named after his son.
2) __ In 1963, Julann Griffin, Merv’s wife, came up with the idea for Jeopardy! on an airplane trip with her husband.
3) __ Bob Barker was the original host of Jeopardy!, but quit in protest after two months because the show was offering Dicker & Dicker mink coats as contestant prizes. As show policy, Merv wouldn’t get rid of any sponsor.
4) __ In 1953, Merv Griffin starred in “So This is Love”, and made movie history by sharing the screen’s first open-mouth French kiss with actress Kathryn Grayson.
5) __ When questioned about his sexuality in a New York Times interview, Griffin responded, “I tell everybody that I’m quartre-sexual. I will do anything with anybody for a quarter.”
6) __ Merv Griffin died on August 12, 2007. According to his wishes, his headstone reads “I will not be right back after these messages.”
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Here are the answers for The “What is Merv Griffin?” Quiz
Answers:
A reminder: “T” is for “Truth”, “F” is for “Bald-Faced Lie” or “TF” is for “Half-Truth”.
1) T: It’s true that Merv Griffin composed the “think music” played during Final Jeopardy. According to Griffin, the royalties for this 30-second piece of music had earned him between $70-80 million.
2) T: It’s true that Julann Griffin came up with the idea for Jeopardy! on an airplane flight with Merv. It happened after she suggested that he do a Q&A game show. Merv, however, was reluctant because of the network stigma against Q&A games due to the fifties cheating scandal involving “The $64,000 Question.” Julann responded to his protests, “Then why don’t you give the answers … and make them (the contestants) come up with the questions?”
And so Jeopardy! was born.
3) TF: This answer is both true and false. It’s true that Bob Barker is an animal rights advocate and wouldn’t allow fur products on his show, The Price is Right. It’s false that he was the original host of Jeopardy! Art Fleming was the show’s first host.
4) T: It’s true that in 1953’s “So This is Love” Merv shared the screen’s first open-mouth French kiss with actress Kathryn Grayson.
5) T: It’s true that Merv once told New York Times that “I’m quartre-sexual. I will do anything with anybody for a quarter.” After he died, gay groups criticized the Times because the newspaper had excluded this memorable quote from their obituary.
6) F: It’s false that Merv Griffin’s headstone reads “I will not be right back after these messages.” In a 2005 interview, though, he did say that this would make an appropriate epitaph.
