Family games.
Merv Griffin, who died Sunday at 82, is being remembered as a singer, talk-show host, impresario, casino owner, and all-round celeb. But his biggest contribution was to help to shape American culture in a profound way, for which millions of families should thank him.
He was the man behind Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, two of the most popular of all TV game shows. Both invite the folks at home to play along - and both let you get a snack or take a pit stop, plop back on the couch, and resume playing.
It's easy to knock TV. But TV does at times function like the village campfire. We sit round together and share in the stories, the jokes, the fun. It may not be War and Peace or The Waste Land - but it's culture, all right, what we hold in common.
Millions of us might not know the words of the national anthem, but we can whistle the tick-tock tune Griffin wrote for the final round of Jeopardy. Many a family has sat around after dinner and tried filling the blanks, answering the questions, holding their breaths as the wheel spins round.
In realizing the wish of millions to relax from a crazy, work-mad existence and play games with those they love, Merv Griffin read America right. And that's his final Jeopardy answer.