Merv Griffin, 1925-2007

Time.com’s Richard Zoglin posted a tribute to the legendary host earlier today. People like Johnny Carson may have defined late-night TV, but Merv Griffin practically single-handedly made daytime and syndicated TV, not simply through his talk show but through his production empire, which was responsible, for starters, for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. When Time’s Jeanne McDowell and I worked together on a feature last year about the art of TV hosting–what this peculiar job is and what makes someone good at it–there was one obvious choice to speak with first. The man knew television instinctively: that when it came down to it, it was as simple as liking people, and being liked in return.