Honestly, I'm kind of bummed about Merv Griffin's death.
His talk show, which ran for decades, had long since outlived its usefulness, and towards the end, Merv became self-consciously ironic, knowing his brand of entertainment was coming to an end. I prefer to think of Merv in his seventies mode, a master of unintentional cheese, who once opened his show by singing Piano Man. I was nine or ten, it was the first time I'd ever heard the song, and I was both mesmerized and terrified.
No clips of that, but apparently Merv's taste in music improved in later years. Here he is introducing Oingo Boingo, followed by an interview with Danny Elfman--who seems to be on the verge of biting off Merv's chubby face:
