R.I.P. Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin, who went from big-band era crooner to fabulously successful TV talk show host before making a fortune as the creator of two of television's most popular game shows and then parleying that into a billion-dollar hotel empire, died today. He was 82, and passed away from a recurrence of prostate cancer, which had been treated successfully more than 10 years ago.

Man, talk about a TV icon. You can keep your "American Idol" and "Jackass" and whatever reality TV crap you watch, Merv was a legend.