[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Jan 18 2005, 07:16 PM\']Merv had nothing to do with Martindale or Headline Chasers; Wink created that himself, but since Merv and King World had an previous agreement, Merv's company was forced into helping with the production. In fact, according to some previous posts, Merv hated HC, Wink in turn hated Merv, and they fell out.[/quote]
It should surprise precisely no one that the story comes out differently in Wink's autobiography. He tells of having to get Merv's "final say" in order to work with KingWorld, and tells of their first meeting:
"Literally two minutes into the presentation, Merv got up, moved to the arm of my chair and said to me, 'Wink, this isn't just another game show -- this is a very important game show!' "
Wink also credits Merv for changing the name from his original The Front Page. One paragraph later, Wink and his short-attention-span style of writing has moved past HC's cancellation and on to the next show.