Opinion: With Fred Travalena as Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle

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At the risk of seeming obsessed by SCTV, I must note that “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy!” and hotel deals weren’t Merv Griffin’s only achievements. Griffin inspired three of the most inventive and free-associative parodies produced by SCTV, all of them anchored by Rick Moranis’ impersonation of Griffin, which consisted of a gray wig, a padded rump and two vocalizations: “Oooooooh” (Merv/Rick’s sycophantic response to anything his B-list celebrity guests said) and “We’ll be right back!”

In the “Merv Griffith Show,” which built on the frail similarity between Merv’s last name and Andy Griffith’s, Merv was the sheriff of Mayberry. In “Merv Griffin: The Special Edition,” Steven Speilberg directed Merv, Orson Welles (John Candy), HAL the Computer from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” George Plimpton (Joe Flaherty) and Griffin regular Phyllis Newman in a televised space flight that managed to parody all concerned along with “Star Wars,” the rivalry between Spielberg and George Lucas and Plimpton’s sideline as a pitchman for Intellivision video games.

Then there was the tribute to Merv’s “theme shows”: a clueless salute to the psychedelic ‘60s with a Nehru-jacketed Merv singing, “There must be some kinda way outa here,” and bantering with Dennis Hopper (Dave Thomas) and an out-of-it Jackie Vernon (Candy). Oooooooh!