Merrill Heatter (December 16, 1925-October 8, 2017) produced many {{Game Show}}s, most of which were in a partnership with Bob Quigley; the company was acquired by Creator/{{Filmways}} in 1968, and in turn became part of Creator/OrionPictures when they merged with Filmways in the early 1980s. After Quigley retired in 1981, Heatter continued making games through an independent company.

A trademark in their productions was the larger than life set design. A big board game (''Video Village''), a big elegant set (''The Celebrity Game''), big playing cards (''Gambit''), big numbers and dice (''High Rollers''), a big pinball machine (''The Magnificent Marble Machine''), a big lie detector (''Hot Seat''), big triangles (''Battlestars''), and big squares (''The Hollywood Squares'') were just some of the examples of this trademark.
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!!"This has been a Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley Production":
[[index]]
* ''Video Village'' (1960-62) and its juvenile versions, ''Video Village Junior'' (1961-62) and ''Shenanigans'' (1964-65)
* ''Double Exposure'' (1961)
* ''People Will Talk'' (1963)
* ''The Celebrity Game'' (1964-65; reran from 1967-68)
* ''PDQ'' (1965-69) and its revival, ''Baffle'' (1973-74)
* ''Showdown!'' (1966)
* ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'' (1966-81) and its juvenile version, ''The Storybook Squares'' (1969)
* ''Temptation'' (1967-68; not related with the ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'' remake [[Series/Temptation2007 from 2005]])
* ''Funny You Should Ask!!'' (1968-69; has nothing to do with the [[Series/FunnyYouShouldAsk 2017 series of the same name]])
* ''Lohman & Barkley's Name Droppers'' (1969-70)
* ''The Amateur's Guide to Love'' (1972)
* ''Series/{{Gambit}}'' (1972-76) and its revival, ''Las Vegas Gambit'' (1980-81, pilot had a "Living Deck" that ''The Creator/DavidLetterman Show'' mocked on its GrandFinale)
** There were also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feL9UepGjSQ at least two pilots]] taped in October 1979, with [[http://gameshowvault.blogspot.com/2013/05/gambit-1979-unsold-pilotand-trust-me-it.html a very different format]] and a few set pieces that were recycled for the eventual series.
* ''Runaround'' (1972-73; pilot taped in 1971)
* ''Series/HighRollers'' (1974-76, 1978-80)
* ''Series/TheMagnificentMarbleMachine'' (1975-76)
* ''Series/HotSeat'' (1976)
* ''The Confidence Game'' ([[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=ConfidenceGame October 28, 1976]]; unsold pilot hosted by Jim [=McKrell=])
* ''To Say the Least'' (1977-78)
* ''Bedtime Stories'' (1979)
[[/index]]

Heatter and Quigley also worked with Creator/HannaBarbera on ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' (1968-70), which was to originally include a game show element. (This was why Dick Dastardly and Muttley were often replaced by [[{{Expy}} expies]] in various other H-B projects like ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics''- the rights for them were tangled up between H-B and H-Q.)

!!"This has been a Merrill Heatter Production":
[[index]]
* ''Series/{{Battlestars}}'' (1981-82, 1983)
* ''Series/{{Fantasy}}'' (1982-83, with Earl Greenberg Productions and Columbia Pictures Television)
* ''Series/AllStarBlitz'' (1985, with Peter Marshall Enterprises; began as a 1984 pilot called ''[[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=HotNumbers Hot Numbers]]'')
* ''Lucky Numbers'' (1985 {two pilots}, ''High Rollers'' revival attempt with Alex Trebek, the eventual theme music, and a somewhat different format)
* ''[[Series/TheHollywoodSquares The New Hollywood Squares]]'' (1986-89, with Century Towers Productions (Orion); format rights currently rest with Creator/{{CBS}} thanks to buyout of King World, who acquired format from bankrupt Orion in 1991 and produced another revival from 1998 to 2004)
* ''Series/BargainHunters'' (1987, with Josephson Communications Inc.)
* ''High Rollers'' (1987-88, with Century Towers Productions {Orion}; pilot taped in late 1986, with a game not used on the series)
* ''Series/TheLastWord'' (1989-90)
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF2Nxih6q5s Hollywood Teasers]]'' (1993; unsold attempt to revive ''All-Star Blitz'', with [[Creator/{{Universal}} MCA TV]])
* ''[[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=Casino Casino]]'' (April 16, 2002 {at least three pilots}; unsold ''Gambit'' revival, with King World for Creator/{{GSN}})
* ''Catch 21'' (2008-11, with Scott Sternberg Productions)
[[/index]]

Heatter also collaborated with Creator/MarkGoodson on ''Series/TheMatchGameHollywoodSquaresHour'' (1983-84).
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