EXPOSE: CAN CROSSWORDS BE SAVED AND BEING INSIDE THE BOX JUST MIGHT WORK.

Program Partners confirmed, the firm has plum run out of money for producing- the quick and smart quiz show, Merv Griffin's Crosswords. Even though the game reached its target audience of 1 million+ younger viewers, the show burned through many rules changes, that ate up the show's budget and Merv's company refused to add any more cash to the producer's till.

This left stations that renewed it with two options: air reruns until 2009 (which it is already doing) or air reruns of pretty good Canadian show quizzer called Inside the Box.

I've seen the clips of Box on You Tube and they are awesome, its like Remote Control as 20 Questions. If the producers were smart they would take the GSN route and hire a crew, U.S. Host and American budget plus U.S. contestants and shoot on their Canadian set, as a on-air dry run. If it works well, as the GSN found out with Lingo and That's the Question, they could have a bona-fide hit on their hands.

As for Crosswords, I'd suggest reaching back to the golden age of TV and hiring a deep pocketed, single sponsor to underwrite the show. Microsoft would be perfect, as they could give away XBox 360s (as parting gifts) and get plugs all show along (Vista Crossword Extra and the Excel Crossword Getaway.) Yes, this would mean selling the show out to a perceived evil from the audience. Still, this would only be temporally until the firm gets on its feet.