History Creator / JoanRivers

Soon after this, Joan received a phone call from executives at the then-new Creator/{{Fox}} network, who wanted to give her her own late night show. This came when Joan found out that she wasn't in the shortlist of celebrities to replace Carson as host of ''The Tonight Show'' despite her reputation in the series. In a fit of envy, Joan agreed to the executives' requests and ''The Late Show with Joan Rivers'' premiered in 1986. The move forever ruined Joan's relationship with Carson, who felt Joan had betrayed him and never spoke to her again. The show didn't achieve the ratings the executives expected, and this, plus the antics of her husband, producer/manager Edgar Rosenberg, culminated in Joan being fired from the show in 1987.

Joan's career and life would suffer greatly from this, as she was banned from ''The Tonight Show'' (a ban which would last until 2014, when Creator/JimmyFallon took over the show) and struggled to find decent work in Hollywood (with the only notable work at the time being the voice of Dot Matrix in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''). Her husband Edgar would then take his life after both of them were fired by Fox, something Joan blamed on the humiliation he felt after being fired.

In 1989, Joan took another shot at hosting a talk show, this time in daytime syndication. ''The Joan Rivers Show'' lasted until 1993 and even earned her a daytime UsefulNotes/EmmyAward. After its cancellation, she was hired by the Creator/{{E}} network to cover the red-carpet show for the UsefulNotes/{{Golden Globe Award}}s and UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s along with her daughter Melissa. Joan's dry wit, interest in fashion, and catchphrase "Who're you wearing?" made red-carpet coverage a new form of journalism, and both the show and red-carpet fashion became industries which have lasted until this day.

In the following years, Joan would participate in a series of TV shows, such as Series/BigBrother, Celebrity Family Feud and ''[[Series/TheApprentice Celebrity Apprentice]]'' (In which she would win first place) She would also start her own show on QVC promoting her jewelry line and a reality TV show called "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?" on WE TV.

In 2010, Joan returned to E! to host a fashion-focused show by the name of "Fashion Police" in which she judged people by the clothes they wear at different award shows. The show would turn out to be a massive success and quickly went from a half an hour show to an hour, with several specials. She would also start a Youtube podcast called "In Bed with Joan" in which she would interview different celebrities in a bed from her house.

Sadly, Joan passed away in September 2014, after a throat surgery gone wrong ended with her on life support, from which she was taken off a few days later. Her funeral was reported to have been filled with celebrities, a red carpet and laughter, as she had requested years before her death.

Joan's comedy style was brash, sometimes crude and highly satirical, which gained her many detractors during her 55 year long career. She was a highly polarizing figure, as her routines regularly included jokes about the Holocaust, 9/11, all ethnicities and many other controversial topics. Joan herself would never apologize for a joke, and she believed that life was too tough and laughter was needed to survive. SelfDeprecation + TakeThat + CrossesTheLineTwice= Joan Rivers.

In spite of all the hardships and controversies in her life, Joan will always be remembered as one of the best female comedians in the world, a trailblazer and an Icon.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] was a guest on the March 30, 2012 episode of Creator/{{E}}'s ''Fashion Police with Joan Rivers'' to plug the [=DVD=] release of ''Film/TheMuppets2011''. Joan acknowledged that they hadn't worked together since her cameo in 1984's ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan''. The segment ended with Joan asking Piggy what she thinks when she watches football, since "that's a relative."

* RefugeInAudacity: There were no taboo topics. Joan always said the best way to get through difficult situations was to make people laugh. This earned her ''lots'' of criticism, and [[FromBadToWorse it only got worse after her death]]. Regardless, she had hundreds of outpourings of grief and tributes from others, particularly in the world of comedians. The one time she found a line she couldn't cross was when she interviewed [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Fred Rogers]] and just couldn't bring herself to ask him any dirty questions. "I can't ask you something like 'Do you fool around?'!"

** When David Letterman walked out on her during her last appearance on The Late Show, Joan proved to be a good sport about it and conducted a rather hostile interview with herself.
* VerbalTic: “Can we talk?” reportedly started out as one, with Joan having no idea how often she tended to say it until audiences started to treat it like a catchphrase and shouted it back to her.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] was a guest on the March 30, 2012 episode of Creator/{{E}}'s ''Fashion Police with Joan Rivers'' to plug the [=DVD=] release of ''Film/TheMuppets''. Joan acknowledged that they hadn't worked together since her cameo in 1984's ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan''. The segment ended with Joan asking Piggy what she thinks when she watches football, since "that's a relative."

%% * IAteWhat: Her Filipino neighbors' turkey had a Frisbee in its mouth.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}: She was the voice of Francine's aunt Bubbe in the episode "Is That Kosher?"

* BlackComedy: Her specialty, which usually got her in trouble, she had no qualms about making fun of [[Literature/TheDiaryOfAYoungGirl Anne Frank]] or making Holocaust jokes.

Born and raised in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, Rivers attended the prestigious Barnard College for women, where she earned degrees in English literature and anthropology. She begin her comedy career in the late 1950s, performing at coffee houses, BorschtBelt resorts, and strip clubs (where she appeared in between strip shows). While her act was initially deemed too risqué for television, her big break came when Creator/BillCosby recommended her as a last minute fill-in for ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''. Her ten-minute routine killed, and she became a regular on the show, even earning "permanent guest-host" status in the '80s.

Born and raised in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, Rivers attended the prestigious Barnard College for women, where she earned degrees in English literature and anthropology. She begin her comedy career in the late '50s, performing at coffee houses, BorschtBelt resorts, and strip clubs (where she appeared in between strip shows). While her act was initially deemed too risqué for television, her big break came when Creator/BillCosby recommended her as a last minute fill-in for ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''. Her ten-minute routine killed, and she became a regular on the show, even earning "permanent guest-host" status in the '80s.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joan_rivers.jpg]]

She begin her career performing at BorschtBelt resorts and strip clubs (where she appeared in between strip shows). While her act was initially deemed too risqué for television, her big break came when Creator/BillCosby recommended her as a last minute fill-in for ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''. Her ten-minute routine killed, and she became a regular on the show, even earning "permanent guest-host" status in the '80s.

Joan's career and life would suffer greatly from this, as she was banned from ''The Tonight Show'' (a ban which would last until 2014, when Creator/JimmyFallon took over the show) and struggled to find decent work in Hollywood (with the only notable work at the time being the voice of Dot Matrix in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''). Her husband Edgar would then take his life after both of them were fired by FOX, something Joan blamed on the humiliation he felt after being fired.

In 1989, Joan gave another shot at TV, this time in daytime, with "The Joan Rivers Show" which lasted until 1993 and even earned her a daytime Emmy. She would then be called by E! executives to cover the UsefulNotes/{{Golden Globe Award}}s with her daughter Melissa. Her dry wit, interest in fashion and catch-phrase "Who're you wearing?" made red carpet covering a new form of journalism, and both it and red carpet fashion became industries which have lasted until this day.

[[quoteright:283:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joan2_2757.jpg]]

She begin her career performing in strip clubs in between strip shows, as she was deemed too risky for television. Her big break came when Creator/BillCosby recommended her as a last minute fill-in for ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''. Her 10 minute routine killed, and she became a regular on the show and even the first "permanent guest-host" on the show.

Soon after this, Joan received a phone-call from FOX executives who wanted to give her her own late night show. This came when Joan found out that she wasn't in the shortlist of celebrities to replace Carson as host of ''The Tonight Show'' despite her reputation in the series. In a fit of envy, Joan agreed to the executives' requests and "The Late Show with Joan Rivers" premiered in 1986. The move forever ruined Joan's relationship with Carson, who felt Joan had betrayed him and never spoke to her again. The show didn't achieve the ratings the executives expected, and this, plus the antics of her husband, producer/manager Edgar Rosenberg, culminated in Joan being fired from the show in 1987.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Her weekly podcast, reality and show at E! were running at the time of her death.

* TheBeautifulElite : A frequent target of her parodying and verbal comic attacks.

* BlindMistake: There was this one time when she got her Crest and Preparation H mixed up.

* DoubleStandard: She called out the different expectations for women and men in the dating scene and calls out how Women in their 30s are already considered {{Old Maid}}s and {{Christmas Cake}}s that [[MyBiologicalClockIsTicking need to get married right away to any guy]] on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpPCFoXXhF0 her first appearance]] on Series/TheEdSullivanShow.
* DrivenToSuicide : Rivers' husband, Edgar Rosenberg. She claimed it was due to their treatment by the Fox Network.
* TheFunInFuneral: Creator/HowardStern allegedly said "Joan Rivers had a dry pussy" at her funeral, which after a minute of silence and a burst of laughter from Creator/MargaretCho made everyone laugh.

* HiddenDepths: While she was harsh in her comedy, she was known to be quite generous, she never let anyone pay a bill and worked directly with suicide prevention groups.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: "Why can't you be like your cousin Sheila?! Why can't you be like your cousin Sheila?!?" *[[CrossesTheLineTwice Sheila had died at birth.]]
* IAteWhat: Her Filipino neighbors' turkey had a Frisbee in its mouth.
* JewishMother : To her daughter Melissa.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: The 4chan nude celeb photo hacks were occurring when Joan passed away; almost immediately after, a whole bunch of other celebs pics were leaked. Some joked that this was Joan's doing from beyond the grave.
* PrecisionFStrike: As a former producer at Lincoln Center once related, before giving a performance to an audience consisting mostly of Orthodox Jews, she was asked to "tone down" some of her jokes. She responded by opening the show with "How the fuck are all of ya??"
* RealityShow : Several.
* RefugeInAudacity: There were no taboo topics. Joan always said the best way to get through difficult situations was to make people laugh. This earned her ''lots'' of criticism, and [[FromBadToWorse it only got worse after her death]]. Regardless, she had hundreds of outpourings of grief and tributes from others, particularly in the world of comedians.
** The one time she found a line she couldn't cross was when she interviewed [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Fred Rogers]] and just couldn't bring herself to ask him any dirty questions. "I can't ask you something like 'Do you fool around?'!"

* SelfDeprecation: She would often make fun of her looks, claiming her husband had killed himself after she took the bag off her head during sex once.
** When David Letterman walked out on her during her last appearance on The Late Show, Joan proved to be a good sport about it and conducted a rather hostile interview with herself.

She begin her career performing in strip clubs in between strip shows, as she was deemed too risky for television. Her big break came when Creator/BillCosby recommended her as a last minute fill-in for ''Franchise/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson. Her 10 minute routine killed, and she became a regular on the show and even the first "permanent guest-host" on the show.

In 1989, Joan gave another shot at TV, this time in daytime, with "The Joan Rivers Show" which lasted until 1993 and even earned her a daytime Emmy. She would then be called by E! executives to cover the GoldenGlobes awards with her daughter Melissa. Her dry wit, interest in fashion and catch-phrase "Who're you wearing?" made red carpet covering a new form of journalism, and both it and red carpet fashion became industries which have lasted until this day.

In the following years, Joan would participate in a series of TV shows, such as Series/BigBrother, Celebrity Family Feud and CelebrityApprentice (In which she would win first place) She would also start her own show on QVC promoting her jewelry line and a reality TV show called "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?" on WE TV.

Joan's comedy style was brash, sometimes crude and highly satirical, which gained her many detractors during her 55 year long career. She was a highly polarizing figure, as her routines regularly included jokes about the Holocaust, 9/11, all ethnicities and many other controversial topics. Joan herself would never apologize for a joke, and she believed that life was too tough and laughter was needed to survive.

!!Tropes and trivia related to her career:

* BlackComedy: Her specialty, which usually got her in trouble, she had no qualms about making fun of AnneFrank or making Holocaust jokes.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Read every other entry on this page.
* DoubleStandard: She called out the different expectations for women and men in the dating scene and calls out how Women in their 30s are already considered [[OldMaid Old Maids]] and [[ChristmasCake Christmas Cakes]] that [[MyBiologicalClockIsTicking need to get married right away to any guy]] on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpPCFoXXhF0 her first appearance]] on Series/TheEdSullivanShow.

* ClusterFBomb: Not her original TV routines, but she became much more racy as the years went by.

In 1989, Joan gave another shot at TV, this time in daytime, with "The Joan Rivers Show" which lasted until 1993 and even earned her a day-time Emmy. She would then be called by E! executives to cover the GoldenGlobes awards with her daughter Melissa. Her dry-wit, interest in fashion and catch-phrase "Who're you wearing?" made red carpet covering a new form of journalism, and both it and red carpet fashion became industries which have lasted until this day.

* CrossestheLineTwice: Read every other entry on this page.

* ClusterFBomb: Not her original TV routines, but she became much much racy as the years went by.

* ''Series/TheLateShow'': The original host, before Arsenio Hall.

* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: "Why can't you be like your cousin Sheila?! Why can't you be like your cousin Sheila?!?" *Sheila had died at birth

* TheBusCameBack: After being banned from ''Series/TheTonightShow'' after falling out with Carson in the 1980s, Rivers finally returned to the show for a cameo during Jimmy Fallon's first episode in February 2014.

The late, great '''Joan Alexandra Molinsky''' (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as '''Joan Rivers''', was an American stand-up comedian and TV personality, who revolutionized the world of comedy as we know it, being recognized by many of her peers as a trailblazer for women in comedy.

* TheFunInFuneral: HowardStern allegedly said "Joan Rivers had a dry pussy" at her funeral, which after a minute of silence and a burst of laughter from Creator/MargaretCho made everyone laugh.

* TheFunInFuneral: HowardStern allegedly said "Joan Rivers had a dry pussy" at her funeral, which after a minute of silence and a burst of laughter from MargaretCho made everyone laugh.

* SelfDeprecation: She would often make fun of her looks, claiming her husband had killed himself after she took the bag off her head during sex once.