Johnny Carson Presents the Tonight Show Comedians (1984) (TV)

Fun show with archival footage of favored comedy moments. Features 3 young comedians; Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, and Joan Rivers.

Johnny Carson Presents the Tonight Show Comedians (1984) (TV)
Host: Johnny Carson

6th Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards, The (1990) (TV)

From Beverly Hills, California and hosted by Dixie Carter and Terry Lester.

Uber-opulence and tons of fun.

The 6th Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards (1990) (TV)
Cast: A Martinez, Marcy Walker, Joan Rivers

Ed Sullivan All-Star Comedy Special, The (1995) (TV)

Two hour special hosted by Mary Tyler Moore. Great stuff, tons of memories.

The Ed Sullivan All-Star Comedy Special (1995) (TV)

Cast: Ed Sullivan, Mary Tyler Moore, Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Victor Borge, Carol Burnett, John Byner, George Carlin, Art Carney, Lou Costello, Phyllis Diller, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Will Jordan, Alan King, Rich Little, Jackie Mason, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers, Red Skelton, Flip Wilson

Tonight Show, The: Starring Guest Host Joan Rivers (1962) (TV series) 1962-1992

History's greatest television show had guest hosts on a regular basis. Some of the great names in entertainment took their shot at the big desk but one of the best, IMHO, was Joan Rivers. Her episodes were a little more manic, a little more show biz.

One highlight was the introduction of Oprah to America. Watching Joan push up her glasses as she stares at the card, "Oprah, let me make sure I'm saying this right, Win-FREE". At this point she was merely the host of AM Chicago, just enough juice to get a third booking on a late night talk show with a guest host! Things have changed now. And when Joan blows Bronson Pinchot's name on the night before his appearance and then spends way too much time apologizing the following night. Then they BOTH go into a terribly homophobic dialogue, really nasty and certainly insulting to some. Still cringe-worthy years later! Gut-punch funny.

AVAILABLE EPISODES

Guest Host - Joan Rivers

Lillian Gish, Marilu Henner, Neil Simon

1984

Guest Host - Joan Rivers

Lucy, Betty, Morgan, Sandy

3 December 1984

Guest Host - Joan Rivers

Gary Coleman, Cher, Louie Anderson, Lisa Eilbacher

1985

Guest Host - Joan Rivers

Diahann Carroll, Erma Bombeck, Bronson Pinchot

1985

Guest Host - Joan Rivers

Lynda Carter, Grace Jones, Danny Sullivan

1985

Guest Host - Joan Rivers

Selma Diamond, Oprah Winfrey, Howie Mandel

13 September 1985

The Tonight Show: Starring Johnny Carson (1962) TV series 1962-1992
Guest Host: Joan Rivers

Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994) TV Movie

TV Weekend; Grieving Over, It's On With the Show

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR

Published: May 13, 1994

She began as a comic in clubs and she is now, with an occasional pause for a performance gig, a jewelry saleswoman on television. Joan Rivers has a habit, often unfortunate, of doing the unexpected. On Sunday night on NBC, she does what could easily be construed as the unthinkable. She stars in a movie about the aftermath of the 1987 suicide of her husband, Edgar Rosenberg. The co-star of "Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story" is, yes, Joan's daughter, Melissa. Self-indulgence and promotion evidently know no bounds in the Rivers universe.

In the months before his death in a hotel room, Edgar Rosenberg had triple bypass heart surgery and was dismissed from Fox Broadcasting after the cancellation of his wife's talk show.

Ensconced in a hospital for cosmetic liposuction, Joan concedes, just before getting news of the suicide, "You know, our last conversation wasn't such a hot one." Later, talking to her husband's body in a funeral home, she insists that "we could have worked things out; we're a team." Still later, dragging Mom to her own psychiatrist, Melissa charges Joan with "doing your club act 10 minutes after the funeral."

Mother and daughter find themselves far more interesting than the dead man. Melissa, or Missy, cries, "He's never going to get to see me graduate, never going to see my children!" "Me" is usually the operative word. Joan is furious with Edgar for deserting her, but she never stops polishing his image, noting that he was "very English, smart, sophisticated" and that he would insist on "hankies" when "everybody else used Kleenex." Class will out.

The crux of the movie is a growing estrangement between Joan, who refuses to play the grieving "widow on the hill," and an angry Melissa, who drifts into an affair at the University of Pennsylvania with a drug addict who abuses her (Mark Kiely). Needless to say, in his lucid moments the young man is tall, very rich and irresistibly charming. After several breakups and reunions, the relationship becomes a plot-line bore.

Joan gets in her professional licks. When she is initially unable to find work, an agent tells her, "Johnny Carson convinced America you're evil." Not quite. America may have decided that there is still such a thing as loyalty, maybe even honor. But "Tears and Laughter" is crammed with embarrassments, not least Joan and Melissa arriving too late for a temple memorial service for Edgar. Or there's Joan after the funeral, insisting that everybody was there, Cher, Roddy McDowall, and then muttering, "Elizabeth Taylor called."

Even with generously positive spins, the Rivers family life comes off as rather skimpy. In one stretch for sentiment, Joan explains: "I miss the three of us, standing on line at a restaurant, just being a family." So much for home and hearth. On an audiotape left to his wife, Edgar pinpointed the heart of the Joan Rivers phenomenon: "You're a survivor." She will no doubt survive this ill-conceived exercise.

Tears and Laughter The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story NBC, Sunday at 9 P.M. (Channel 4 in New York) Directed by Oz Scott; written by Susan Rice; director of photography, David Geddes; production designer, Chris August; produced by Tom Rowe and George Horie for Davis Entertainment; Merrill Karpf and John Davis, executive producers.

Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994) TV Movie
Cast: Dorothy Lyman, Jerry Wasserman, Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers, Rebecca Toolan, Sheila Moore