Voting Station

The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers

Please vote to return to collections.

TV Series

The Resume

Why The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers might be annoying:

    It was a direct attempt at competing against NBC and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
    Its creation sparked a feud between Johnny Carson, who was furious that she hadn’t told him ahead of the announcement that she was leaving NBC (he never spoke to her again, for the rest of his life).
    The row over Joan getting her own show led to her being banned from appearing on the Tonight Show for over 25 years (she finally appeared with Jimmy Fallon in 2014, nine years after Carson’s death).
    Its ratings tanked almost immediately and were so poor that it made it hard for Fox to attract affiliates for its primetime launch (some agreed to do so if they didn’t have to air The Late Show).
    Victoria Principal sued Joan for $3 million after the host blurted out her private phone number live on air, causing the actress to be inundated with harassing phone calls.
    There was behind-the-scenes drama between Rivers and network executives that led to Rivers being fired, as well as her husband, producer Edgar Rosenberg.
    For the final show, the set was vandalized with toilet paper, slime, and shaving cream (May 15, 1987).
    Execs flirted with replacing Joan with Howard Stern but backed out after he tested poorly (and they fired prospective guest host Frank Zappa).
    When Ed Rosenberg committed suicide in August 1987; Rivers blamed the tragedy on the humiliation caused by his dismissal by Fox execs Barry Diller and Rupert Murdoch.

Why The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers might not be annoying:

    It was the first television program broadcast on then-fledgling network Fox.
    It made Rivers the first woman to have her own late-night talk show on a major network.
    It was an open secret that some affiliates were against it from the start and refused to carry it out of loyalty to Johnny Carson.
    Arsenio Hall briefly took over for Joan and it led to him getting his own show.
    Hall’s show aired in syndication and on most Fox affiliates (essentially reclaiming his old timeslot).
    Joan had a major comeback two years after her firing with the debut of The Joan Rivers Show for which she won an Emmy.
    When the cast of Designing Women appeared on the show to promote their own first season, Joan asked if they were all good friends in real life, and when they answered yes, she said prophetically ‘So far– well you KNOW it’s gonna start.’

Credit: BoyWithTheGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 50 Votes: 22.00% Annoying