Joan Rivers (1933-2014): Something to Talk About

English: Joan Rivers at Musto's 25th Anniversary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the male-dominated world of comedy, Joan Rivers was not everyone's cup of tea.  She got laughs for telling it like it was, and sometimes she got in trouble for it.  When Rivers wasn't doing standup, she could usually be found at award shows and other formal occasions (when they let her on the property) skewering certain female celebrities for their choice of evening wear.  This was at a point when people actually started caring about such things.

Rivers was a trail blazer who has influenced scores of female comedians, some of whom have imitated her caustic style.  She never got her own sitcom, like Roseanne Barr or Phyllis Diller.  But she did become the first woman to host a late night talk show, which just happened to be the very first program ever broadcast on the Fox network, launched in 1986.

Legend has it that, in order for Rivers to do the Fox show, she first had to leave her cushy gig as permanent guest host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson".  Unfortunately, she neglected to inform Carson of her plans.  Carson, then one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, promptly cut Rivers off and banned her from his show (she didn't return until Jimmy Fallon's first night a few months ago).  "The Late Show" lasted less than a year on Fox.

To date, Rivers remains one of the few women who have ever fronted a late night talk show.  Fox is no longer in that business, having decided to put its money into sitcom reruns and news on its local stations.

Life outside comedy wasn't easy for Rivers.  Her husband, whom she often joked about in her act, committed suicide.  And her relationship with daughter Melissa wasn't always the greatest.

Joan Rivers often asked in her act "Can we talk?"  She stopped talking for good at the age of 81, following complications from minor throat surgery.  Now we're the ones who are talking about her.