Yesterday, the world lost a comedy legend when Joan Rivers passed away at the age of 81. Full of such terrific talent, Rivers was a hilarious stand-up comedian and an Emmy-winning TV host. It’s hard to pinpoint the truly best moments of her career since it was filled with so much greatness, but a few of these appearances and achievements stood out to us here at TVOvermind. (If you have other favorite Joan memories that you want to share, please do. We’d love to hear them.) These are our picks for Joan Rivers’ best career moments.
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
Guest Hosting The Tonight Show
Quite frequently throughout most of the 70s and 80s, Rivers would appear on The Tonight Show alongside her friend and mentor, Johnny Carson. In fact, Rivers became a regular guest host for Carson by August 1983 and was just as funny and likable as a host on the show as she was as a guest.
Photo via NBC
Louie
Rivers played herself in a season two episode of FX’s Louie back in 2011. (The episode itself was actually titled “Joan.”) During her guest spot, Rivers shared a genuine and heartfelt scene with the series creator and star Louis C.K., where she said that what they do as comedians isn’t a job but “a calling.” That fantastic conversation was then followed by Louie making a move on Joan (which, if you’ve seen the episode, led to some pretty surprising and hilarious results). There’s no denying the impact that Rivers had on C.K., who released a touching statement yesterday, calling Rivers “a great comedian and a wonderful person” and “a controlled lightning bolt.”
Photo via FX
The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers and The Joan Rivers Show
In 1986, Rivers stopped being a guest host and became a full-time host of her own late night talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers on Fox. Ultimately, the career move would cost Rivers her friendship with Carson (who supposedly never spoke to her again before his death in 2005), and the show only lasted one season before Rivers was fired by Fox executives in 1987. However, she bounced back with her own daytime talk show, The Joan River Show, which premiered in 1989, ran for five years, and even won Rivers a Daytime Emmy in 1990.
Photo via Fox
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
This 2010 documentary focused on 14 months of Rivers’ life when she was 76 years old. Well-received by both critics and audiences, the film did a great job at showing both the good and bad sides of Rivers and allowed for people to get to know her in a way that they may not have before by highlighting the legendary female comic’s personal struggles and tremendous work ethic. For anyone that is interested in it, you can stream Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work via Netflix.
Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images
Fashion Police
Not only did Joan Rivers turn red carpet events into something special, but she turned the fashion discussions after the red carpet events into events themselves when she became a co-host of E!’s Fashion Police back in 2002. While some criticized Rivers’ for her brash and sometimes even harsh sense of humor, as she commented on the celebrity outfits that she both liked and despised, there’s no denying that the show was successful because of her presence. Every person who watched Fashion Police at some point in their lives, myself included, found themselves laughing at something that Rivers said, even if they didn’t want to at first. She could make even her harshest critics crack a smile−that’s just how truly funny and special Joan Rivers was.
Photo via E!
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