Latest news with #JoanRivers
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Once-iconic celebrity TV show that starred Joan Rivers is canceled amid tanking ratings
Celebrity-driven broadcast E! News has been canceled after more than three decades on the air. Versant, the NBCUniversal spinoff company that oversees E! and several other Comcast cable networks, will officially pull the plug on the show on September 25 after 32 years. The show - currently hosted by Keltie Knight and Justin Sylvester - aired as a repeat on Thursday. New episodes are set to resume next week. E! News has featured a number of high-profile hosts and contributors through years, including Joan Rivers and Ryan Seacrest. The show was rejiggered as a late-night broadcast three years ago after a two-year hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. It formerly aired during primetime for a full hour. The linear TV landscape has changed immensely since then, with viewership on traditional broadcast networks and cable channels in the midst of a major decline. The cancelation of E News! marks the first major decision from Versant since it was created a few months ago. The brand isn't going away completely, as E! News will now focus on digital content and social media. Network executives reportedly told E! News staffers viewership habits have changed while delivering the news Thursday. They said that today's audience prefers real-time pop culture coverage on platforms like Instagram and TikTok in lieu of the usual nightly wraps. A source told AdWeek that the show's 11pm time slot 'no longer serves pop culture fans that prefer real-time coverage throughout the day.' The person said other opportunities are currently being explored for employees at the show, including at Versant channels such as CNBC, MSNBC, Syfy, the USA Network, and Oxygen. Several on-air correspondents were told that they will transition to yet-to-be-determined roles in the company, sources told Variety. E!, the linear network, will continue to air original series like Botched Presents: Plastic Surgery Rewind and Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour, they said. Upcoming series like Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane and E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals will also stick around. New episodes of E! News will continued to run nightly until September. Current E! News co-host Sylvester, 38, has become a surprise fan-favorite following several appearances on Today With Jenna & Friends as a fill-in host for Hoda Kotb earlier this year. Neither Sylvester nor Knight, 43, have spoken on the cancellation. Knight was previously the show's chief correspondent but was promoted in March 2024. Former hosts of E! News have included Ryan Seacrest, Giuliana Rancic, Jason Kennedy, Catt Sadler, Scott Tweedie, and Steve Kmetko. Rivers - who died in 2014 aged 81 - was a prominent figure at E!, oftentimes appearing on the red carpet for E! News. She was known for her role on the show Fashion Police, which she co-created after joining E! in the mid-1990s and co-hosted with her daughter Melissa. Fashion Police aired its final episode with Melissa as host in 2017. The mother-daughter duo became fixtures at the network through their regular red carpet coverage. E! saw some impressive growth in January on digital platforms like Instagram, were video views up 49 percent and TikTok views up 52 percent. The network has roughly 87million social media followers. The network will continue to be represented on red carpets with 'Live With E!'. The Critics Choice Awards will also still air on the network this January, executives said.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I had a six-figure salary and high-flying career when I suffered a midlife breakdown and nearly died. It's something that happens to nearly every woman... and this is how it completely changed my life
When Cally Beaton was in her mid-40s, she had a consequential conversation with Joan Rivers. The Dorset-born comedian was working as an executive for MTV and Comedy Central and had come to know Rivers through her job. 'I really liked her,' says Beaton, sitting in her garden in London. 'She had an entourage – mainly for her hair. Her fabulous hair! She had people who would do it in each country.' One night the pair were having dinner when Rivers said, 'Cally, I think you should give stand-up a go.' It's an encouraging suggestion from one of America's best-known comedians, but Beaton was surprised. 'I said, 'I'm 45, I've got two kids, I'm a single mum and I've got a board-level job. It's way too late for that.' And she just looked at me and said, 'I'm 81. You're in the thick of it. What's stopping you?'' Two weeks later, Rivers died unexpectedly from complications after a medical procedure. And two weeks after that, Beaton did her first open-mic gig.
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
15 great comedy specials to stream right now
Ready to lighten your spirits? Read on. The Legends 1. Richard Pryor – 'Live & Smokin' '(1971; Peacock, Tubi, PlutoTV): There are longer, perhaps more celebrated Pryor specials, but this is the comedian before his fame blew up, at a small club, The Improvisation in New York, rather than a giant theatre. It feels intimate. The laughter isn't sweetened, and you can read the menu behind him on the wall. The material is raw and challenging. And it would be a few years before the idea of the stand-up special would be defined and codified by HBO. 2. George Carlin – 'Carlin at Carnegie' (1983; Prime Video, Tubi, PlutoTV, Fandango at Home, Roku Channel, Freevee, Hoopla): Carlin was the king of comedy specials in his time, filming 14 of them from 1977 to 2008, and went through several onstage personas. So it's hard to choose which one to highlight among them. His delivery was still gentle and silly here, but he showcases every tool in his kit, from physical comedy to social satire, plus an update on the '7 Dirty Words.' Advertisement 3. Joan Rivers – 'Don't Start With Me' (2012; PlutoTV): 'Ladies and gentleman, the best act in her price range, Joan Rivers!' That's how Rivers introduces herself from offstage in this special, the only full special of her stand-up currently streaming. She gave energetic performances right until the end of her life, and doubled and tripled down on attacking everything and everyone, including herself, in the act. This special shows why she's been such an inspiration to Jim Norton and Sarah Silverman, who like to make their audiences cringe as well as laugh. 4. Eddie Izzard – 'Dress To Kill' (1999; Peacock, Prime Video, Tubi): This was the special that launched Izzard in America. It's an entertaining ramble through world history and pop culture that included several instant classics, like the Church of England intoning 'Cake or death!,' Englebert Humperdinck brainstorming his stage name (a couple of runners up: Zanglebert Bingledack and Cringlebert Fishtybuns), and Izzard's definition of the 'executive transvestite.' 5. Tom Lehrer – 'Live In Copenhagen' (1967; PBS Living): This one could be filed under 'Locals' as well, since Lehrer developed his sark and satirical song parodies as a student at Harvard, and recorded his first three albums in Boston. A lot of these songs retain their power to tweak the listener's sense of good taste – note the absolute glee with which he sings 'Poisoning Pigeons In the Park.' Advertisement The Locals 1. Josh Gondelman – 'Positive Reinforcement' (2025; YouTube): 'I'm very friendly,' says Gondelman in this new special, released in June. 'It rarely helps.' A 'nice guy' reputation doesn't always come in handy, especially when you're the type of guy who, when drunk, tells his friends he cherishes them. Which can ruin everyone's memory of last night's poker game. It's also tough to have hometown pride when all the gear is overly aggressive. Like 'shamo-flage,' camo clothing made of shamrocks. 'You're really only supposed to wear it when a Dropkick Murphy is born or dies,' Gondelman says. 2 . Joe List – 'Small Ball' (2025; YouTube): List premiered this in theaters for one-night only in May and then released it on YouTube a couple of weeks later. The Boston comic can't seem to help but make things awkward in his life, whether he's inadvertently terrifying a child in an elevator or pretending he understood the movie he just watched with his friends. Or thinking he found a hilarious typo at on a museum plaque listing Picasso's country of origin as Spain and not Italy. 'I reported it,' he says. I went to the front desk, I was like, just a heads up, 'I don't want to get you guys in trouble, but you have the wrong country for Picasso. He's Italian, I think everybody knows that.' The lady said, 'Pablo?' I was like, 'you know what? That does sound Spanish.'' 3. Sam Jay – '3 In the Morning' (2020; Netflix): The rest of the country got to see what Boston audiences saw in Jay's early days in local clubs. She's both tough and vulnerable, talking about her favorite uncle from Boston who always asks her if she's still gay, meeting the guy she lost her virginity to and discovering they now have the same clothes and haircut, and navigating a long-term relationship. Advertisement Bill Burr in "Bill Burr: Live at Red Rocks." KOURY ANGELO 4. – 'Live at Red Rocks:' (2022; Netflix): Burr has enough personality to fill any venue – the same year he released the 'Red Rocks' special, he played Fenway Park. And he comes out with both barrels blazing, tearing into the hypocrisy around the COVID lockdown by proposing a 'Hunger Games' style competition to settle the partisan bickering. If you think you agree with him, don't get comfortable. He'll get to you shortly. 5. – 'The Great Depresh' (2019; HBO Max): Gulman had been building an audience steadily for years based on a winning personality and tight, clever writing. 'Depresh' was a career-defining special, with Gulman opening up about his struggles with depression and anxiety with comic dexterity and humility, interspersed with documentary-style interstitials at his childhood home in Peabody with his mom and onstage at The Comedy Studio. Pair this with his memoir, 'Misfit,' for the full effect. Hannah Gadsby in "Nanette." BEN KING The Landmarks 1. – 'Nanette' (2018; Netflix): The Australian comic caused an immediate stir when 'Nanette' was released because of a section where they interrogated the idea of comedy itself for defusing tension around serious subjects – in this case, a hate crime. Depending on who you ask, the moment they repudiate comedy is either startling and brave or manipulative and not comedy. But that moment is preceded by a chunk of good stand-up, and provoked a legitimate discussion about how comedy functions in relation to everyday life. Advertisement Jerrod Carmichael in "Rothaniel." Courtesy of HBO 2. Jerrod Carmichael – 'Rothaniel' (2022; HBO Max): Carmichael says at the top of 'Rothaniel' that the special will be about secrets, then admits 'Jerrod' isn't his real first name. He presents a family history with plenty of deceptions, then gets to his biggest secret – he is gay. Directed by Hamilton native Bo Burnham, 'Rothaniel' is set up like a meeting between friends who have a few things to talk about. 3. Daniel Sloss – 'X' (2019; HBO Max): Not all masculinity is toxic. That's one of the threads running through 'X.' But sometimes it is, and the story at the heart of 'X' is an absolutely devastating indictment of dangerous male behavior. And Sloss skillfully builds his audience up to that point with dark, reflective material. 4. Natalie Palamides – 'Nate: A One-Man Show' (2020; Netflix): It's hard to recognize Palamides from the Progressive commercials you might know her from in this special, because she's not herself. She's Nate, a hairy-chested dude in sunglasses and camo pants trying to process his feelings and actions in the wake of a heartbreak. Palamides teases her audience to transgress boundaries around gender, power, and consent in ways both playful and pointed. There's even some nudity, both real and simulated. 5. Nate Bargatze – 'The Tennessee Kid' (2019; Netflix): Bargatze had recorded albums and specials before and had been around a while – he won the Boston Comedy Festival stand-up competition in 2010 – but this was the special that kickstarted his popularity. A clean, relatable, family-centered comic whose material still has a bite. Now he's doing multiple-show stands at TD Garden. Advertisement
Daily Mail
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Shocking downfall of glamorous QVC shampoo tycoon who's now a 'crazy cat lady'
She was once at the helm of a haircare empire so successful it featured on QVC and counted comedy icon Joan Rivers among her friends. But former California tycoon Jeannie Maxon, 69, suffered a stunning fall from grace after allegedly leaving 106 Persian cats inside a roasting U-Haul truck.
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Hollywood A-lister is unrecognizable at 77 after reunion with fan favorite co-star... can you guess who he is?
A Hollywood A-lister who has become a national treasure was unrecognizable when he was glimpsed grocery shopping in New York City this week. The 77-year-old shot to fame as a pioneering gay character on a 1970s sitcom, then made his movie debut in a flop directed by a legendary stand-up comic. In the 1980s, he starred on one of the most famous TV shows of all time and established himself as a leading man in a string of beloved big screen comedies. Down the decades, his film roles have ranged from the sidekick in a hit animated children's franchise to a supporting character from Shakespeare. Earlier this year, he enjoyed an onstage reunion with a fan-favorite co-star of his while presenting at an awards show he previously hosted. Can you guess who he is? He is none other than Billy Crystal, who presented best picture at this year's Oscars with Meg Ryan, his leading lady in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.... Billy got his start as a stand-up comic in 1970s New York and even filmed a sketch for the inaugural episode of what became Saturday Night Live in 1975, though his contribution wound up on the cutting room floor. His ship came in when he landed the role of Jodie Dallas on the sitcom Soap in 1977, playing one of the first openly gay regular characters on an American TV show. One year later, he made his movie debut as a pregnant man in Rabbit Test, a wacky comedy that turned out to be the only film ever directed by Joan Rivers. Although Rabbit Test flopped, his career went from strength to strength as his own stardom grew thanks to his work as a stand-up comic. He hosted Saturday Night Live twice in 1984 and wound up a regular member of the cast that year, but his individual fame soon took him to greater heights that eclipsed his notoriety from the show. In 1987 he had a memorable supporting role in The Princess Bride, and acted with Danny DeVito in the latter's directorial debut Throw Momma from the Train. Two years later he become a bona fide Hollywood leading man by playing opposite Meg Ryan in the blockbuster romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally..., directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Nora Ephron. He is none other than Billy Crystal, who presented best picture at the Oscars this year with Meg Ryan, his leading lady in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.... His successful movie career continued through the 1990s with comedies like City Slickers and Father's Day, and even a cameo as one of the gravediggers in the Kenneth Branagh film adaptation of Hamlet. During that decade, he also directed himself in the dramedy Mr. Saturday Night about a stand-up comic and the romantic comedy Forget Paris opposite Debra Winger. Also during the 1990s, he began his celebrated run as host of the Oscars, a position he filled nine times between 1990 and his final run in 2012. In the 2000s he reached a new generation of fans as the voice of Mike, the second banana to John Goodman's Sulley in Pixar's Monsters, Inc. franchise. Billy has continued working in recent years, adapting Mr. Saturday Night into a Broadway musical that he starred in himself in 2022. He and Meg delighted fans by appearing side by side at the Oscars this year, presenting best picture to Sean Baker's comedy Anora.
