Latest news with #JoanRivers:ADeadFunnyAll-StarTribute
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Melissa Rivers got famous comedians in a room together to honor her mom, Joan. Just don't call it a roast.
No, those are not Joan Rivers's actual ashes. Ahead of Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute special, airing on May 13 on NBC, Melissa Rivers and an A-list group of comedians and actors struck a pose with a gold urn. Nikki Glaser pretended she almost dropped it. Rachel Brosnahan acted like she was going to pour a martini in it. Tiffany Haddish balanced it precariously on the palm of one hand. 'That's not the real urn,' Melissa told Yahoo Entertainment as if the idea was unfathomable, even though Joan's actual ashes were literally shipped around the world after her death in 2014. 'I originally wanted to do a bit in the greenroom called 'urn point of view,'' said Melissa, who produced the special. 'Have a GoPro camera in the urn and have it judging people — looking everyone's outfits up and down. The urn cam. I got shot down on that one.' For what it's worth, Joan's actual ashes were lost after the special taped. More on that in a minute. The televised tribute came together somewhat miraculously, said the Melissa Rivers' Group Text Podcast host. It taped in one night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, during the 20th annual New York Comedy Festival in November 2024, with a talent roster also including Chelsea Handler, Aubrey Plaza, Joel McHale, Jeff Ross, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Cho and Tracy Morgan. Getting the comics there, from their tours and sets, for the brief window was tricky, but they showed up in force for the comedy trailblazer. 'What was amazing was how many people found a way to get there, even if it meant staying somewhere, flying in from somewhere or flying out to somewhere,' said Melissa. 'It was a 'meant to be' kind of thing, and I'm really proud of my work on this.' Despite the title and the urn photo shoot, 'It's not a roast. It's a celebration,' she said. 'And yet they do make fun of her.' Glaser, who's had a meteoric rise over the last year, 'was a huge fan of my mother's … and thrilled to be asked to be a part of it,' Melissa said, adding that she thinks Joan 'would really like' the Golden Globe host's comedy. She said that 'stylistically,' their 'timing is very similar.' How would Joan, who was sharp-tongued with biting wit, have fared professionally in 2025 amid this era of cancel culture? 'I think she would have found a way to make fun of cancel culture,' Melissa said. 'She would have turned cancel culture on its head and made fun of what you cannot do … just like Dave Chappelle — and I would hope she would be grandfathered in like Dave Chappelle was.' Being the gatekeeper for her larger-than-life mother's legacy is not easy, but it's something she takes seriously. This summer, the National Comedy Center will open its Joan Rivers exhibition, complete with her famed joke archive. While a limited TV series with Kathryn Hahn never happened, Joan fans may get a biopic — eventually. 'We've had a movie in development with Sony for quite a while,' Melissa said. 'The conversation started during the very end of COVID. We've been going through the script process, the writing process and then we had the [Hollywood writers] strike, so now we're just getting back on track. Coming out of TV, [where] things go so fast, I don't know how these movie people do it … having to be that slow.' As for the former Fashion Police host's dream casting, 'I'm going to keep my mouth shut on that,' she said. There are 'conversations in progress.' Personally, 2025 has been a wild year for Melissa. In January, she lost everything — including Joan's actual ashes and those of her father, Edgar Rosenberg, who died by suicide in 1987 — in the Palisades Fire. 'Unfortunately, no, the ashes did not survive,' she said. 'I just didn't think to grab them. Why would I? I didn't think our house was going to burn down. It's L.A. — it's not like we haven't evacuated before. I could just go get a scoop of the house and call it a day, and have my mom, Uncle Tommy, and my dad and all the dogs. I'm probably going to go do that.' Melissa did take her mother's Emmy, a photo of her father and a drawing her mother did of Melissa and son Cooper when evacuating. She also had a ring of her mother's that she had recently worn to an event as well as her parents' watches. After the fire, Melissa moved five times in 11 weeks. She's now settled in a rental in the L.A. area. Will she rebuild? She's thinking about it but taking a 'wait and see' approach. 'I don't know yet,' she said. 'I'm not letting go of my lot, but I'm trying to stay very disciplined in our thinking because, honestly, nobody knows how anything is going to go. Luckily, my house has its plans, so it would be a much easier process. … Fortunately, I can sort of take a wait and see. I don't want to be the first one, and don't want to be the last one.' On the brighter side, two months after the fires, Melissa, the self-described 'worst bride ever,' married attorney Steve Mitchel in Jackson Hole, Wyo. They 'absolutely' thought about postponing the wedding. 'A lot of people said we should, and a lot of people said we shouldn't,' she said. However, the 'loudest voices saying, 'Do not cancel,'' were friends who had also lost homes in the L.A. fires, so they pressed on. The wedding was 'very nontraditional,' which is what she wanted. 'I always said, 'I want to have a party where a wedding breaks out,' Melissa said, 'and that is what we did.' Her vows fit the nontraditional theme because 'I'm not gonna promise anything in a room full of people,' she said of her second wedding. 'I'm not having you put that on tape to come back and bite me. And I don't think I can vow to do something, but I can vow to not to.' The one thing she did do was a mother-son dance with 'my little man,' Cooper. The 24-year-old recently moved out on his own but also lost everything in the fire. 'He's been rebuilding too,' she said of her only child. How does she stay positive when bad things happen? 'I don't think I necessarily stay positive,' Melissa replied. 'I stay in forward momentum. My mom used to say: 'You get a weekend wallow.' Obviously, that's a saying, [you may need more than one weekend], but that means you get an appropriate amount of time, and then you get up and you start moving forward.' She continued, 'I learned that with my dad. Some days, moving forward was only that I was able to get out of bed. And the same with my mom. You had to allow yourself to have the days where you couldn't, and then the next day you could get across the room. It's about chin out, eyes forward, because your forward momentum will make things change. Better or worse, that's to be seen. But if you're just sitting in it, you're doing nothing. So it's not so much optimism or good attitude, it's more I've been raised and taught: You go forward.' airs May 13 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. The uncensored cut streams on May 14 on Peacock.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Melissa Rivers got famous comedians in a room together to honor her mom, Joan. Just don't call it a roast.
No, those are not Joan Rivers's actual ashes. Ahead of Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute special, airing on May 13 on NBC, Melissa Rivers and an A-list group of comedians and actors struck a pose with a gold urn. Nikki Glaser pretended she almost dropped it. Rachel Brosnahan acted like she was going to pour a martini in it. Tiffany Haddish balanced it precariously on the palm of one hand. 'That's not the real urn,' Melissa told Yahoo Entertainment as if the idea was unfathomable, even though Joan's actual ashes were literally shipped around the world after her death in 2014. 'I originally wanted to do a bit in the greenroom called 'urn point of view,'' said Melissa, who produced the special. 'Have a GoPro camera in the urn and have it judging people — looking everyone's outfits up and down. The urn cam. I got shot down on that one.' For what it's worth, Joan's actual ashes were lost after the special taped. More on that in a minute. The televised tribute came together somewhat miraculously, said the Melissa Rivers' Group Text Podcast host. It taped in one night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, during the 20th annual New York Comedy Festival in November 2024, with a talent roster also including Chelsea Handler, Aubrey Plaza, Joel McHale, Jeff Ross, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Cho and Tracy Morgan. Getting the comics there, from their tours and sets, for the brief window was tricky, but they showed up in force for the comedy trailblazer. 'What was amazing was how many people found a way to get there, even if it meant staying somewhere, flying in from somewhere or flying out to somewhere,' said Melissa. 'It was a 'meant to be' kind of thing, and I'm really proud of my work on this.' Despite the title and the urn photo shoot, 'It's not a roast. It's a celebration,' she said. 'And yet they do make fun of her.' Glaser, who's had a meteoric rise over the last year, 'was a huge fan of my mother's … and thrilled to be asked to be a part of it,' Melissa said, adding that she thinks Joan 'would really like' the Golden Globe host's comedy. She said that 'stylistically,' their 'timing is very similar.' How would Joan, who was sharp-tongued with biting wit, have fared professionally in 2025 amid this era of cancel culture? 'I think she would have found a way to make fun of cancel culture,' Melissa said. 'She would have turned cancel culture on its head and made fun of what you cannot do … just like Dave Chappelle — and I would hope she would be grandfathered in like Dave Chappelle was.' Being the gatekeeper for her larger-than-life mother's legacy is not easy, but it's something she takes seriously. This summer, the National Comedy Center will open its Joan Rivers exhibition, complete with her famed joke archive. While a limited TV series with Kathryn Hahn never happened, Joan fans may get a biopic — eventually. 'We've had a movie in development with Sony for quite a while,' Melissa said. 'The conversation started during the very end of COVID. We've been going through the script process, the writing process and then we had the [Hollywood writers] strike, so now we're just getting back on track. Coming out of TV, [where] things go so fast, I don't know how these movie people do it … having to be that slow.' As for the former Fashion Police host's dream casting, 'I'm going to keep my mouth shut on that,' she said. There are 'conversations in progress.' Personally, 2025 has been a wild year for Melissa. In January, she lost everything — including Joan's actual ashes and those of her father, Edgar Rosenberg, who died by suicide in 1987 — in the Palisades Fire. 'Unfortunately, no, the ashes did not survive,' she said. 'I just didn't think to grab them. Why would I? I didn't think our house was going to burn down. It's L.A. — it's not like we haven't evacuated before. I could just go get a scoop of the house and call it a day, and have my mom, Uncle Tommy, and my dad and all the dogs. I'm probably going to go do that.' Melissa did take her mother's Emmy, a photo of her father and a drawing her mother did of Melissa and son Cooper when evacuating. She also had a ring of her mother's that she had recently worn to an event as well as her parents' watches. After the fire, Melissa moved five times in 11 weeks. She's now settled in a rental in the L.A. area. Will she rebuild? She's thinking about it but taking a 'wait and see' approach. 'I don't know yet,' she said. 'I'm not letting go of my lot, but I'm trying to stay very disciplined in our thinking because, honestly, nobody knows how anything is going to go. Luckily, my house has its plans, so it would be a much easier process. … Fortunately, I can sort of take a wait and see. I don't want to be the first one, and don't want to be the last one.' On the brighter side, two months after the fires, Melissa, the self-described 'worst bride ever,' married attorney Steve Mitchel in Jackson Hole, Wyo. They 'absolutely' thought about postponing the wedding. 'A lot of people said we should, and a lot of people said we shouldn't,' she said. However, the 'loudest voices saying, 'Do not cancel,'' were friends who had also lost homes in the L.A. fires, so they pressed on. The wedding was 'very nontraditional,' which is what she wanted. 'I always said, 'I want to have a party where a wedding breaks out,' Melissa said, 'and that is what we did.' Her vows fit the nontraditional theme because 'I'm not gonna promise anything in a room full of people,' she said of her second wedding. 'I'm not having you put that on tape to come back and bite me. And I don't think I can vow to do something, but I can vow to not to.' The one thing she did do was a mother-son dance with 'my little man,' Cooper. The 24-year-old recently moved out on his own but also lost everything in the fire. 'He's been rebuilding too,' she said of her only child. How does she stay positive when bad things happen? 'I don't think I necessarily stay positive,' Melissa replied. 'I stay in forward momentum. My mom used to say: 'You get a weekend wallow.' Obviously, that's a saying, [you may need more than one weekend], but that means you get an appropriate amount of time, and then you get up and you start moving forward.' She continued, 'I learned that with my dad. Some days, moving forward was only that I was able to get out of bed. And the same with my mom. You had to allow yourself to have the days where you couldn't, and then the next day you could get across the room. It's about chin out, eyes forward, because your forward momentum will make things change. Better or worse, that's to be seen. But if you're just sitting in it, you're doing nothing. So it's not so much optimism or good attitude, it's more I've been raised and taught: You go forward.' airs May 13 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. The uncensored cut streams on May 14 on Peacock.
USA Today
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Melissa Rivers talks TV tribute to unapologetic mom Joan: 'She kicked down the door'
Melissa Rivers talks TV tribute to unapologetic mom Joan: 'She kicked down the door' Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump, comedy, absent at White House Correspondents' Dinner The White House Correspondents' dinner went along without an appearance from President Trump or any comedians. One goal overshadowed all others for Melissa Rivers when producing a television special honoring her mother, 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute.' It had to be hilarious. 'My mom always said, and I say it in the special, when you make someone laugh, you give them a mini vacation, and God knows we need a vacation," Rivers says. The hourlong tribute airs May 13 on NBC (10 ET/PT), with an extended, uncensored version streaming on Peacock May14. 'The Peacock version is what really happened in the room," Rivers teases. In the special, taped in November, Tiffany Haddish raps to a rendition of 'Hava Nagila' recalling how Joan's jokes 'split your side like a kidney stone.' Nikki Glaser applauds Joan's candor about aging and plastic surgery, and Aubrey Plaza retires Joan's not-so-politically-correct jokes. Rachel Brosnahan, who cites Joan as an inspiration for Midge on Amazon Prime's 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,' rapidly fires off as many Joan quips as she can in one minute. Chelsea Handler praises Joan as 'a pioneer for women in comedy,' explaining 'she walked so that we could run!' Joan Rivers (born Joan Molinksy), died in 2014 after she stopped breathing during a procedure on her throat. She became the first woman to host a late-night show, was celebrated for her brutally honest appraisal of celebrity fashion on red carpets and built a billion-dollar QVC brand. 'These women wanted to be there,' Melissa Rivers, 57, says. 'I think it's because she kicked down the door. It wasn't a glass ceiling; it was a door, and she kicked it down. And they all know that. They know that they would not be able to do what they do, especially the material they do, if she hadn't made it OK first.' Patton Oswalt tells the audience gathered at the Apollo Theater for the taping that Joan wrote 70,000 jokes. 'I would find random pieces of paper with five words on it and be like, 'Oh, this is yours. You left it,'' Rivers says. Joan 'would record all of her standup when she was working in clubs and working at new material, and then start to figure out why something didn't work or why something did work. She was very, very disciplined.' Sarah Silverman, also featured in the tribute, recalls in an interview with USA TODAY that Joan was 'always writing. She was a comic's comic 'til the end, and she still had so much more in her. What a tragic, frustrating death. 'She was 81,' Silverman continues, 'but she was the youngest, hippest 81, with so much more. One thing that really inspires me about Joan is she once said that she didn't feel like she hit her stride in standup until she was in her 70s.' Melissa Rivers marries attorney Steve Mitchel after pair lost home in LA fires Rivers' favorite part of the taping was seeing how her mother's humor can still captivate an audience today. 'Every time on the monitor (in the green room), when one of my mom's clips would roll, everyone would stop and watch and laugh," she says. "And a number of people said to me that night, 'She's still the funniest person in the room.'' Rivers says her mother 'didn't like talking about legacy,' because it "was for people who aren't relevant.' But the tribute gives Joan one more opportunity to bask in the love of a crowd. 'She was truly a writer, and she loved performing live,' Rivers says. 'She loved an audience more than anything.'
USA Today
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
When does 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute' come out? How to watch TV special
When does 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute' come out? How to watch TV special Show Caption Hide Caption Met Gala: Bad Bunny pays tribute to Puerto Rico with his Met Gala look Bad Bunny pays tribute to Puerto Rico with his 2025 Met Gala look. The Grammy-winning superstar announced a world tour on the same day. A new comedy special is bringing Joan Rivers back from the dead, at least for one night. NBC is honoring the life and legacy of the late comic with "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute," an hour-long television special set to air May 13. "Given that I'm dead, I assume someone will finally decide to honor me," Rivers said in a letter she left for her daughter, Melissa Rivers. "Well, it's about time." The comedy special, which features cameos from famous comics, was filmed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on the opening night of the 2024 New York Comedy Festival, NBC said in a news release. The group, including Chelsea Handler, will "pay homage to Rivers' razor-sharp humor and impact on pop culture" through standup, musical bits and tributes. They will also revisit "Rivers' legendary cabinet of jokes" but add their own personal spin to the material to make it timely and new. "This tribute is everything my mother would have wanted — hilarious, unfiltered and filled with people she respected (and roasted). And as usual, she was still the funniest person in the room," Melissa Rivers said in a statement. "It's incredibly moving to see so many iconic comedians come together to celebrate her legacy, especially the women whose careers she helped make possible by breaking down so many doors." Here's what to know about "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute," including how to tune in. Who was Joan Rivers? Joan Rivers was a comedian and television personality who was a regular on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and made frequent appearances on other shows, including "The Ed Sullivan Show." Rivers also served as host of daytime talk show "The Joan Rivers Show," for which she earned her first and only Emmy Award. She later hosted Fox's version of "The Tonight Show," dubbed "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers." Rivers is best known for her fashion commentary on E! Network's "Fashion Police" and "E!'s Live from the Red Carpet" telecasts before every major award show, from the Golden Globes to the Grammys. She discussed the dos and don'ts of celebrity fashion from 2010 up until her death in 2014. Rivers also famously coined the phrase, "Who are you wearing?" Rivers also received various accolades in her 50-year career. She was a Grammy Award winning performer, a Tony Award-nominated actress, bestselling author, playwright, screenwriter, film director, columnist, lecturer, radio host, jewelry designer, entrepreneur and the renowned creator of the modern-day red-carpet interview show. "An unparalleled legend in the entertainment industry, Rivers was more than just a comedian, she was a force of nature," NBC said in a news release. "... Rivers was also the first woman to break the glass ceiling of male-hosted late-night television." 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute' teaser How to watch 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute' "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute" airs May 13 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. An extended and uncensored version of the comedy special will debut on Peacock on May 14 and will feature additional comics, who will be announced later. An encore presentation will air June 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on E!. We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn't influence our coverage.
Boston Globe
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
This week's TV: ‘Murderbot,' plus a new show from J.J. Abrams and ‘Lost' star Josh Holloway
Michelle Buteau in "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute." Peter Kramer/NBC 1. 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute' Tuesday on NBC at 10 p.m. then uncensored the next day on Peacock: Watch ' Advertisement 2. 'Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story' Wednesday on Netflix: Britain's own Bonnie and Clyde were possibly driven by the notion that the couple that kills together, stays together. Recently released law enforcement tapes, the killers' own words, and candid first-person accounts assemble the true story of wedded serial killers matched in love and cruelty. The beloveds met at a bus stop when Rose was only 15. The notorious couple, who parented multiple surviving children together, became notorious for committing at least 12 joint murders of young women in Gloucester, England, between 1967 and 1987. They typically buried their dead victims in the garden or cellar of 25 Cromwell St., their so-called 'House of Horrors,' which was also the scene of gross domestic violence. Shivers aplenty. Advertisement 3. 'Duster' Thursday on Max: J.J. Abrams has left his sci-fi 'Star Wars' and ' 4. 'Overcompensating' Thursday on Prime Video: Benny (star/creator Benito Skinner), a freshman college football player deep in the closet, overcompensates by presenting as the butch athlete on campus. Over eight comic episodes, Benny tries to out-bro the bros, scoring on the field while playing around with attractive coeds. But, as his dates go bust, a confused Benny becomes increasingly aware of his attraction to men. He initially struggles against his true desires, only to realize he's a lover, not a fighter. 5. 'Tucci in Italy' Sunday at 8 p.m. on National Geographic: 'Conclave' actor Stanley Tucci has found his sweet spot. It's playing himself while hosting television culinary travelogues, like CNN's Emmy-winning travel and food series 'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.' Now, the voluble Italian-American New Yorker continues his odyssey for a new National Geographic five-part series. Tucci's taste for food, curiosity about local culture and history, outgoing personality, and connection with local people make for a tasty TV recipe. Advertisement Thelma Adams is a cultural critic and the author of the best-selling historical novel ' ,' about Josephine Marcus, the Jewish wife of Wyatt Earp.
