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REMEMBERING JOAN RIVERS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 Bob Chamberlin/ Los Angeles Times JOAN RIVERS often bantered with the audience as a host on “Fashion Police.” UNSTOPPABLE IN COMEDY AND BEYOND Joan Rivers never shied from taking chances, and that’s no laughing matter By Mary McNamara TELEVISION CRITIC ust as we long suspected, the only thing rible, Rivers, who died at age 81 on Thursday, that could stop Joan Rivers was death. created a kind of in-your-face, self-depreca- Abrasive, raunchy, self-immolating tion that both exploited the tendency toward J and often unapologetically offensive, self-hatred in comedy, particularly women’s Rivers changed comedy, courted con - comedy, and satirized it. troversy, survived catastrophe and refused to If as she grew older Rivers developed a rep- give up or give in, even when either of those utation for being more mean than funny — in might have seemed the best option. recent months, she was criticized for, among Known best for her grating, New York-af- other things, her remarks regarding Adele’s flicted tones, penchant for plastic surgery and weight, Palestinians and the Holocaust — willingness to tell anyone that they looked ter- she remained true to the brassy image and Remembering Joan Rivers take-no-prisoners attitude that allowed her to was impossible not to admire the indefatiga- rise during a time when the term “female co- ble spirit, the refusal to let anything soften or median” was almost an oxymoron. sag, including her very sharp tongue. Rivers famously wrote for Ed Sullivan and I remember seeing Rivers at the 2007 Os- then Phyllis Diller, appeared on “The Tonight cars, dressing down an official who was at- Show” when it was still hosted by Jack Paar, tempting to turn her away from the red carpet then became one of Johnny Carson’s guest because she wasn’t wearing her credentials. hosts. Of the few remaining glittering links to “Oh, my God,” she said, with that deep television’s last golden age, she is the only one hollow squawk that made her sound like a who managed to navigate the many changes world-weary and chain-smoking parrot. “If I in between. Talk shows, reality television, wasn’t who I [expletive] said I was, if I didn’t Twitter, webisodes, red carpet commentary have to [expletive] be here, do you think I — no job was too big or too small. would [expletive] be here? In this [expletive] While the few remaining comedians of her dress and this [expletive] heat? Move that generation retired, emerging only for special [double expletive] rope.” events, Rivers never stopped touring or tak- The man moved the rope. ing chances. In addition to her own shows, she Her death makes her appearance this year was a regular guest on talk shows, appeared as a on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fal- contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice” (she won), lon” even more poignant and important. Long guest-starred on “Louie” (she killed) and was a friend and acolyte of Johnny Carson, Rivers the subject of the documentary “Joan Rivers: A famously fell from favor in the 1980s when she Piece of Work,” in which, in one segment, the took a job hosting a show on another network. then 75-year-old performed back-to-back shows Carson never spoke to her again and banned in Toronto, Palm Springs and Minneapolis. her from “The Tonight Show,” an edict both At the time of her death Rivers had a show Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien obeyed. on E! (“Fashion Police”), one on WeTV (“Joan She remained embroiled in controversy, and Melissa: Joan Knows Best?”), a third on of course, most recently with the writers of the Web (“In Bed With Joan”), a recent best- “Fashion Police” who turned to Rivers for sup- selling memoir (“Diary of a Mad Diva”) and a port in their request to join the Writers Guild. fall tour slated for Britain. Her refusal fueled yet another public feud. The woman was 81. With a fall tour slated But then Joan Rivers did not go gentle into for Britain. any night, good or bad. She made some audi- And if the many plastic surgeries and insis- ences laugh till they cried, and others fume tently platinum hair made her look at times with anger. She did what she did and then she like a fright, well (insert profanity here) you. did it some more. For latter-day boomers who remember the “I wish I could tell you it gets better,” she early work, Rivers was like the drunk mom says to a disheartened Louis C.K. in that very at the party, the one who told the truth and funny and revealing episode of “Louie.” “But it scandalized the room. Back in the last centu- doesn’t get better. You get better. I’ve gone up, ry, Rivers may have made her name by trash- I’ve gone down, I’ve been bankrupt, I’ve been ing herself, but she also fearlessly called out broke, but you do it. And we do it because we men, sex, childbirth (she would awaken her love it more than anything else.” young sleeping daughter to say, “Melissa, you Overcome, Louie kisses her. Shocked, Rivers ripped me to shreds”) and gynecology in gen- fights him off, then has a change of heart. “What eral. Her remark that “when I need a pick-me- the hell,” she says, motioning to the bedroom. up, I put a little Fresca on a maxi-pad” makes “Just don’t tell anyone. I’m thinking of you, not me laugh to this day. me,” she adds. “No one likes a necrophiliac.” Joan Rivers was so fearless a comedian she Only one person in the world could land a even joked about her husband’s suicide. joke like that. Only one person in the world The modern Joan was a more divisive fig- would even attempt a joke like that. ure. Many found her persona irritating, her And now she’s gone. comedy predictably mean-spirited, her re- marks intentionally provocative. Even so, it [email protected] UNSTOPPABLE IN COMEDY AND BEYOND | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 2.

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