Joan Rivers' career hit rock bottom after mentor Johnny Carson shunned her, but the setback only made her stronger
On September 4, 2014, legendary comedian Joan Rivers breathed her last. Five years after her death, a documentary on the ups and downs of her personal as well as professional life revealed the struggles the comic icon had to face in order to make a mark for herself in a male-dominated industry.
'Joan Rivers: Behind Closed Doors,' which premiered Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, among other aspects of her life, also delves into the details of the mentor-student relationship between one of the kings of late-night talk show, Johnny Carson and Rivers - a relationship that later turned into a bitter rivalry. It all started with Carson seeing past Rivers's gender and recognizing her talent for comedy above all else. After performing stand-up gigs at small clubs, Rivers finally struck gold at the age of 31 when she booked an appearance on NBC's 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson in 1965.
"America was watching Johnny Carson and if he decided he likes you, your life would change," a gossip columnist, magazine editor Rob Shuter said in the documentary. To say Carson liked having Rivers as a guest on his show would be an understatement.
"It was just one of those nights when everything goes right and she and Johnny had terrific chemistry and he thought she was hilarious and by the end of her appearance, he was, you know, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes," Leslie Bennetts, the author of 'Last girl before freeway' said. "And he said on the air, he said, 'You are gonna be a big star.' And by the next morning, she was."
After inviting Rivers as a guest on the show, she became a regular guest host, appearances that quickly earned her a fan following. According to present-day comedians, one of the reasons behind Rivers' popularity at the time could have been the fact that the topics she chose to make jokes on were issues most women faced but never talked about in the open. "She never knew what would come out of her mouth and you'd see her as the only woman over and over and over holding her own and many times she would achieve, which I knew was very important to her, to not be thought of as a female comedian," comedian Kathy Griffin said. "But just to be thought of as someone who can not only keep up with the boys but, you know, sweep the floor with them."
In 1983, Rivers landed the much-coveted position of the permanent guest host on the show, which meant that whenever Carson was away, the audience tuning in to the show would get a taste of her comedy. However, when rumors of Carson's retirement loomed, Rivers became anxious, wondering if she would be chosen to replace her mentor. Her doubts were further fueled by the fact that in 1985, NBC extended Carson's contract by two years while at the same time extended hers only by a year.
But that was not the only troubling sign of her job not being as secure as she had previously thought. "Somebody slipped her what was supposedly a secret list of ten names of potential replacements for Johnny Carson when he retired," Bennetts said. "And all ten of them were men and her name was not on the list and this was a terrible, terrible blow and betrayal to Joan. She had higher ratings when she did the show than any of these other guys... it seemed grossly unfair to her."
Around the same time, the Fox network was looking for a late-night host for their upcoming show, which would go up against 'The Tonight Show.' Among the uncertainties about her future on Carson's show, when a new opportunity came knocking, especially one where she could have her own show, Rivers accepted the offer.
"They wanted a show to compete against Johnny. Nobody could, so they decided, really kind of deviously but very smart, 'We're gonna hire his fill-in host.' So Joan was offered a show to go up against Johnny," Shuter said. "She couldn't say no. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, to have her own show. To be the first female late-night host."
What Rivers did not anticipate was the fact that she would not get her mentor's blessings for the new move in her career. After finding out from other sources that Rivers had signed a late-night gig which would rival his show, Carson never spoke to her again. Rivers revealed in a 1986 interview that Carson hung up on her when she had tried to call him to officially inform him of her career move. When asked who would make the next move in the bittered relationship, she said, "I probably will. I will write him a letter. Tell him, 'I love you.' I do love him. It's nothing to do with Johnny. Had to do with NBC giving him a 2-year contract and only giving me a one-year contract. That to me is saying, 'We don't want you.'"
She was reportedly banned from NBC and did not appear on 'The Tonight Show' for nearly 30 years after that. When her new show tanked after just seven months on air and Rivers was fired by Fox, her career hit rock bottom. "It was a terrible humiliation. Joan was by then a pariah in a lot of the entertainment industry because of the perception that she had betrayed Johnny Carson, who had been so good to her," Bennetts said.
However, despite the huge set back on the professional front and dealing with her husband's suicide and her daughter estrangement soon after the cancellation of her show, Rivers did not give up. She poured her heart out into her comedy and took every big or small career opportunity that came her way and eventually climbed back up the ladder of fame to be solidified in history as one of the greatest comedians who ever lived.