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This is the best news I've heard in years. I truly loathe the Rivers, though I'm not entirely certain why. I just find them brutally annoying and repetitive, and thankfully they are finally gone. The LA Times reported a few days ago that TV Guide has fired both of them from red carpet coverage, meaning they'll finally have to go get real jobs now. Maybe they can blog?
Joan and Melissa Rivers were "stunned" when they got the news Wednesday that the TV Guide Channel chose not to pick up a one-year option on their current contract to host red-carpet shows, according to a network producer who declined to be identified because he wasn't speaking officially on behalf of TV Guide.
This news has been out since last week but I knew it'd be long and I didn't want to just skim it. I see I wasn't disappointed.
"They knew that we were talking to other stars about their job, but they may have thought it was just a negotiating tactic," he adds. "Joan and Melissa started talking to other networks, too, but I don't think they really expected the break-up."
The Rivers signed a three-year deal for a reputed $8 million in summer, 2004, which had an existing clause for a 12-month extension. Many media observers expected it to be picked up automatically, given the duo's renown as red-carpet icons, who trail-blazed such coverage for E! network dating back to 1996. [...] "No more drama!" cheered one producer at TV Guide Channel when the news broke.
The rest of the story is predictable. Now that they are gone, everyone at E! and TV Guide say how much they loved the Rivers, and how "cute" the behind-the-scenes drama was, but we know they're full of it. You don't get fired by two networks in two years if everyone loves you and you aren't a drama queen when the cameras aren't turned on.
There is also a bit of subtext here where the people at E! are complaining even more about about their replacement, Star Jones. At this is the part that gets me, the irony.
Face it, Joan and Melissa are entitled, they're legends and the diva antics were never targeted at anyone personally, just frustration voiced in operatic pitch over the inevitable screw-ups that occur when shooting TV shows, especially live ones.
Of the two, I can understand someone having this weird impression that John Rivers is somehow entitled to be an ass--- to everyone around here just because she has been famous for most of her life. That's retarded, and I'll tell you it isn't the sex and violence coming out of Hollywood that is "corrupting" our culture, it's treating people with no significant accomplishments in their life as royalty just because they've been on TV.
At least Lindsay Lohan has acted in a few low rated movies and had quite a bit more success singing, but what has Paris Hilton ever done in her life other than be rich by default?
The same goes for Melissa. Frankly, I didn't know that Joan even had a daughter until she showed up on E!. What significant accomplishment does she have in her past that would justify being a snotty and whiny brat?
I don't buy into it. Your actions define who you are in life and if they are going to be remembered for being spoiled malcontents, then that is all that matters. If everywhere they go, they are remembered by the people they leave behind with departing sighs of relief and having them gone, at best, they are legendary alright, legendary losers.
There is a lot more to this story, like how the Rivers brought it absolutely pathetic ratings, and this little bit that I'll leave you with.
When E! offered her the job hosting red carpets outside award shows — back when no one else was doing it — the pay was lousy ($10,000 per show), her routine ("Who are you wearing?") was widely ridiculed and she was mocked for teaming up with her daughter. Now the carpets outside the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Globes are crowded with copycats, too.
We have these two to thank for turning the Academy Awards into a freak show about expensive clothes that cost an average person a years salary to buy, something only worn that one day, instead of focusing on the event itself. When is the last time you heard either of these people ask someone on the red carpet who they thought would win best picture that year?
