I was just trading Elizabeth Taylor fat jokes on the phone with Joan Rivers! What a kick. When I was a kid, Joan would guest host for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show" and at that time, in the late 70s, the gorgeous Miss Taylor had gotten quite heavy. Joan went to town with such jokes as: "She puts mayonaise on an asprin!" "When she goes to McDonald's the numbers change!" "She cut her finger and ketchup came out!" Then I reminded Joan of this one: "When she pierced her ears, gavy came out!" We all know that Taylor lost the weight and regained her great beauty and has gone on to become one of the world's great humanitarians. So, I mean no disrespect to this great star.
What a treat to interview Joan! This was as fun as trading lines from "Designing Women" several months ago with Diixie Carter. I love my job! So, I'm working on a pre-Oscar feature story on Joan who will once again be doing red carpet interviews for TV Guide channel. I'll link to it when it is published in the Daily News next week but did get some material from her exclusivey for Out In Hollywood readers.
Joan has always had a huge gay following, from the beginning when she was doing club dates in New York: "Why do the gays love me? The same reason they love Bette and Liza and Cher.I think they love women who are out there. It's the gay guys who are the funniest, brightest and most outrageous. Always, from the beginning, tney were the ones who came to see me in [Greenwich] Village."
One thing that leaves Joan disappointed is that Bravo decided not to pick up a pilot she did for what can best be described as a gay version of "The View" with Joan as moderator and gay men as the panelists.
"It's not going to happen," she says.
Her ideal panel would include Michael Muston, Jim McGreevey and Bravo exec (and blogger) Andy Cohen. She's still hopeful, however, that maybe LOGO will be interested.
I know I'd be watching!