By Rob Shuter
Our morning show, The Gossip Table is back on VH1 and I can't help thinking that if it was not for Joan Rivers the show would never exist.
A Little Help from Joan
Not only did she give me the idea for the show, actual gossip columnists breaking original reporting each morning, rather than talking others reporters stories from different website, Joan was the one celebrity that said yes to shooting the pilot.
Before a TV show gets a full season's order, you make a pilot to show the network what the show will be. It's not dissimilar to recording a demo in the music business. We all called every celebrity we knew to ask them to tape it. And surprise, everyone had a conflict, except Joan!
That is who she was. She always wanted to help out the next generation. Help them to succeed, help them to find success in a tough, tough business.
Advice from Joan
I will never forget the advice she game me, "No one knows nothing. Everyone is scared to say yes. You have to make it hard for them to say no. And if all else fails, remember Sarah Palin ran to be Vice President, you can do a 30-minute silly gossip show." Boy, was she right!
Words of Wisdom
Someone that could really use Joan's advice and kindness at the moment is Ariana Grande. She is getting quite the reputation of being a little DIVA. If darling E! host Giuliana Rancic cannot say anything nice about you, then you know you are in trouble.
Recently, when I was a guest on my dear friend Elvis Duran's radio show, we spoke about celebrities who have disappointed us. While Elvis, bless him, had nothing but nice things to say, his amazing co-hosts, Bethenny and Danielle Monaro both told stories of seeing Ariana being less than nice backstage at a Z100 show!
As Joan would say, 'snap out of it.'
We hear!
And talking of Joan, I am hearing that although Kathy Griffin wants to replace the legend on Fashion Police when it returns in 2015, the producers' first choice is Wendy Williams. Discussions are talking place about moving the show to NYC and giving Wendy, Joan's seat!
I think this would be a great idea, but more importantly, Joan would love this!
How you doing!