Saturday, July 4, 2026

Watch Joan Rivers’ First Appearance on the “Tonight Show” Since 1986

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Joan Rivers last appeared on the Tonight show with Johnny Carson in 1986. That was 28 years ago. Last night she returned. The jokes were about the Holocaust and vaginas. It was just like the old days. Watch Jimmy Fallon do a very subtle Carson imitation. Lovely. Joan was played on by a tape of the old Tonight show theme as played by Doc Severinsen and written by Paul Anka. That was a really classy touch. Welcome back Joan!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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