Late Night Last Century: Joan Rivers and Betty White Give a Master Class in Banter

Late Night Last Century is a weekly column highlighting some of the funniest and most unforgettable comedy from late night, talk shows, and variety shows of the 20th century currently streaming on YouTube. Today, we go back to 1982, when Joan Rivers, guest hosting for Johnny Carson, welcomed Betty White to The Tonight Show.

Joan Rivers made more than 300 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, starting as a guest in 1965 and eventually becoming the program’s most-celebrated fill-in host. While Faye Emerson’s 1949 show marked the first time a woman hosted a late night program, Rivers was a trailblazer, taking the reins of the most popular program during the most influential period for late night in America. 

Despite her loyal work as a fill-in host, by 1986, her relationship with Carson famously came to an end. In October, she began hosting The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers on Fox. He took the decision as a personal slight, shunning Rivers privately and professionally for the rest of his life. 

Rivers’ show came to an end the following May, as executives pressured the comic to fire her husband and manager, Edgar Rosenberg, blaming him for her poor ratings. Eventually, the executives scrapped the whole enterprise. Rosenberg took his own life, and Rivers would not return to The Tonight Show until 2014, when she made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s first episode. She died in September of that year. 

The horrible treatment of Rivers by colleagues and network executives is one of the great tragedies of late night. But despite all that, Rivers remains one of the most iconic figures in late night history, breaking down barriers and being reliably hilarious all the while. Her gifts as a host are no clearer than in the below clip from December 2, 1982.