TV Land has green lit the new non-scripted original series, "How'd You Get So Rich?," produced by Mark Burnett and featuring Joan Rivers.
The network has ordered six half-hour episodes of "How'd You Get So Rich?," in which Rivers will visit big estates across the country and interview their well-heeled occupants. Series is executive produced by Burnett and Zoo Productions.
Described as a post-menopausal Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers delivers a raunchy, politically incorrect evening of stand-up comedy. One of the hardest working women in show business, she is a best-selling author, Tony-nominated actress, playwright, screenwriter, motion picture director, Emmy Award-winning television talk-show host, jewelry designer, business woman and mother to "what's-her-name" Melissa. She is on the board of God's Love We Deliver, National Chairwoman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and gives lectures around the world on suicide prevention and survival. With her trademark mix of outspoken wit, savvy and compassion, she continues to be one of America's most admired first ladies of comedy.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Joan Rivers "made the rounds" in New York during the '50s, appearing in a few off-off Broadway plays (including one where she played a lesbian opposite an equally unknown Barbra Streisand), surviving sleazy agents, tawdry clubs, and hostile audiences. A 1965 booking on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" led to her hosting one of the first syndicated talk shows on daytime TV, "That Show with Joan Rivers" in 1968. In the '70s Joan wrote the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely To (starring Stockard Channing) and then wrote and directed her first feature film Rabbit Test, casting Billy Crystal in the lead. In 1983 Joan became the permanent guest host on "The Tonight Show." Later, she headlined in Las Vegas, sold out Carnegie Hall, produced a Grammy nominated comedy album, and wrote two best-selling books. In 1989 the Tribune Corporation launched Joan in her own syndicated daytime talk show. She won an Emmy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994 she wrote and starred on Broadway in Sally Marr and Her Escorts, for which she received a Best Actress Tony nomination. Since then, Joan has written three more best-selling books, maintains her own jewelry line on QVC, provided fashion commentaries for E! and The TV Guide Channel, and filmed a special for Bravo
Joan Rivers has also brought her stand up act back to New York on at The Cutting Room. She will perform there through December 19th.
Tickets are $30 with a portion of the proceeds going to Joan Rivers' favorite charities: God's Love We Deliver and Guide Dogs for the Blind. The Cutting Room is located at 19 West 24th (accessible from the N,R,F,V & 6 trains at 23rd Street). For reservations call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.
Photo Credit Peter James Zielinksi
