Late Night Time Machine: Joan Rivers Guest Hosted a Halloween Tonight Show Like No Other

On Thursday, October 31, 1985, Johnny Carson did not appear on The Tonight Show. In his place was Joan Rivers, who was then well into her stint as the show’s first permanent guest host. For that Halloween episode, Rivers welcomed an all-star lineup of entertainers who, together, captured the spirit of the decade. But Rivers alone—who was then at the apex of her late-night fame—was enough of a draw for viewers. 

To understand just how big Rivers was at this time, consider an October 13, 1985 column for the Associated Press on the thriving state of American comedy. “While disco’s din is dying and jazz joints have yet to find a younger audience,” Hugh Mulligan wrote, “comedy is king in clubland, and the American dream machine is turning out an unending line of pretenders to the throne of Johnny Carson and Joan Rivers, and the rest of the big-time jokesters.” Carson and Rivers: Television comedy royalty. 

Bob Bennett, the then-head of Metromedia—a radio and TV company that went on to sell many of its assets to News Corp, which then launched Fox Television Studios in April 1986—told at least one entertainment columnist that Rivers-hosted episodes of The Tonight Show often beat Carson-hosted ones in the ratings. “Her appeal is very obvious,” he said. 

By the middle of the following year, it would all come crashing down.

“When I became permanent guest host [on The Tonight Show] three years ago, my yearly contracts ran for the same length as Johnny’s, and I absolutely believed I was secure as long as Johnny was host,” Rivers wrote for People in 1986. “Then in 1985 he signed for two years, but my contract was only for one year. That shook me to the very roots of my confidence. It could mean only one thing—the powers were uncertain about my future.”

So when Fox came calling to offer Rivers a show of her own, she accepted—though only after much deliberation.

When the deal was done, “The first person I called was Johnny,” Rivers shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “He hung up on me—and never, ever spoke to me again. And then denied that I called him. I couldn’t figure it out. I would see him in a restaurant and go over and say hello. He wouldn’t talk to me.”

To Carson, it was the ultimate betrayal, despite NBC seemingly undervaluing his guest host. Meanwhile, over on Fox, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers ended up being a failed experiment.

But on Halloween night in 1985, Rivers was the one with the power; she was in full command of one of the most iconic programs in the history of American television. Her guests—plus Doc Severinsen, who sat in for Johnny’s sidekick Ed McMahon—seemed thrilled to be along for the ride. 

New York Daily News entertainment writer George Maksian hyped the episode ahead of time in his syndicated column: “Halloween Party: Joan Rivers will have a few treats up her sleeve when she hosts the Tonight show tomorrow night,” he wrote. “We all know what Elvira will be wearing,” a ‘show insider’ told the writer of the program’s costumed line-up. “But it’s up to the others how they want to dress. We never tell them what to wear.”

Maksian dug around and was able to report that Phyllis Diller planned to dress as Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Asked what Rivers would wear, the insider merely replied, “Something regal.” 

Rivers opted for a more minimalistic take on regal—one furnished, as the end credits revealed, by Calvin Klein: an ivory shawl and high-shouldered sweater with a flowing brown skirt. No need to play the part of a royal when you already are one.

Severinsen asked Rivers whether she planned to trick-or-treat. “I have very rich neighbors,” Rivers replied. “Instead of a jack-o-lantern, they just took David Letterman and painted his face yellow and put him in the window.” 

Rivers’ classy garb complemented the more visually striking wardrobes of her guests, all of whom were in costume, including, in a sense, her first guest: David Lee Roth, who had recently parted ways with Van Halen, playing the part of rock star on his Tonight Show debut.

Watching it today, Rivers’ conversation with Roth showcases her range as a host. She conducts a far more entertaining version of the standard celebrity interview, chatting about Roth’s early life and then-upcoming (but never realized) film project, Crazy From the Heat.

In discussing his origin story, Rivers lights up when she learns that Roth’s uncle was the owner of Cafe Wha?, a legendary music club in Manhattan’s West Village. “I work in The Bitter End,” Rivers says of another nearby club. “Your Uncle Manny owes me money,” she joked. “He owes me $125!” She excitedly asks whether he ever saw Lenny Bruce perform. He says no, but remembers watching the impressionist Rich Little rehearse in the dressing room. 

After Roth, Rivers welcomes a superstar of a different sort: Pee-wee Herman, who walks out dressed as Dracula. With Pee-wee, Rivers pivots to take on the role of the straight woman, setting up Paul Reubens, who starred in the fifteenth highest grossing movie of that year, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

Much of the performance features Rivers asking Pee-wee about various Halloween items he brought out on stage. Pee-wee shows Rivers his favorite toy: a plush jack-o-lantern. “This is the big thing in toys nowadays, plush,” he explains, in his trademark voice. With Pee-wee, Rivers knows to set him up and then get out of the way, laughing along with the studio audience.

She then takes on a different kind of straight role. First, she tells the audience there has been a change to the schedule. Phyllis Diller had to cancel, but luckily Dr. Ruth will appear in her place. Then out walks Diller, dressed as the famous sex therapist and television host.

Their bit begins with Rivers tossing fake questions from the audience at Diller as Dr. Ruth. “I have 31 kids, should I write a book?,” Rivers asks. “No,” Diller replies, “read one.” Rivers then pivots to chatting with Diller as Diller, one of her comedy idols. She gives the 68-year-old credit for changing the way America talked about plastic and cosmetic surgeries. “It started with me years ago, when LBJ was in [office], and Lady Bird was in charge of beautifying America,” Diller says, “and she asked me to leave.” The crowd, and Rivers, eat it up.

In discussing Carson as a host, Don Rickles once said his greatest gift was his ability to make his guests, and comics in particular, look good. In this brief interview with Diller, one sees that same grace and skill in Rivers. 

Finally, Rivers introduces Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (everyone but Roth is on the couch at this point). First, she informs the audience that “Elvira” broke records in Halloween costume sales that year. “But it looks a lot better on her,” Rivers says, “So let’s see her fill it out.”

Rivers is very much in her element interviewing Elvira, delivering one-liners and asking questions just as if she were covering a red carpet event—which would eventually become a regular gig for Rivers in her later years. “When did you know you were born lucky?,” Rivers asks Elvira. “Do you realize when your body falls, there’s going to be an earthquake?” 

In just one episode, Rivers offers a blend of funny celebrity interviews, straight man gravitas, and loving roasts. Watch Rivers behind the desk on this particular evening and you’ll hear and see why no discussion of the greatest late-night hosts should ever neglect her. She could do it all.