Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute (2025): Release date and everything we know so far

The television special "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute" will be released on May 13, 2025, exclusively on NBC in the United States. Produced by Done and Dusted Productions, it was filmed at the Apollo Theatre in New York City.

A decade after the legendary comedienne Joan Rivers's passing, the comedy community reunited to pay tribute. In the special, the comedians revisit their old jokes and add a modern spin to reflect today's social and cultural landscape. Additionally, the audience will be treated to original content from the comedians, along with musical bits.

The article discusses details about the late Rivers and her upcoming tribute special.

Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute will premiere on NBC

Expand Tweet

The TV special "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute" will premiere on May 13, 2025, at 10 pm ET/PT exclusively on NBC in the United States. An extended, uncensored version of the special, featuring additional comic performances, will debut on May 14 on Peacock. An encore presentation of the original special will air on June 5, 2025, on the E! channel.

According to an article published in May 2025 by NBC, Jen Neal, Executive Vice President of NBCUniversal Entertainment, stated the following about the upcoming special:

"Joan Rivers is deserving of her status as one of the funniest and most influential comedians of all time. She paved the way for so many women who came after her, and this special is a way to honor her for all of her incredible achievements both on the stage and off," said Jen.

Joan Rivers' journey in the entertainment business

Comedian Joan Rivers attends Global Green USA's 11th Annual Pre-Oscar party at Avalon on February 26, 2014, in Hollywood, California. (image via Getty)

Joan Rivers was an American talk show host, comedian, writer, and actress from Brooklyn, New York. She was well known for her blunt and controversial comedic persona, often directing her content towards celebrities and politicians in her signature New York accent. She received several awards throughout her career, including a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Newspapers such as The Washington Post and Time have also regarded the late comedienne as a pioneer for women in the comedy community. Joan rose to prominence in 1965 after being a guest on The Tonight Show, hosted by her mentor Johnny Carson. With her program, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, she became the first woman to host a late-night network television talk show.

She also co-hosted the E! celebrity fashion show Fashion Police and starred in the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?" Unfortunately, Joan passed away in 2014 due to complications during a minor throat procedure at an outpatient clinic.

The late comedienne's fitting tribute special, "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute," was produced by her daughter Melissa Rivers. She revealed to NBC that following her mother's death, she received a letter in which her mother hoped to be honored posthumously.

"Given that I’m dead, I assume someone will finally decide to honor me. Well, it’s about time,” Rivers wrote in a letter she left for her daughter, Melissa Rivers.

The comics performing at the Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute

Neil Bender, Marika Bender, and guests attend the Dead Funny: An All-Star Tribute to Joan Rivers benefitting God's Love We Deliver at The Victoria Theater on November 07, 2024, in New York City. (Image via Getty)

As per NBC, the comedians slated to perform for the TV special Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute are as follows:

Rachel Brosnahan
Margaret Cho
Nikki Glaser
Tiffany Haddish
Chelsea Handler
Neil Patrick Harris
Bill Maher
Howie Mandel
Joel McHale
Tracy Morgan
Patton Oswalt
Aubrey Plaza
Sarah Silverman
Jean Smart
Rita Wilson
Melissa Rivers

The television special "Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute" will be released exclusively on NBC in the United States. An extended, uncensored version of the special will premiere the following day on Peacock.

Stay tuned with us for further updates.

About the author

Sumit Adyaprasad Yadav is an Entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. He has an educational background in finance, and possesses a cumulative work experience of over four years. After his eldest sister inducted him into the world of shows and films, his penchant for writing naturally grew.

As an Entertainment writer, Sumit’s involvement with media and content extends beyond mere leisure. He engages with them by investing his attention, and seeks to extract meanings from permutations of these audio-visual forms. He upholds journalistic ethics by relying on multiple sources and subscribing to available content only after thorough fact-checking. His professional achievements comprise crafting monthly newsletter for a startup firm, and conducting multiple interviews with employees.

When Sumit is not busy writing about the latest trends in the entertainment industry, he likes to play football. His favorite actor is Robert Pattinson, as he admires the actor's growth after the Twilight film series and his selection of scripts.

Know More

Edited by Yesha Srivastava