Joan and Melissa Rivers :: in the family way for new reality series

Some families are so unusual and entertaining that their lives just beg for cameras to follow them around so reality show junkies can watch, gawk, laugh and maybe even gasp at some of the antics. Viewers will get all that and more when the one-two punch of Joan and Melissa Rivers comes to the WE network this week with the new series Joan And Melissa: Joan Knows Best?

In the reality series, Joan leaves her beloved Manhattan and moves in with her headstrong daughter Melissa and her grandchild, 10-year old Cooper. While there is a lot of humor in the show, we also see a mother/daughter team that has endured much in both their personal and professional lives.

Premiering Tuesday night on the WE network, Joan and Melissa were present at the recent Television Critics Association where the twosome talked to journalists and Joan started the panel out with - what else? - a joke.

"Anybody want to know anything about our new network which we have now? We just bought a station. It's called RENT," Joan joked, poking fun at all the attention Oprah Winfrey was getting during the TCAs for her just-launched network, OWN.

A reality show is born

With Joan being 77-years young and still traveling the country with her stand-up act as well as promoting her books, hosting duties on E's Fashion Police and being the candid subject of last year's acclaimed documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, what would make her want to abandon her beloved Manhattan and head to the 'left coast?'

"About three years ago," Melissa explained, "my mom did her play at the Geffen Theater [in Los Angeles] and she had a beautiful apartment that she rented in Westwood, and it was fabulous. For three months, I had my mom here. And I could drop Cooper off. I could have a life. I could do all sorts of things. And there wasn't that pressure that comes when someone comes to visit. And at the end of the trip, I said to my mom, 'It's the first time I can remember that I felt like we had a normal family.'" And then, after a short period of time, Joan said "time to come back!" And a reality show was born.

Fans of reality TV?

With this new reality show added to the already crowded reality show market, are the Rivers ladies fans of the genre?

"I'm a big fan of TV," said Melissa. "I also feel, as a producer, it's my job to know what's going on in the genres that I work in... and I love watching TV. I love watching certain reality TV. I mean, my whole family will not miss a Hell's Kitchen. We love Hell's Kitchen. We love everything on WE."

Joan added, "Seriously, I think when you can get a reality show that gets the reality, there's nothing like it. We all know that. When you can get the truth in a moment, that's a true moment. That's gold. And I think that's what, God knows, we're trying for... I love that kind of reality. I mean, the things that happened on Celebrity Apprentice, you can't stage that kind of stuff and you can't stage good reality."

One show that Joan is not a fan of? MTV's huge hit Jersey Shore. "Call me stupid. I'm still aspirational in my own way and you'll see this on our new network, RENT," she joked. "But I don't want to watch people that live in trailers. You know what I mean? That's reality that I don't like. So I think Jersey Shore, ugh."

But, when one reporter pointed out that they've had Jersey Shore's Snooki on their Fashion Police series (on the E! network), Joan showed her business sense in being well aware what brings in the ratings. "Are you kidding? Hey, we're whores. I can't wait for Snooki to show up at the door!"

Another thing that Joan has always been known for is her decorating sense, as is evident from her glamorous Manhattan apartment which is showcased in her recent documentary. Therefore, when she moved in with Melissa and Cooper the first thing she did was look over her daughter's surroundings and see what needed changing.

"I found this great gay decorator who is doing all these wonderful houses for these rich people all over Beverly Hills and they said they could redo her house. I thought she would be thrilled. She was still living with furniture from when she first got married [Joan makes yuck sound]. And I was very shocked."

About that plastic surgery...

With award season already underway, one gig neither Joan or Melissa is interested in doing again is their infamous work on the red carpet, a trend they started before anyone else was doing it on television. While Melissa said they wouldn't have the free reign they once did, they also had their own ideas, which probably wouldn't happen.

"Everything that we did, everyone else is still doing," she explained. "There are a few paradigms that I could come up with that would change it significantly and change the face of the red carpet and how we broadcast it [but] it would be such an expensive undertaking that E isn't going to do that and they're doing very well with Ryan [Seacrest] and Giuliana [Rancic]. I don't miss the red carpet at all. We were there. We started it. We did it. You always want to leave the party while it's still fun."

Joan added that the publicists have too much of a say on things now and since she was never PC with the celebs, it wouldn't be the same. "It's not funny. You know, when we were doing it you could say to Julia Roberts, 'I hate your dress,' and she would laugh. You know what I mean? It was fun... now the publicists say, 'Then you're not going to get the next six people because you didn't like Nicole's dress six years ago.' So it took all the fun out."

One thing Joan and Melissa clearly disagree on but are open to talking about - plastic surgery. While Joan has always been upfront with the many procedures she's had done, Melissa (who has admitted to a minimal amount of work) definitely thinks there's a point where people need to just stop with the nipping and the tucking.

"There are certain topics with a parent that you know you're not going to win and that are only going to cause a fight. I voice my opinion about it when I feel strongly. And in my opinion, it's like enough, stop it. And it is a source of conflict. It really is. It bothers me, but -- it really does bother me."

Joan, however, still owns up to the excessiveness of the plastic surgery but, as has always been her way, she goes to humor to get a laugh and try to alleviate any tension. "I knew that I was doing a lot of plastic surgery because Melissa one time called me when Cooper was four years old and they had Return of the Mummy [on] and he ran to the TV and went, 'Grandma, Grandma.'"

Even though filming on the WE show is finished, Joan is still spending a lot of time in Los Angeles since she and Melissa are also filming Fashion Police for E! But with Joan being a notorious fan of New York City, the adjustments to Los Angeles have not been easy. "I hate it. I'm a New Yorker. I walk everywhere. I love theater. I'm in the theater every single night in New York. If I'm free, I just go to the theater... and I also don't like that everybody's gorgeous [in Los Angeles]."

Having always been a shrewd businesswoman (which she proved when she won Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice in 2009), Joan said there was one advantage to spending more time in Tinsel Town. "You never have to ask about your ratings because when you walk in [the famous Los Angeles eatery] Spago, if they go to the right, that means you are fucked that day. If you go to the left, that means you got good ratings but it's such a company town."

Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best premieres on the WE network on Tuesday at 9/8c.