Joan Rivers is gone but not forgotten on the retooled “Fashion Police,” which premiered Monday night with a review of the fashion from Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards.
Co-hosts Melissa Rivers, Giuliana Rancic and stylist Brad Goreski joined reality star NeNe Leakes and comedian Margaret Cho in Monday’s season premiere. The E! network show underwent major change when Joan Rivers died in September, former co-hosts Kathy Griffin and Kelly Osbourne left the show in the spring and Rancic was criticized for a comment in a February episode about actress Zendaya Coleman’s red-carpet dreadlocks possibly smelling of patchouli oil or weed.
Rancic, who recently moved full-time to Chicago amid departure from her longtime E! News co-anchor role, offered little controversy in Monday’s episode. She said VMAs host Miley Cyrus “looked amazing” in her outlandish outfits. Her harshest barbs were saved for Britney Spears, who showed off her belly button in a glittery minidress reminiscent of a figuring skating outfit.
“Honey, you gotta evolve. We gotta get past this dress. You gotta get past this look,” Rancic said about Spears.
Cho had some of the cattiest comments of the night. Rancic’s remark about Coleman was mocked by Cho, who joked that Cyrus’ hair “probably smells like pot and patchouli.” Rancic hid her face behind a couch pillow as Cho spoke.
Meanwhile, Melissa Rivers seemed to helm the new co-host panel. She frequently referenced her mother, who was a fixture of “Fashion Police” from 2010 until her death last year.
Rivers asked the co-hosts what they thought her mother would think of the various outfits and encouraged viewers at home to submit their comments with the hashtag #WhatWouldJoanSay.
Five more episodes of “Fashion Police” are expected to air through the end of the year.
