Rivers' duo pulls the red carpet out from under Jones

By SAMANTHA ETTUS
Scripps Howard News Service
20-JAN-05

For the first time in Golden Globe history, there was competition on the red carpet, and it didn't come from the "best dressed" category.

Rather, the fight was for ratings, as TV Guide Channel's Joan and Melissa Rivers sparred with Star Jones Reynolds, who recently assumed their former mantle at E! Entertainment Television.

With their divergent approaches to covering this spectacle, we can finally answer two burning questions:

Is it actually better to be naughty than nice?

Can you really kill with kindness?

Let's take a peek at the dueling divas to find out.

Star Jones Reynolds

The usually cantankerous co-host of "The View," whose latest claim to fame was recruiting corporate sponsors for her own wedding, chose to differentiate herself and her Golden Globes coverage by being nice.

In proclaiming sweetness as her personal brand, Jones Reynolds painted herself into a perplexing corner. First, when it comes to entertainment value, nice is typically equated with boring, and Jones Reynolds' performance confirmed this correlation.

Second, her attitude change struck us as discordant, since Jones Reynolds is widely recognized as the most ill-tempered and quarrelsome regular on "The View." Though E!'s eventual ratings victory was all but assured from the start, because the network reaches 9 million more households than does rival TV Guide Channel, it is hard to imagine that viewers with a choice would select the gushing Jones Reynolds over the witty Rivers duo.

We must note that Jones Reynolds' sidekick, Kathy Griffin, is not deserving of equal reproach. Although Jones Reynolds occasionally scolded Griffin for her acerbic remarks, Griffin gets credit for at least trying to inject entertainment value into the coverage.

If Jones Reynolds is able to hold onto this gig after her unimpressive debut, she will need to keep a healthy distance from the celebrities. Next time, she should remember that viewers tune into the pre-Golden Globes show to gawk and gossip. Jones Reynolds makes it hard to enjoy either activity when she is so busy gushing that we feel like she's one of them, not one of us.

Star Jones Reynolds' Brand A$ets

Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers

After suffering through Jones Reynolds' sycophantic performance, red-carpet pioneers Joan and Melissa Rivers were a breath of fresh air. Like the catty girls you wish you could eavesdrop on (as long as they're not gossiping about you), Joan and daughter Melissa never fail to entertain.

Melissa was particularly outstanding this year. Whether she's simply grown finer with age or been logging some serious practice time, her interviewing skills and quick banter were far superior to anything she showed in the past.

And Joan's self-deprecating humor still can't be beat. Even if we don't relate to her eccentric behavior and excessive plastic surgery, we get the feeling that, deep down, we might have fun hanging out with her over dinner or on a trip to the salon. And it is hard to resist her humility _ when she kissed the red carpet and proclaimed "I missed you," we realized that there really is only one Joan.

Would Jones Reynolds ever suck up her pride and get down on the floor like one of us? We don't think so.

Joan and Melissa Rivers Brand A$$$$ets

Remember: The most dependable road to the top is to treat your brand as your greatest asset.

(Samantha Ettus is the author of "The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do" (Random House). Contact her at Samantha(at)celebrityassets.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)