The future of Joan Rivers‘ “Fashion Police” has been decided. E! will continue with the series, which the late comedienne hosted and wrote for, E! said in a statement released on Friday.
The network believes that “Joan would have wanted the franchise to continue.” Joan’s daughter, Melissa Rivers, an executive producer on “Fashion Police,” gave the network her blessing.
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Here’s E!’s statement:
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Joan Rivers and, for the last two weeks, have turned our attention to honoring her memory on all of our platforms. We have also thought long and hard about what Joan would have wanted as it pertains to the future of ‘Fashion Police.’ We decided, with Melissa Rivers’ blessing, that Joan would have wanted the franchise to continue.”
The cable channel has set the panel show’s return for Monday, Jan. 12 in time to cover the Golden Globe Awards. No further details were announced at this time.
The announcement arrives as E! is holding a marathon of “Fashion Police” episodes on Friday as part of “Joan Day.” The marathon leads to a tribute special for Rivers at 8 p.m. ET. It will be Melissa’s first television appearance since her mother died on Sept. 4.
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Rivers died from complications from throat surgery. She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on Aug. 28 and had been on life support.
An autopsy on the comedy legend has been completed, but the results did not yield a firm cause or manner of death, a spokeswoman for the New York Medical Examiner’s Office told TheWrap.
Further studies will be conducted to determine how Rivers died, the spokeswoman said. The New York State Department of Health is also investigating the circumstances surrounding Rivers’ death.