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Joan Rivers wrote her own material. She was ALWAYS ready. Joan was the best of the best in her arena. She was irreverent and always spoke "truth to power" and came back from pissing Johnny Carson off. No easy feat.

"'The Tonight Show' made her an overnight sensation

Although there are conflicting theories about how she finally got her big break (Rivers credited Bill Cosby for promoting her to the show’s bookers), Rivers finally made her first appearance on Carson’s show on February 17, 1965. Touted for her comedic writing skills, not as a stand-up, she was invited to sit next to him — a coveted spot — and quickly wowed the host, who noted on-air that he thought Rivers was going to be a star. As Rivers later said, she knew in that moment that her life was going to be different. And it was. Almost immediately, she began booking high-profile gigs and appearances and was hired as a Tonight Show show writer.

Rivers made nearly 100 Tonight Show appearances, where she and Carson showed a quick, warm on-air banter, despite their having little off-camera contact, due, in part, to Carson’s legendary aloofness. When Rivers launched a short-lived daytime talk show in 1968, Carson was her first celebrity guest, and she regularly credited him for the remarkable boost he’d given her career. Rivers also began serving as a substitute host when Carson was on vacation. While she rotated the position with several other comedians, including David Brenner and Garry Shandling, by 1983, she’d become the primary guest host.

Rivers would later state that she received several offers to host her own program but remained at Tonight out of loyalty to Carson. By the mid-1980s, however, her relationship with NBC executives began to sour. She was resentful that they had not signed her to a long-term deal to keep her with the show and the network, and when NBC, concerned that Carson might soon retire, prepared a list of possible permanent replacements (which was leaked to the press), Rivers didn’t make the cut.

Carson was furiouswhen he learned about Rivers’ Fox show

In early 1986, Rivers was approached by Barry Diller and executives from the soon-to-launch Fox Television Networks. Diller, eager to make a big splash to attract audiences and advertisers to a fledgling start-up hoping to take on the “Big Three” networks, tried to lure Rivers away with a tantalizing proposition — $10 million for her own show, making her the first female late-night host. Fox also promised to hire Rivers’ husband, Edgar Rosenberg, to serve as the show’s producer, an unusual business arrangement, but one which helped sweeten the deal for Rivers."

https://www.biography.com/news/joan-rivers-johnny-carson-feud