Showtime isn't moving forward with Joan Rivers miniseries starring Kathryn Hahn

With the project unauthorized by the legendary comedian's estate, the network has ended the development of The Comeback Girl.

As it turns out, Showtime's recently announced miniseries The Comeback Girl never even had a chance to make its debut.

EW confirmed the show about Joan Rivers, which had Kathryn Hahn attached to play the legendary comedian, will not move forward since the project hasn't been authorized by Rivers' estate. Variety was the first to report the news.

Kathryn Hahn, Joan Rivers
Kathryn Hahn was attached to play Joan Rivers on Showtime miniseries 'The Comeback Girl.'. Rich Fury/Getty Images; Harry Langdon/Getty Images

Without the involvement of the comedian's daughter Melissa Rivers, who has the power to grant the producers the rights to her mother's jokes and catchphrases, the limited series would risk legal issues using any of the late Rivers' material.

The Comeback Girl, which was also produced by Warner Bros. Television, Atlas Entertainment, and Berlanti Productions, was meant to cover the period after the cancellation of The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers at Fox, and her husband's suicide, where a mid-50s Rivers overcame her own suicide ideation, and eventually bounced back professionally with projects like her Daytime Emmy-winning The Joan Rivers Show, her line of jewelry on QVC, and a Golden Globes red carpet preshow on E!.

Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers
Daughter Melissa Rivers is in charge of the late comedian's estate. D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

A spokesperson for Melissa Rivers confirms negotiations have ended with this particular project, and that there's nothing to be announced yet as far as other biographical stories about her iconic mother, who died in 2014 at age 81.

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