Kathryn Hahn-led series about Joan Rivers 'isn't moving forward'

Variety's Kate Aurthur reported Sept. 21 that Kathryn Hahn was set to portray the late Joan Rivers in a limited Showtime series titled The Comeback Girl.

And it was Aurthur who exclusively reported for Variety on Tuesday that The Comeback Girl "isn't moving forward" and explained why:

"Yet Rivers’ life rights, which are held by her daughter, Melissa Rivers, hadn’t been secured by producers. The project could have proceeded as an unauthorized venture, but The Comeback Girl wouldn’t have been able to use any of Rivers’ jokes or catchphrases, and, of course, risked running afoul of Melissa Rivers and the estate.

"The limited series was set during a precarious time in Joan Rivers’ life: primarily in the aftermath of the cancellation of her late-night talk show on Fox, The Late Show. That period coincided with the death by suicide of Rivers’ husband (and Late Show producer) Edgar Rosenberg—Melissa Rivers’ father."

Rivers died Sept. 4, 2014, from low blood oxygen suffered during an endoscopy. She was 81 years old.

If you're a fan of Hahn—who isn't?—she can still be seen in the forthcoming Apple TV Plus limited series The Shrink Next Door, also starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, that will premiere its first three episodes on Nov. 12.