Melissa Rivers Channels Her Mother Joan in Biting 'Fashion Police' Return

Melissa Rivers sat down for her first episode of E!'s Fashion Police, where the panel took on the wild and sexy styles at the MTV VMAs.

Melissa was joined by panelists Giuliana Rancic and Brad Goreski, as well as guest panelists Margaret Cho and Nene Leakes, and it was clear from the start that the late Joan Rivers was still going to play a big role on the show.

From the onset, Melissa has some of her mom's bite and cutting wit, but her first outing was relatively tame. She gave Kim Kardashian a "free pass" for her unflattering VMAs outfit and played the criticism game safe and friendly.

WATCH: Melissa Rivers to Take Over Mom Joan Rivers' Co-Hosting Duties on 'Fashion Police'

At one point in the show, the panelists introduced a new segment called "What Would Joan Say?" in which the panelists did their best Joan Rivers impressions when critiquing Justin Bieber's VMAs look.

"God, she looks pretty. I don't know who Ellen's plastic surgeon is but [she] looks amazing," Melissa critiqued to the amusement of the lively audience, clearly taking a page out of her mother's playbook.

Hopefully Melissa will be able to make her mark on Fashion Police in the coming weeks, though it's not necessarily a bad thing to pay homage to the woman who made the show a success in the first place.

But Margaret may have had the funniest zinger of the night when she mocked Miley Cyrus' red carpet hairstyle, deadpanning, "I feel like that hair probably smells like pot and patchouli." Sound familiar?

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The joke was a call-back to earlier this year when Giuliana made a similar comment about Zendaya Coleman's dreads at the Oscars that led to the longtime panelist to publicly apologize for making the "racially insensitive" remarks.

Giuliana was clearly embarrassed by the joke, even covering her face with a pillow. But let's be serious, it was easily the best moment of the night.

It's going to be interesting to see how Melissa develops her role on the show, and to see how they continue to evoke the memory of Joan Rivers. Even after her death last September, it looks like stars on the worst-dressed list should still fear Joan's razor-sharp rebukes.

WATCH: Melissa Rivers Honors Her Mother Joan in Emotional Tribute

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