Mister D: I thought I’d put up a few things from the chat box while I’m on hiatus. There’s some good comments going on in the post below, too, so please feel free to join in. I hope to share my opinion once I process everything…I tread such a fine line here, my dears, if you get my drifteroo!. I do want to reiterate that I did get it confirmed that there will be no extras or bonuses on the DVD….but like someone said, early on I was told there would be no DVD of the show, so you never know. My gut feeling is the first part of the sentence though. OOPS there went my dream already! Now lets just get on with the chatter shall we?:
Riss: hey everyone who has HBO, if you go to the hbo on demand menue you can see a 2 minute clip from her last new years eve show where she sang auld lang syne ringing in 2010! (i watched it after watching tsmgo the 2nd time) happy new year everyone
Kim: I really enjoy all the comments on TSMGO that people have posted since yesterday. Why don’t you chat more often with us? The wider varitey of opinions and info shared the better. Come on -participate.
I have seen nearly all of Bette’s live shows dating back to October, 1973. Bette is the best live entertainer alive, without peer, and this show, with its Vegas restraints, was on a grand scale (stage and production) but NOT a “real” Bette concert which allows her to shine, as there were the time restraints “finish the show in 90 min. and get those asses back on the slot machines” she would joke when she would ramble on. Still, it was beautiful and funny and Bette great.
However, this HBO production was sloppy (did anyone else notice they mis-spelled The Staggering Harlettes names in the end credits????) how could that be? Bette is such a perfectionist, this was a chopped up job of an incredibe show.
They even cut out part of the opening monologue, remember the jokes about her auditioning new Harlettes (with an extra “e” for spell checkers) and thanking prison overcrowding and a new federal program and how she had found them all in the same line up, “Thank you Uncle Sam!”
The show was sloppily cut, as a greatest hits vehicle while losing much of Bette’s considerable personality that makes each show different and very much her own. It matters not if she hits every note but that she is “there” and ready with a quip or impromptu retort. How they could leave out WAMLAW, which got her a sure standing ovation is beyond me.
As I watched this unfold I kept thinking, well…at least they will include the entire show on the DVD release, something I hope still holds true.
As for the Delores segment left out, I assumed it was because of the 3 American Idol judges royalties and not the songs, though Bette’s rendition of “Viva Las Vegas” was priceless. I could care less about the 3 ex-Idol judges, they are a bore, and were a small part of that routine, only on video and I thought they were even made fun of by Bette.
The editing of the show was terrible, but it also failed to show the magnitude of the stage and sets, especially on BWBG when ALL the girls came out en masse to join Bette dressed as she did back in the 1973 Burt Bacharach special where they mimicked her moves from the video playing on the screen behind her. On stage it looked like the huge production number it was, they failed to show that here.
The opening also should have been given the prominence it had in the theater, they even shortened the opening video, I believe.
Please, Bette’s people, if any of you are reading this, make the needed changes and release something that will capture the grandeur of a great show and which you will be proud of, and not this sloppily edited trimmed down version, and for heaven’s sake, spell “Harlettes” correctly, they deserve at least that.
I also expect to see the Delores segment on the DVD, this is NOT up to Bette’s extremely high standards.
One need only watch HBO’s “Diva Las Vegas” and see the difference (my favorite of her live shows) it ran seemlessly as the real show did, mistakes and all, nothing cut from the 2 hour plus show.
Sorry I went on so long, I still have more to say, but I should know when to shut up and go quietly into that good night.
After reading all of your comments, I’ve been thinking about HBO’s airing of the “Showgirl Must Go On” myself. Personally, I think we need to go back to the very beginning. Because Celine and Elton released their shows, and we all know that Cher will do the same when she ends her run in February, I believe that’s the only reason why Bette decided to release her show. It would have looked really odd, had she not since that seemed to the standard or the norm. I don’t think it would have happened otherwise.
Yes, it is interesting to see her name listed three times during the ending credits and she has a very good chance of picking up an Emmy for the show. Which is understandable. I think “overall” it is a “good show.” But truly not the best, however. I think she had total control over the editing. I don’t believe for a minute that HBO had any say in what they would or wouldn’t show. It all came down to Bette and what she wanted to do. It’s unfortunate that this is basically one long greatest hits music video and it will be marketed to the masses, as such. All of the hits are there to please them, and unfortunately the true fans are left wondering what happened to the rest, the missing parts and all of the fun things that we remembered from the show. Unfortunately, we’re left wanting “more” once again. Which seems to be the way it always goes. There seems to be a universal theme here: all of Bette’s video releases are always missing something, a song here or there, entire segments, or they aren’t released at all. I’m still shaking my head that “Kiss My Brass” failed to find it’s way to us, while a professionally shot and edited version could be found playing in her Vegas store. I have a feeling that particular video would have been a much better representation of her “live” on stage, than what we ended up seeing with the “Showgirl.” And it would probably be because someone else was editing the show. Ironcially, when Bette was on Regis she mentioned that her version of “Shiver me timbers” with the carousel horse was one of her most magical moments on stage, but yet it wasn’t enough for her to release it. Which is very very sad.
We all know how incredibly self conscious Bette is of herself, and I think that played into what she felt comfortable showing in this special. Personally, I didn’t like the way the show was edited and I guess that has to do with the idea that I was fortunate to have seen the show three times, scattered over the course of the two year run. I think it could have been more exciting in terms of bringing up the house lights, showing the audience, along with more of her comments regarding things in the news and what she finds interesting. The edits were a little too quick, and slightly disjoined because I knew what went where and why we were now watching the dancers doing their routine. While I can certainly appreciate Toni Basil’s contribution, I didn’t like the inclusion of the second dance number. I would have liked to have seen more of Bette, than anything else. And while I agree there are times when I’ve felt that Delores needed to go, I have to say her last appearance in her “Kiss my brass” show and then this one, were perhaps Delores at her very best. It’s unfortunate that the one true aspect of the show, as it related to Vegas, wasn’t included. Delores’ comedic send up of Vegas was fun and lighthearted, and it should have been included – in spite of any expense involved. The clearance of the songs and the people involved should have been worked out way in advance “before” the curtain came down for the last time. Then this HBO special would have been a true representation of what was featured in Vegas. And if those individuals “didn’t want to honor” Bette by allowing themselves to be included, then she should have moved on to those who would. Ironically, I’m sure a lot of those patrons in Vegas who didn’t have a clue regarding Bette’s live show, were probably sitting there a tad bit confused by Delores and perhaps some of the commentary, etc. etc. And now, here we are “confused” by the lack of those parts. I feel like the joke is kind of on us. It’s sad to think that we’ve waited ten years for something new to enjoy and this might be the last time we get a video release to take us away from all the rest of the crap out there. This was her biggest and most elaborate show ever and unfortunately, I realize that’s hard to translate to the small screen and so I wish this could have been better. I wanted it to be much more than this. But in spite of the various misgivings, I thank her for honoring us with her presence, which is the way I always feel whenever I see her!
I can only agree with the comments above…but yet I still loved the show…but I think they could have done it better…and I hate it that they left out Delores and WAMLAW 🙁
I hope they INCLUDE THAT ON THE DVD!!!
http://hotfile.com/dl/93823455/80a7f77/bette_showgirlmustgoon.avi.html