Bootleg Betty
28 years ago today, Bette Midler Guested On The Murphy Brown Finale
By Mister D
May 18, 2026
Bette Midler’s appearance on the Murphy Brown finale, on May 18, 1998 (28 years ago today), is remembered as a one-episode comedic knockout. She played Caprice Feldman, Murphy’s final and most unhinged secretary — a chaotic, oversharing, wildly unqualified whirlwind who turned the long-running “Murphy vs. her secretaries” gag into a show-stopping exit. Her performance was so sharp and scenery-chewing that she was nominated for an Emmy for the role. She later reprised Caprice in the 2018 revival, still gloriously inappropriate and over-the-top.
