Bootleg Betty
Complete Video: The Bette Midler Show Almost 21/2 Hours
By Mister D
Sept 27, 2026
Short takeaway: The uncut version of The Bette Midler Show is the full, 134-minute HBO broadcast from June 19, 1976.
It is a raunchy, vaudevillian, musically rich concert film capturing Midler at her early-career peak.
It includes major songs, comedy segments, and entire suites later removed from the 84–87-minute home-video release.
What the Uncut Bette Midler Show Actually Is
The uncut version is the complete HBO presentation of Midler’s Depression Tour performance, filmed at the Cleveland Music Hall in February 1976. It ran 134 minutes, including material from two performances and a five?minute intermission. HBO advertised it as “complete and uncut, minus any editing or interruption.”
When Embassy Home Video released the special in 1984, it was severely shortened to about 84 minutes. Consequently, this cut removed entire songs, comedy bits, and narrative sequences.
What Appears Only in the Uncut Version
These segments were cut from all home?video releases but appear in the full HBO broadcast:
“Birds” (full performance)
“Shiver Me Timbers” (full performance)
The entire “Story of Nanette” suite, including:
Nanette
Alabama Song
Drinking Again
Mr. Rockefeller
Ready to Begin Again
Do You Wanna Dance
Harlettes-only musical number
Numerous Sophie Tucker jokes and extended comic riffs
Core Segments (present in all versions)
Even the shortened release retains Midler’s signature material:
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Friends
In the Mood
Hello in There
Lullaby of Broadway
The Vicki Eydie Show — her campy, globetrotting parody revue
Why the Uncut Version Matters
The full broadcast is widely regarded as the definitive record of Bette Midler’s early stage persona — bawdy and fearless.
It preserves.
Her vaudeville-inspired comedy at full length
The complete narrative arc of the Nanette suite
The original pacing of her Depression Tour
The Harlettes (Sharon Redd, Ula Hedwig, Charlotte Crossley) in their full musical and comedic roles
Critics and fans note that the uncut version shows Midler at her rawest and most inventive, before later tours became more polished and choreographed.
Availability
The uncut version has never been officially released on DVD or digital platforms. Only the shortened 1984 home?video edit was commercially distributed. Bootlegs and partial uploads circulate online.
