Showgirls

Shortly after arriving in Las Vegas, drifter Nomi Malone is robbed, but finds shelter with makeup artist Molly Abrams. The two become friends and Nomi earns her money at Cheetah's strip club by stripping on stage in front of a jeering audience. One day when she visits Molly at work at the Stardust Casino, she meets Cristal, the star of the show. An argument ensues, but it has piqued Cristal's interest. Together with her friend, the entertainment director Zack, she visits the Cheetah Club to see Nomi dance. She even pays a lot of money so that Zack can enjoy a lap dance from Nomi. Zack is taken with it and through Nomi's ambition and with Zack's help, she gets a part in a show at Stardust. Cristal does her best to outdo the potential competitor, but she is well on her way to becoming the star of the show....

Director Paul Verhoeven has had great success with the erotic thriller Basic Instinct and actually wanted to make a film about the crusades with Arnold Schwarzenegger next. However, the production studio Carolco Pictures did not have the money to finance this film and Cutthroat Island at the same time. The script for Showgirls by Joe Eszterhas had already been paid for by Carolco and Verhoeven felt obligated to make the film. Conceived as an NC-17 showgirl drama, stuffed with bare breasts and morally questionable characters, the film became a legendary flop. Reviews were poor, audiences stayed away, and only 37.7 million of the estimated 45 million production cost was grossed. Together with Cutthroat Island, which also flopped, this lead to Carolco's bankruptcy. The film won 7 Golden Raspberries and lead actress Elizabeth Berkley's career stalled. On video and DVD, however, the film became a minor cult movie.

US TV version heavily censored

An NC-17 film with lots of naked skin and profanity seems conceivably unsuitable for prudish US TV, but thanks to heavy cuts, re-dubbed dialogue and CGI bras, the impossible was made possible. The US TV version of Showgirls is a curiosity that is well worth watching. The sex scenes and as far as possible all show appearances have been removed. Be it a large part of the Goddess show, the lap dance for Zack, Cristal's advances or the sex scene in the pool. Everything was rigorously cut.

Since there is definitely one or the other relevant scene for the plot that could not simply be cut, but in which naked skin can be seen, it was covered up by bras or panties that were added afterwards. Regardless of all laws of physics, which describe that a bare breast moves differently than when it is covered by a bra, the bras in the TV version jump around wildly. Not much effort has been made, because the bras are monochrome in the best MS-Paint look and clearly recognizable as such.

In some places they also made a real effort. For example, Nomi's top was added in the finale when she takes down Andrew.

Many of the swear words were re-recorded by other voice actors. Quite a common practice for US television, but unfortunately the new voice actors don't even begin to sound like the actors, making the censored parts easy to spot.

Picture Comparison:

As with the R-rated VHS, the picture of the TV version is open matte.

US TV:

BD:

Runtimes:

US TV: 84:08 min.
BD: 131:20 min.

Comparison between the US TV version (Logo) and the Theatrical Version.

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

Different logos at the beginning.

TV:

Theatrical Version:

TV: 9 sec.
Theatrical Version: 24 sec.

[00:00:14][00:00:30]

Just after the title fade-in, Nomi is seen walking across the parking lot earlier.

Theatrical Version: 11 secs.


[00:01:27][00:01:54]

The "Jesus saves" from the radio was removed from the audio track in the TV version.

No time difference.


[00:04:29][00:04:55]

When Nomi wins on the machine, her "Holy shit!" was changed to "This is great."

By the way, the subtitles say "Oh, that's cool."

No time difference.


[00:04:56][00:05:22]

When Nomi hits the vending machine, her "Fuck!" was changed to "Damn!"

No time difference.


[00:05:15][00:05:41]

As Nomi runs off, her "Fuck!" has been changed to "Damn!"

No time difference.


[00:05:24][00:05:51]

As Nomi stands in the parking lot, her "Shit!" has been changed to "What the...?"

No time difference.


[00:05:27][00:05:53]

When Nomi hits the car again her dialogue was changed

From "Fuck! Fuck! This fucker...fuck." to "Damn! Damn! Oh, oh."

No time difference.


[00:05:44][00:06:11]

Molly's "Jesus" became a "Jeez."

No time difference.


[00:06:28][00:06:54]

At dinner, Nomi's "Fuck!" turned into "Shoot!"

No time difference.


[00:08:14][00:08:40]

The "jerk" from Molly when she tells Nomi she doesn't have to work three hours has been removed from the audio.

No time difference.


[00:08:58][00:09:24]

The coordinator continues walking to the dancers and tells them to get ready. Annie complains about showing her private parts on stage when Molly is not sewing her thong. The others bitch about how no one wants to see her private parts anyway.

Theatrical Version: 40 sec.


[00:09:25][00:10:31]

The coordinator's "Brian, move your ass!" turned into "Brian, move it!"

No time difference.


[00:10:01][00:11:07]

The shot where Cristal appears on stage has been removed.

Theatrical Version: 4 secs.


[00:10:04][00:11:14]

The second shot in which Cristal goes up has also been removed.

Theatrical Version: 2 secs.


[00:10:04][00:11:16]

When Cristal is seen on stage, the TV version adds additional fog.

No time difference.


[00:10:08][00:11:20]

Missing from the TV version is how the dancers strip down and finish their performance. Nomi looks on with excitement.

Theatrical Version: 55 secs.


[00:11:24][00:13:32]

Missing in the TV version is how Molly goes with Nomi to Cristal's room. Cristal says that her bra is too tight and Molly needs to widen it.

The TV frame resumes as Cristal sits down.

Theatrical Version: 38 secs.


[00:11:24][00:14:10]

When Cristal removes her makeup in front of the mirror, a bra was added to the TV version. The affects the whole scene.

No time difference.


[00:12:04][00:14:50]

The "You don't know shit!" turned into "You don't know squad (?)"

No time difference.


[00:12:05][00:14:51]

After Nomi's sentence, Cristal is seen earlier in front of the mirror.

Theatrical Version: 1 sec.


[00:12:46][00:15:34]

Molly's "Jesus, Nomi." turned into "Jeez, Nomi."

No time difference.


[00:12:59][00:15:47]

Shortly after at the "Fuck, I don't care." by Nomi, the "Fuck" was removed in the TV version.

No time difference.


[00:13:54][00:16:42]

The bouncer's "Hey, T.C.'s gonne have your ass!" turned into "Hey, T.C.'s gonne have your butt!"

No time difference.


[00:14:37][00:17:25]

The scene in which Nomi rubs her behind has been shortened. In the process, the line "Teasin' my dick." from James is missing.

Theatrical Version: 3 secs.


[00:14:44][00:17:35]

Missing is the short shot where James is hit between the legs by Nomi.

Theatrical Version: 0.5 secs.


[00:14:46][00:17:37]

As James staggers to the back, the "Hey shit, man!" from one of the other partygoers is missing from the audio.

No time difference.


[00:14:47][00:17:38]

The shot where Nomi says "I'm not teasin' it now, am I?" is missing from the TV version.

Theatrical Version: 2 secs.


[00:15:11][00:18:04]

Nomi's "What the fuck are you doing?" as she is grabbed by the bouncers turned into "What the hell are you doing?"

No time difference.


[00:15:13][00:18:06]

As Nomi is dragged out, her "Fuck you, asshole!" has been changed to "Stop it."

No time difference.


[00:15:31][00:18:24]

James chases Nomi as she leaves the police station. She blows him off even though he says he lost his job because of her too. She is eventually picked up by Molly. There are quite a few swear words in this scene, which is probably why it was removed completely.

In the next scene, Nomi is asked by Carmi if her breasts have gotten bigger. The other dancers say that Carmi suspects she is pregnant. Mama enters the dressing room and tests her dress with Nomi, exposing her breasts in a special movement. Then Al introduces the new dancer Hope to the women. When she remarks that her name is actually Penny, Al says that the audience doesn't want to fuck pennies and that this is a classy club. Finally, he announces Mama.

As Mama walks onto the stage, the TV version resumes.

Theatrical Version: 2:34 min.


[00:15:37][00:21:04]

As Mama dances on stage, she exposes her breasts several times. An audience member says she should pull up her dress. Mama teases him that he can't find her private parts anyway.

Theatrical Version: 26 sec.


[00:15:57][00:21:50]

Al says that if the guests get their thing out at a lap dance and cum over Penny, that she should get the bouncer, unless there is a big tip.

Theatrical Version: 14 secs.


[00:16:02][00:22:10]

Al asks where Nomi was last night. She says she was on her period and didn't want to bleed all over the place. Al says he's had enough of her and goes to Penny, who he tells to give him a blowjob if she wants to stay longer than a week. Penny asks Nomi if this was serious.

Theatrical Version: 31 sec.


[00:16:31][00:23:09]

As Cristal and Zack run into the club, the TV version cuts briefly to Mama on stage.

In the Theatrical Version, Zack pulls Cristal to him. After that, Mama asks what to call the useless fabric around a vagina. She resolves and says that it means a woman.

TV: 1 sec.
Theatrical Version: 17 sec.