Bette Midler, Urban Heroine

Singer-comedian-actress Bette Midler has a lot happening this week. She's debuting her new television sitcom Wednesday night (on CBS), and later this week, she releases her latest album. Both the show and the album are called Bette.

Midler is thrilled about both -– but when pressed about which of her many talents makes her happiest, she'll tell you honestly; it's the music.

"Music is my first love. And it's way above everything else…because it's so hard," Midler told CBS News Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson. "It's like a lover that you can't quite get hold of. It's really fantastic. It really is. And it's never-ending. It's infinite. So you're always trying to get better and trying to improve and trying to keep up. It's really interesting."

Although she makes her singing look effortless, she's says it's not.

"It's not easy. None of it's easy…but that's what art is, isn't it? All art — actually everything in life — you rehearse and rehearse and rehearse, so that when you do it, it looks effortless, because they are not supposed to see you sweat," said Midler.

Her latest album, Bette, which is mostly live, contains the mix of songs her fans expect. The album is an extension of her tour last year.

"We came right off the road and went right into the studio. 'Cause we had been rehearsing all these songs. And I loved the way the band played. And I wanted to capture it on tape. I thought it was just going to be, you know, for fun. But turned out to be more than fun. It turned out to be really meaningful."

Midler, 54, has won four Grammys, three Emmys, two Oscar nominations and a Tony. But the thing she's most proud of is "this group that I have been working with since 1994 called New York Restoration Project. And we clean parks and restore abandoned public places. We have bought community gardens."

"I do it because it has to be done," explained Midler. "And because…I believe -- and this is a very Victorian notion -- that when people live in a beautiful area, or in a beautiful environment, they behave in a beautiful way. I just think that's the best thing I ever did for people."

"The funny thing is, the music does the same thing," says Midler. "I've made a lot of people happy in my life. My husband says that. I say, 'Martin, what do I do?' And he says, 'You deal in joy…what you do is make people happy.'

"Sometimes I get, you know, dispirited, because of this thing or the other thing. And he just says, 'You know, look back on everything you've done, and be kind to yourself, because you've…brought a lot of joy into the world."

Midler considers herself very lucky. She got married after only knowing her husband for three months. It took them a long time to get to know each other. But 15 years later, she still thinks he's the best guy in the world.

Her new TV show is actually based on er own life. In the show, she plays an entertainer named Bette, with a husband and a 13-year-old daughter.

Playing an entertainer is the easy part for Midler, who grew up Jewish in Honolulu. After studying theater at the University of Hawaii for a year, Midler dropped out in 1965 and moved to New York to train for a dancing career. She landed a part in Broadway musical Fiddler On the Roof, first in the chorus, then playing Tzeitel.

Later she established herself as a singer in New York, performing at night clubs like the Continental Baths. Johnny Carson liked her, and often invited her to appear on The Tonight Show.

Her break-out film role was playing a character similar to Janis Joplin in The Rose. Since then, she's been in numerous movies, including The First Wives Club, Down And Out In Beverly Hills, and Ruthless People.

It's just television she needs to figure out.

"We've made six episodes so far...it has been incredibly exciting and also horrifying," Midler said. "It's like a big experiment for me."

After her production company parted ways with the Walt Disney Company "…we had no home. So we asked Sony TriStar if they would like to bankroll us. They said, sure, 'as long as we can have in this deal a television component.' So we said, yes, of course, thinking, 'yeah, TV, thinking this day will never come.' Well, the day came."

She met with a lot of writers to try to find a concept for the show.

"The one that got the ball rolling was Jeffrey Lane, who looked at my life and said, 'No one would believe this if they saw it on their screen. So let's do that.' And that's what we did."

Midler says that show business people live their lives on parallel tracks, "what the public sees and behind the scenes" and she thinks that's the element in her show that will make it a hit.

"People pretend to…tell the truth about what their lives are really like but they lie through their teeth," Midler said. "And we wanted to show - a person who was -- because I consider myself kind of down to earth and sort of normal. I've always tried to have a normal life and give my daughter grounding and my husband. And the situations we find ourselves in and the people that we do business with and live with day after day and the situations we find ourselves in are so ridiculous."

When she accepted the television show, she thought it would be a dream job. She was mistaken.

"It's 15 hours a day, at least five days a week and the stress is really - I was really shocked. I was really shocked. Candice Bergen said, 'The first year you don't pee.' And she was right. She was not lying. I thought, 'Oh, well, she can do this, she never pees anyway.' Well, I adore her, I have to say that."

Midler and her family moved from Los Angeles to New York, but she had to shoot her series back in L.A.

"I'm very disappointed about that aspect of it. took the job mostly because I wanted to …set my daughter off on the high school path. She started high school this year. Unfortunately, the logistics refused to comply with my dream. And I had a lot of trouble getting -- you know, getting people to come, writers to come [to New York]," said Midler. "I was the last pilot to be shot and they wanted to give it the best start that they could. And so they asked me to come to L.A. and my family said, OK."

As her show is about to premiere, Midler refuses to say whether she's supremely overconfident or riddled with anxiety.

"Well, I don't want to jinx myself," said Midler. "I'm trying to take it in stride and trying to be very cold-blooded about it and I've been up and down. I've had great success and huge, enormous bombs. I kind of know the drill. You do your best and hope that people like it. If they don't, you go on."

The first episode includes an appearance by her good friend Danny DeVito. Bette says you can expect more guest stars, and even though it is a sitcom, lots of singing and dancing.

Partial filmography:

• Drowning Mona, 2000
  
• Fantasia, 1999
  
• That Old Feeling, 1997
  
• The First Wives Club, 1996
  
• Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories 1994
  
• Gypsy, 1993
  
• Hocus Pocus, 1993
  
• For The Boys, 1991
  
• Scenes From A Mall, 1991
  
• Stella, 1989
  
• Beaches, 1988
  
• Outrageous Fortune, 1987
  
• Down and Out In Beverly Hills, 1986
  
• Ruthless People, 1986
  
• Bette Midler – Divine Madness, 1980
  
• The Thorn, 1980
  
• The Rose, 1979