Season 2, Episode 17
Betsy
Age: 40
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Addiction: Alcohol
What’s Memorable: This episode can’t be found anywhere, and most references to the episode have been removed. Odd. Anyway, I watched it years ago and couldn’t find it to re-watch for this directory, so I’ll just say what I do remember. The wine, the denial, the childish weakness, the shitty supposedly sober boyfriend that convinced her not to get help at the last minute. Well the episode has been uncovered and posted on YouTube by Ramoin so I got a chance to watch it again and oof! What an episode. My original ‘what’s memorable’ wasn’t all the far off from what I would say now so I will only add that her aversion to being alone was at such odds with her compulsion to push everyone away, it’s striking. Also the fact that Andrew was even asked to be in the Intervention seems ill-advised, but that he was allowed to accompany her on the plane to treatment was straight up wrong. I don’t recall anyone else on this show being able to bring someone on the trip with them do you? Love you Jeff, but that was a seriously bad call. She was being a petulant child making unreasonable demands and I think he should have called her on it, not given in.
Update: Betsy ‘Bets’ Bender passed away on August 8, 2018 after a battle with breast cancer. Obituary
Official synopsis: Betsy went through a devastating time when her marriage fell apart. She began drinking heavily to help the pain. Her family is trying to help her with no results. They finally give her an ultimatum. She either quits drinking or she will lose all of their support and she would be on her own.
Interventionist: Jeff
Original Air Date: August 2006
I have been searching for years for an update on Betsy. Her episode has been missing for a very long time. The only update I’ve ever seen is this addition to Wikipedia: Betsy reluctantly agreed to go to treatment along with her boyfriend. However, once they got to the airport, they decided to return home to try and get sober on their own. Betsy tried to contact her family on several occasions, but they refused to talk to her. In June 2006, Betsy entered a treatment facility.
According to the recently unearthed copy of the episode (see below), she actually entered treatment in November of 2006.
The location is Annapolis, Maryland.
I too have been looking for this episode. I lived next door to her then boyfriend when this episode was shot. My wife called me one day and said that there was a camera crew outside and I didn’t think much of it. When I was watching the show I saw my car then my house and things started to come together. He was a very odd person, Setting off fireworks late at night with his young son and then running into the house and hiding like a child. I have seen him a few times in Annapolis but not Betsy. So as far as I know he still lives around Annapolis.
Yah he struck me as a real creep. I know this post is very old but the episode is now available in the link below in the comments.
This episode is now streaming on a&e’s website
Besty has to be one of the most in denial addicts I’ve ever seen on this show. I hope she was able to turn it all around.
Excuse me, *Betsy
Where can I find this episode?
Just curious, how did you find a picture for her if you can’t find the episode?
She looks like Joni Mitchell.
This is the only Intervention episode I’ve never seen. It doesn’t seem to be available on A&E’s website, YouTube, Hulu or anywhere else. I’m curious to know why A&E seems to have purged it from their archives.
Believe it or not, I found footage from the episode. Now I don’t know if this I can trust this website.
http://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/1796165?ssotoken=anonymous
It shows the first 30 seconds. Apparently you have to sign in too see the whole thing. I don’t know if this is something that costs money. You can try if you want you. I can’t. I’ve never heard of this website before.
With this being said, the only other episode I can’t find in Michael M. and Randi. Strangely enough, I’m pretty this is the same Michael that appeared in the Season 2 “Adam and Michael”.
It’s speculated that Randi requested that her episode not air due to her finding out about the Intervention. The Michael from season 2 appears to be the same person indeed.
If anyone can find Betsy’s episode I would LOVE to watch it.
it’s on YouTube, posted by the great Ramoin!
It was on the a&e site about 6 months ago. I watched it along with the Mike and Jenny episode. They didnt have the Michael and Randi on there tho. only had betsy, Jenni & mike on there for a short while before taking it off. IT was a good episode. I would keep checking on there because they may put it back on. Don’t know what the deal is with these few episodes as to why they can’t be found.
By the way, it appears she rejected treatment, I think. It says he she changed her mind. ?????
By the way, who was the interventionist for her?
I don’t know why I said “by the way” twice. Whoops
And I meant to say “It says she changed her mind” Man, my English is bad today.
Jeff was the interventionist for Betsys episode. I remember her boyfriend trying to talk her into not going at the airport at the end of the episode. I can’t remember if she didnt go or if she went and left immediately. I just remember no success. It was a good episode tho.
https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/1796165?ssotoken=anonymous
This transcript was the most I could find.
http://www.interventionrn.com/
Her friend Joani is an interventionist now.
I want to see this
I remember this episode because it was clear she had textbook Borderline Personality Disorder. She agreed to go as long as her boyfriend could go too then they got off the plane during a layover in Chicago (seriously producers? Book a non stop!) and decided not to go. She was extremely unpleasant but interesting to watch because of her PBD, everything was poor Betsy, constantly the victim. I would guess it’s not on any of the websites because she sued and somehow won. It’s too bad, I’d say it’s one of the 5 episodes that stand out to me the most.
Here is her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/betsy.bender.1
I figured one of her parents had passed away and googled all their names. Her mom did http://kochfuneralhome.com/tribute-ajax/print-obituary.html?id=1432
I’ve searched and searched the web for this episode for so long, without any luck. I even tried applying for alexanderstreet.com with the credentials I’m affiliated with but none was eligible for it (It has to be at least a psychology/sociology credential, my educational ones weren’t).
My friend is a librarian and she wasn’t even able to access it. I’m hoping that the user uploading episodes to Youtube will do so soon as they have uploaded other missing episodes (Gabe/Vanessa, Mike/Jenny).
The reason he didn’t upload it yet is because he doesn’t have this episode. He is also missing other lost episodes like Michael and Randi, Marie, Jason and Joy. A&E is also doing a good job in blocking all canadian interventions being available to USA and every episode past season 13-14.He hasn’t given up yet, besides a strike from Youtube claiming the channel is pro-addiction, a claim which was forwarded by its own subscribers, which he filed a dispute and won.
If you have Hulu, they have several episodes from seasons 8 – 18, I believe
How do you know this? Also, the Marie and Jason/Joy episodes aren’t missing, and Randi’s episode never seemed to actually air (Michael was bundled in with Adam in Season 2).
Gabe and Vanessa are on youtube, full length…thanks to Ramoin!
I think this might be Betsy. https://www.lastingtributesfuneralcare.com/obituaries/Betsy-A-Bender-Johnson?obId=3190786#/celebrationWall The names of the people who commented their condolences are listed as her friends on the FB profile listed above. Couldn’t find anything else but the recent comments had me curious since this is an episode I’ve never seen so I did some searching to find it.
Can you update her as having died, and also update the location as being Annapolis? Thanks Dizzy!
My final gift to you all. See you around, brothers and sisters.
You are amazing Rommie! If you don’t mind me asking, how did you find/obtain it?
This episode is now available on YouTube thanks to the channel Ramoin! Check it out everyone!
Y’all beat me to it. I can’t wait to watch it after work!!!
Damn disregard my last comment replying to Rommie. I’m a Ramoin sub and just read the comment.
I really can’t believe YouTube claimed Ramoins channel was “pro addiction”. Did they even read the comments from all of us subscribers? I guess you’d have to say A & E is a “pro addiction” channel then too, since they air intervention. What a ridiculous thing to say about someone’s channel that helps people every single day. We all got to share our fears, hopes, struggles, and recovery stories with people just like us. Great work Ramoin, I hope you’ll be back one day. Good luck with your recovery.
Just finished watching it. Wow was Betsy a piece of work, right up there with Gabe the Gambler. On a side note, I felt that Jeff kinda failed during the Intervention by allowing her boyfriend to accompany her to treatment, which resulted in her not going at the last minute. I wonder if this is why the episode was yanked from all streaming services…
Thank you Ramoin/Rommie for posting this missing episode, and best of luck to you in your treatment and recovery!! Betsy’s story is one of the saddest in the history of the series, and after having watched the episode it’s quite clear to me that there was an underlying mental illness in addition to the addiction. My first thought was major depression, but it could also have been borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorder. In addition to her addiction and mental health issues, it was also clear that she was not a happy woman. At any rate, I just hope and pray she finds the inner peace and happiness in the hereafter that clearly eluded her in this life.
My jaw dropped when I saw Betsy’s episode was finally made available! Thank you Rommie!
Wow Betsy was a hot mess. I really hope she found peace before she died.
Does anyone else realize that her friend Joani is recovering and an interventionist now due to the Dr Phil show. She appeared on Dr Phil several years ago because she was shooting pain medication.
Interesting. Maybe that’s the reason the episode was pulled…
Or else it was maybe due to Jeff messing up spectacularly and allowing her boyfriend to accompany her to treatment.
“I will only add that her aversion to being alone was at such odds with her compulsion to push everyone away, it’s striking.”
Textbook Borderline Personality Disorder if I’ve ever seen it.
I was very curious about her progress after watching her episode on youtube (huge thanks to Ramoin) and found an online obituary for her that is different from the one listed above. This obituary (https://www.lastingtributesfuneralcare.com/obituaries/Betsy-Johnson/#!/Obituary) mentions that Betsy passed away after battling cancer. I think that sharing this may stop some of the speculation about her passing. Sincere condolences to her family and friends. May she rest in peace 🕯🕯💛
Okay I’m not trying to be an astrology freak or anything but one thing I noticed Dizzy was when you mentioned how she was super clingy one second and then shuts everyone out the next second. I notice a very similar behavior from season 3 Pams episode. One thing I’ve noticed is they are both Aries. Not trying to offend anyone it’s just something I’ve observed.
I wanted to feel something for Betsy, but I really just couldnt. After she said she got lonely and cheated on her husband I felt no sympathy for her.
Betsy’s memorial slideshow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz9XzM2vw4E
Possible big news. I posted in the above video asking the question of why Betsy’s episode has been unavailable for years, and someone answered that it was because the Intervention production team planted bottles of wine all over the house to get her more drunk. I clicked on the user and it appears to be her childhood friend who was at her intervention (I can’t remember for sure since the episode is once again unavailable):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZYmW8i8TWQ&list=PL3TeapQnnznB427JeDqE1w_07wtnrL1RK&index=2&t=23s
I work in TV production and I think it’s extremely unlikely the producers did that, although I wouldn’t doubt Betsy told her family that. She had a lot of money, she owned that coach house they filmed in (although she had no furniture). Her family was well off and obviously they reconciled at some point so I’m sure they sued to hide the episode. She did seem to have some serious mental health issues, if they highlighted that she signed the release while not in her right mind the network isn’t going to fight them to replay one episode.
Is her episode still on Ramoin’s YT collection?
Nope it appears to have been blocked by A&E along with the other missing episodes.
This episode is (unfortunately) no longer available on youtube (Ramoin’s channel). If anyone has a different way to view it, please post.
Unfortunately that’s the only video of it I’ve ever been able to find. I haven’t even found a torrent video of it, as I have other longtime missing episodes (Vanessa/Gabe, Mike/Jenny).
I watched gabe( season 1 gambler) on 123movies. It seems they have all the seasons and most of the episodes.
They don’t have Betsy’s episode. Trust me I’ve searched hard lol
This episode is no longer available anywhere after it was shutdown by A&E and the entire channel itself. I hoped people would eventually rip the YT episode and secure its availability somewhere but doesn’t seem like it. I managed to hunt down a first edition australian DVD that still had it and that’s how I found it. I also extensively investigated about Randi episode but never got anywhere aside from sources claiming it never aired but footage still exists. It just never got assembled into an actual episode, like many other episodes.
There’s also Intervention Brazil episodes (like 12 in total) that aired for a short time but people don’t know they exist and it’s really hard to find.
Anyway I will try to make Betsy episode available again but it won’t be (obviously) on Youtube.
Thanks for the clarification Rommie. It’s odd that the synopsis for Randi’s episode got leaked even though it never aired. Hope your treatment program went well!
Hi Rommie,
any chance on making this episode available again somehow? Thank you!
maybe try dailymotion. that’s where I get to see some intervention episodes that A&E no longer airs
It’s not on there. Trust me I’ve looked!!!
Has anyone managed to recover this episode? Desperate for it!
The YouTube link no longer works as it says the account that posted the videos account has been terminated. If that makes any sense. Anybody have another way of watching this?
I’ve never even found a torrent for it as I have for other long-time missing episodes (Gabe/Vanessa, Mike/Jenny) and I’ve looked hard.
Ugh i wish I knew about this site in 2018 when it was still available on YouTube! Dailymotion has a good amount of lost episodes but not this one… I’m so curious as to how and why it’s been completely scrubbed from A&E (even prior to her death).
So praying that someone can find this ep. I know that sounds cruel but just from the 30 or so seconds of it I saw a long time ago she seemed so eerily like my mother. It’s a morbid curiosity and I’m not sure what to feel about it.
Maybe Ramoin can upload the ep to Dailymotion/Vimeo/elsewhere? That way copyright/A&E are less likely to hunt him down?
You should be on the lookout for used DVDs for sale on Ebay, I know they’re out there for the early seasons, I used to buy them occasionally. That may be the only option at this point.
Indeed. Rommie said above that they got the original edition DVD from Australia.
Wow, so I actually just got done watching it from a friend who’s a psychologist and had access to this and WOAH, this was insane.
I have to say I was expecting to be mad at Jeff for the intervention, and to a certain extent I agree he really dropped the ball on this one, but at the same time I actually have a lot more sympathy for him in this situation than I was expecting. Betsy was, to put it mildly, being exceptionally childish and entitled the whole episode, especially during the intervention, and I almost don’t know that Jeff had any other choice outside of just letting her say no and leaving, like he did with Larry in Season 10, which arguably would’ve been an even worse call. I don’t know, I just really found the situation very frustrating all around and I do hope Betsy apologized to and made amends with her family before she passed.
If you have university access you can watch it here – FINALLY got to watch it. Jeff’s intervention was so poorly executed and he is usually my favorite…my Betsy rest in peace. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C1796165
No kidding. I honestly wonder if that was why the episode got pulled from syndication/streaming.
Merry Christmas to all!!!
https://archive.org/details/17_20221209
it’s a christmas miracle!
Ah, I’m so excited! Thank you.
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! I know you’ve wanted to watch it for a while 🙂
Wow TY
glad we finally get to see a legendary lost episode! Betsy’s denial of her problem was hard to watch, and so was her attitude. i know she was in a lot of pain, but calling her sister nonstop at 3 AM and then turning around and lashing out at her when she saw her face-to-face was so frustrating to me! it’s a shame she ditched treatment at first – did she ever complete treatment and get sober, or did she drink herself to death? i wonder…
According to the end of the episode she entered treatment later in 2006 and was sober when she died. She also reconciled with her family.
phew, that’s good. i was worried she wouldn’t stick with it. RIP
Nowhere in the episode does it say she was sober when she died, as she died years later.
I think the reason this was pulled was because Jeff dropped the ball so badly.