The Elvira Show (The Unaired Pilot)

Just the other day I discovered that one of my horror idols, Elvira, had an unaired TV pilot back in the earlier 90s. So of course I had stop everything I was doing to watch this. It was as if I had found a missing reel from Elivra: Mistress of the Dark which has been a top 10 favorite movie of mine since I was a kiddie. By the time I was in the first grade I practically memorized all of the lines. "I cut you man!" 

Elvira is such a clever franchise and a likable character. Who does' like a B horror movie hostess with campy humor and a little sex appeal? Okay, a lot of sex appeal. It's amazing how far Cassandra Peterson took her character Elvira. She went from local access TV horror hostess, to being syndicated and breaking paving way for being the first TV program to broadcast in 3D and eventually having 2 major motion pictures. Not to mention her Elvira costume is still the number 1 costume bought even today. Her character has appeared on SNL, MTV, and many commercials. There is even an Elvira pinball machine....which I need to own one day. So knowing all this, it only makes sense for her to try to develop her own sitcom series. 

In 1993, Anne Beats, long time writer for SNL, wrote the pilot to air on CBS. The writing was witty and full of double entendres. The premise of the show was that our beloved Elvira had moved to middle America with her Aunt Minerva who is a witch with super powers. Together they have their own business of fortune telling and potion making. Shortly into the pilot Elvira finds out that her niece has come to live with them, and she too is a witch. Together the 3 need to keep their witchy powers a secret with the company of their sassy black cat who talks. The pilot it self is quite hilarious. Elvira and Aunt Minerva have this cohesive chemistry that works for television. In my opinion this show had a good shot at making it one or two seasons and should have been given that chance. The concept of the show leaves so many great opportunities for future episodes. I can see them doing several spells gone bad episodes...Elvira going on dates...interactions with their potion customers and psychic readings. We should have definitely been given at least a full season of this gem. 

But one must ask, why did ABC not air this? We have to remember that this was still a little too edgy for the 90s, and ABC is geared more towards families. So having a sexy woman in revealing clothing casting spells might not have been the right fit for their demographic. Just 3 years later did they replicate this same pilot concept for Sabrina the Teenage Witch (3 witches living together with a talking cat). So maybe The Elvira Show was just too ahead for her time. Maybe Elvira is a character that is stronger and more effective in shorter segments rather then a 30 minute long television program.  Regardless, the pilot is worth checking out for anyone who appreciates Elvira and campy humor. So in the words of our favorite mistress of the dark, I will wrap this post up by saying, "unpleasant dreams".