Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! This Thursday, I will be reviewing the unaired pilot for The Elvira Show, which was produced in 1993. The show can be found on YouTube!
Episode 1.1 “Pilot”
(Dir by Peter Bonerz, never aired)
Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Peterson), is living in the small town of Manhattan, Kansas. She lives with her eccentric aunt Minerva (Katherine Helmond) and their black cat, Renfield (voice of John Paragon). Renfield can speak, but only witches like Elvira and Minerva can hear him. Renfield has a sarcastic personality, as all cats do. Elvira makes her living by telling fortunes and selling love potions. No one in the small town ever seems to notice anything strange about her, despite the fact that she’s… well, she’s Elvira. She’s the Mistress of the Dark. She’s also very funny. Though this pilot never even aired, it’s a wonderful showcase for Peterson’s comedic timing. She’s one of those performers who can make even a weak or predictable joke funny.
Over the course of the pilot, Elvira’s niece Paige (Phoebe Augustine, who later had a small but pivotal role on Twin Peaks) shows up on her doorstep and explains that she’s been sent to live with Aunt Elvira and Great-Aunt Minerva. At first, Elvira and Minerva worry that Paige appears to be “normal.” She says that she likes to clean and study. But when Paige overhears Renfield talking, they realize she’s a witch as well. They’re definitely going to need Paige’s powers because Elvira has accidentally cast a spell on an undercover police officer and now the rest of the cops are coming. “You’ll never take me alive, coppers!” Minerva shouts, just because she’s always wanted to say it.
The show, with its talking cat and its two eccentric aunts, definitely brought to mind Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which would go into production three years after the Elvira pilot was filmed. That said, the presence of Elvira and her unapologetic way with a double entendre definitely gave this pilot a feel of its own. It was a good pilot, even if it seemed like the frantic pace would be difficult to maintain over an entire season. I’m surprised it didn’t lead to a series.
The pilot may not have led to a television series, but it’s now on YouTube for everyone to watch and enjoy.
