Elvira in a sitcom? Almost!
October 11, 2023 10:40 AM Subscribe
Way back in 1993, Cassandra Peterson got together with a couple of friends and created a television sitcom pilot. Co-starring Katherine Helmond, it's the tale of two witches living in Manhattan... Kansas. It was never picked up for broadcast. Here is the unaired The Elvira Show single episode. [26m]
This would have made Manhattan, KS, 100x more interesting.
posted by Atreides at 11:16 AM on October 11, 2023
posted by Atreides at 11:16 AM on October 11, 2023
Are Bridget Everett and Elvira both from Manhattan, Kansas?
posted by latkes at 11:39 AM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by latkes at 11:39 AM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Oh wow - Lynne Marie Stewart as her "customer" (that would be Miss Yvonne) and it was co-written by John Paragon (that would be Jambi!) and Anne Beatts (former SNL writer, wrote Square Pegs) aww.
posted by 41swans at 11:42 AM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by 41swans at 11:42 AM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Also Elvira is bi and it does seem like the niece is a coded mini-butch (short hair! 'clunky shoes'!) so... yes happy coming out day!
posted by latkes at 11:46 AM on October 11, 2023
posted by latkes at 11:46 AM on October 11, 2023
I met Peterson once a long time ago on a project, she's incredibly hard-working and a total pro. You can see she was putting everything she had into this pilot. What a shame it wasn't picked up.
FYI, Cassandra came out only recently, in 2019. Yay for her!
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:53 AM on October 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
FYI, Cassandra came out only recently, in 2019. Yay for her!
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:53 AM on October 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
Are Bridget Everett and Elvira both from Manhattan, Kansas?
I'm choosing to believe this show is in the same universe as "Somebody, Somewhere" and that ultimately they will reconnect.
posted by thivaia at 12:00 PM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Oh my goodness, you could get the chair for turning him into a table!"
posted by StarkRoads at 2:04 PM on October 11, 2023
posted by StarkRoads at 2:04 PM on October 11, 2023
Are Bridget Everett and Elvira both from Manhattan, Kansas?
Elvira’s from Colorado Springs, which is just as square if not more. She’s still the most famous graduate from my high school. Her folks ran the local costume rental shop here for years and years.
posted by mochapickle at 4:15 PM on October 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
Elvira’s from Colorado Springs, which is just as square if not more. She’s still the most famous graduate from my high school. Her folks ran the local costume rental shop here for years and years.
posted by mochapickle at 4:15 PM on October 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
Her 2 Big Pumpkins sure held up well too. (Happy Halloween everybody!)
posted by Catblack at 5:48 PM on October 11, 2023
posted by Catblack at 5:48 PM on October 11, 2023
"Oh my goodness, you could get the chair for turning him into a table!"
And somehow they missed the line about him being an under-cover cop.
posted by Snowflake at 5:51 PM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
And somehow they missed the line about him being an under-cover cop.
posted by Snowflake at 5:51 PM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
RuPaul Drives... Cassandra Peterson AKA Elvira
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:59 PM on October 11, 2023
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:59 PM on October 11, 2023
omg latkes, Elvira was born in Manhattan KS! She did move here when she was little though!
posted by mochapickle at 6:59 PM on October 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 6:59 PM on October 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Cassandra Peterson is such a fun comic actor. She should have been in more stuff.
posted by jb at 10:13 AM on October 12, 2023
posted by jb at 10:13 AM on October 12, 2023
It feels very much like an early version of what became Sabrina the Teenage Witch on ABC.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 2:04 PM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 2:04 PM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's off color humor, maybe exceeding a show like Married With Children, explains why it would have scared away further development. The humor is corny, but racy enough that I can't see it being green lit for a network like CBS, especially in 1993. Remember, the popular comedy Murphy Brown at the time had conservatives running to the fainting couch, with it's depiction of a professional woman having the gall to give birth to a child without the father hanging around, and keeping it.
It does feel like a grown up version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I've always wondered why Peterson was never a bigger presence. She's such a wonderful talent.
posted by 2N2222 at 7:47 PM on October 14, 2023
It does feel like a grown up version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I've always wondered why Peterson was never a bigger presence. She's such a wonderful talent.
posted by 2N2222 at 7:47 PM on October 14, 2023
I don't know if everyone can view instagram links if they don't have a logged-in account, but I was served this up, and it seemed so appropriate to this thread. Elvira grew her own pumpkins this year. Very cute.
posted by 41swans at 9:15 AM on October 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by 41swans at 9:15 AM on October 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
It does feel like a grown up version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I've always wondered why Peterson was never a bigger presence.
I think she was just about 10 or so years ahead of her time.
posted by rhizome at 12:15 PM on October 17, 2023
I think she was just about 10 or so years ahead of her time.
posted by rhizome at 12:15 PM on October 17, 2023
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