THE ELVIRA SHOW (1993)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

Well, though the comedy of Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson may not always be the most "mythic" thing about her, her aborted half-hour pilot THE ELVIRA SHOW did manage to work a few light-hearted sociological motifs into the setup. I think this may have been the only collaboration between Elvira's long-time writer John Paragon (who worked on one of her TV shows and on both movies) and writer/producer Anne Beatts, famed for the cult favorite sitcom SQUARE PEGS.

Elvira and her dotty aunt Minerva (Katherine Helmond) are both witches, though only Minerva is seen doing actual magic. They've both moved to Manhattan, Kansas, and Elvira has set up shop as a combination fortune-teller and maker of dubious love potions. Their only companion is a talking cat (voiced by Paragon). However, the ladies get a new live-in when Elvira's niece Paige (Phoebe Augustine), who's apparently a complete straight-edge, decides to come for an extended visit.

A woman who imbibes an Elvira potion gets sick, and even though she doesn't file a complaint, the Manhattan PD is on the case lickety-split. The stick-up-her-butt D.A. (Christine Rose) sends handsome undercover cop Chip (Ted Henning) to get the goods on Elvira, and as soon as both Elvira and Minerva see the hunk, they want to get his goods. Elvira does her best to munch on Chip but he makes an excuse about needing one of her love potions and escapes to come back that night.

The brief interim gives Elvira a chance to concoct another bogus potion, while we get to see that D.A. Lindsay also wants to get her hands on the Bag of Chip, and she's not happy to have competition. Later she calls Elvira trash, and Elvira responds "at least trash gets picked up." Boob jokes and double entendres abound when Chip, already besotted with the dark mistress, returns to do his duty. But the forces of law and order are stymied by the forces of wit and witchcraft. Paige too is revealed to be a witch who's ashamed of her heritage, and Elvira gives the young woman a "be yourself" speech while keeping her tongue firmly in her cheek-- or maybe all of her cheeks.

The jokes are good enough that ELVIRA would have made a decent raunch-com had it made the schedule. But had it kept the monotonous routine of the pilot-- Elvira chases Chip to nail him, while Lindsay chases Elvira to jail her-- there's no chance the show would've lasted more than a season. But even one season would have given us more Elvira to ogle on YouTube, and there's no getting too much of that good thing.