A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)

February 03, 2021 Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet Season 1 Episode 53
A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
Show Notes Transcript

The Steves discuss the iconic 1988 cult classic Elvira: Mistress of Dark, along with Happy News, What's Making Us Happy, and Binge and Purge.

Happy News: Porpoises Rebound in a Big Way after Gillnet Bans (https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/california-gillnet-bans-save-porpoises-otters-birds-and-sharks/)

Binge and Purge:

  • The Mandalorian: Season One (Disney+) - Binge
  • Immortal Fenyx Rising (Switch/PS4/XBox Whatever)- Binge
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn (Complete Edition) (PS4/PC) - Binge
  • Dragon Quest: Tact - Binge

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

  • The origin of the character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
  • Her rise to stardom as the hostess of a weekend horror movie show
  • The 'Why' behind creating the 1988 cult classic movie by the same name
  • How we can all be inspired by her self-confidence, sexiness, wit, and sincerity
  • The drag origins of both Cassandra and Elvira
  • We gush over the Vegas finale with the tassle twirling


Join our conversation on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/happylifepod
Or e-mail us at happylifepod@gmail.com

Support the show
Steve:

Hello returning happies and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin, and this

Stephen:

is Stephen Martin-Bennet. And welcome to a

Steve:

lifetime of happiness. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, television shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. Hi,

Stephen:

and today we're having a Kiki with my girl Elvira mistress of the dark. We'll be talking about the origins of her character and the drag origins of that, her first full length movie and all the reasons I love

Steve:

her. Yes, we will. But first my love and some of the things I love about you, what's making you happy.

Stephen:

Well, honestly it was yesterday. Yesterday was like the perfect

Steve:

day. Yes. And with podcasting magic, the yesterday was Saturday. Yeah. January 30th. Yes,

Stephen:

exactly. And we got up. We had coffee. We had King cake. We had Buena roaster coffee, Buena roaster coffee. Yes, chef. And then we got ready and we went down to the dog beach in Venice with Remi and the weather was gorgeous and we walked along the beach. We played in the water, even though it was cold. And I played in the water.

Steve:

Or feet got on our feet, got on the water, but for Remy, that's like half of him at that point. Cause he's a lot, he's a lot of legs and a lot of feet, but yes, it was the first thing he was allowed to just run free on a dog beach. he got to live loud and proud and he was so nice with the other dogs. It was beautiful. Yes.

Stephen:

And afterwards we got barbecue from. Gold brushed barbecue and Venice delicious. Took it up to see mom and dad had a great visit with them. And then we had a wonderful evening together. Remy got a bath. So he had a very full day. Yes, he certainly did. And it was just. I dunno, it was a perfect day.

Steve:

I agree. And it's certainly, what's making me happy after this long week recently. I'm glad that it happened. Yes, yes. And something else that's been making us both happy is the porpoises are getting saved. We

Stephen:

should always save wildlife when we can, but tell us how the poor places are getting saved.

Steve:

Yes. Well, while it's a recent news, it actually goes back to the gillnet bands that occurred, especially along the California coast between 1987 and 2002. Gillnets have been used literally for thousands of years because they easily catch fish with fiber snags on the fish's gills. But it's also liable to snare other animals like sharks, otters, and sea birds, because it doesn't discriminate. Like it's very effective for fishing, but it's, you know, could mess with other animals. And so because of that, they did all these bands, but in a recent interview with Karen Forney Marine biologists at the national oceanic and atmospheric administration office is has said that especially the Harbor porpoise which is actually one of the smallest tooth whales on earth has increased its numbers exponentially. Since the band there's been over 8,200 new members in their little hearts,

Stephen:

Oh, that's awesome. It's nice that whenever we can figure out what we're doing to harm wildlife and cut back on it, that you can actually see the wildlife rebounding before it's too.

Steve:

Exactly. So having these follow-up stories to say, like it worked, you know, especially for other people who work to make these laws get passed, to know that they made a big difference. The idea of that made me very happy when I read it.

Stephen:

Yes. And other things that were making us happy are in our binge and purge section, where we tell you. Things that you should binge in entertainment and things you should purge from your

Steve:

life. Yes. And I think that we have another week of full benches because we're staying super happy right now without any sort of like bad things on, you know, we're continuing to enjoy Wanda vision, which we've touched on last week, so good. But a new one also on Disney plus that we're a little late to the show for. So late to the show is the Mandalorian.

Stephen:

The Mandalorian, which takes place five years after return of the Jedi and

Steve:

season one of two.

Stephen:

Yeah. So far season three has already been greenlit and we'll start production this spring, but. It's really

Steve:

good. It is. And I'm always kind of on the fence with the star Wars. Like I love her, I hate him. Like, I'm always kind of like in the middle and it's very rare cause I normally either love things deeply or I hate them. But star Wars is one of those where like I was always okay, waiting until it comes out on DVD or Blu-ray or tape or Y you know, watching it on TV,

Stephen:

the only star Wars movie that I can honestly say. Really blew me away with how amazing it was, was when we saw rogue one. Yes. That one was really good. And that

Steve:

one was really good

Stephen:

Mandalorian. It's a very good, I get the whole baby Yoda

Steve:

thing. Now the baby Yoda is really adorable. Yeah. So.

Stephen:

We

Steve:

definitely have binge and you have Disney plus, and you haven't watched it. You're you're like us you're on the fence. Just go for it because it actually is really well done. I mean, it feels more like you're watching a really long movie, you know, it certainly has a couple like three or four episodes in there that I would say were stand-alones that didn't really move the plot along, but were still fun. And they

Stephen:

were, those were definitely more for character development than anything.

Steve:

Exactly. But overall, I mean the whole plot was like a giant movie and it was awesome. And baby Yoda is very cute. Yes.

Stephen:

For me also, I just finished immortals, Phoenix, rising on the Nintendo switch, and it is very much like legend of Zelda, breath of the wild mixed with. Greek mythology and comedy,

Steve:

and it is available all systems as well. It's not all that the current gen console's short, although I know you love the switch the most.

Stephen:

I do get it on the switch and it's really, really, really, really good. I thought it was going to be a Zelda clone just from the previews and things. And then I started playing and I was like, no way. It's really its own game. The story is great. It's funny. They do a great job with it. I can't recommend this game enough. Like I was addicted in a good way. And I love it. So, and I've been telling you, we, like, we only have the one copy of it. So I, but the whole time we were playing, I was playing. I was like, you really need to play this.

Steve:

Yes. Well, what about certainly will be on my list once I'm done with some other games. I would say that I am bingeing through horizon zero Dawn at a rapid pace. I am not fully done yet. I think I'm only about halfway through the game. Wow. Cause it is a large game, but I've been having a blast with it. So I'm bingeing that and loving every moment of it. But then in a lighter binge, to line up, you know, playing iPhone games to calm down a new one that recently came out dragon quest tact. This came out this past week on the iPhone and I believe the Android as well. And it's based of course off the dragon quest series, which is a square ENX that I love, it goes back to the Nintendo systems. And it's just, you know, it's a simple, you know, you can kind of autoplay it, it is a tactic space kind of like fire emblem, warrior fire emblem heroes. Yes. And so, you know, at first I was like, Oh, dragon quest tactic will teach me tact, but no such luck, but I am having fun. Just it's it's a fun little clicker to keep you engaged. And if you love dragon quest, you'll love it even more for the characters, but it's certainly nothing that you need to have played to get into it. If you just need something to kind of click your way through your little breaks at work or

Stephen:

whatever. So those are all the things that we've been experiencing this week that have been making us happy. And we would just want to share it with you because we think it can make you happy. Right?

Steve:

Exactly. And listeners, you can always email us@happylifepodatgmail.com with what you're bingeing or purging to give us recommendations for the show and we'll check it out. And give you a shout out if it's something that we love. Absolutely. Or if it's something we don't love. Yeah.

Stephen:

It'll go under purge. Sorry. But now on to the bulk of the matter, we're going to be talking about Elvira

Steve:

mistress of the

Stephen:

dark Elvira, mistress of the dark. For those of you who don't know is a character created in, played by Cassandra Peterson. In 1979, she joined the Los Angeles based improv improvisational. There we go. That's a hard word. Improvisational troop, the Groundlings where she created a Valley type Valley girl type character upon whom they all direct persona is largely based.

Steve:

Yes. And I can't believe that she was. Doing that at 1979. Cause just, she doesn't look like she could, you know, even if someone said she was born in 1979, I'd be surprised, but she was, you know, the fact that that was when she created the character. I mean,

Stephen:

she, Sandra has a beautifully ordinarily well, yes, like when we were watching the. Behind the scenes for the 30th anniversary of Elvira, mistress of the dark, the movie. Yeah, she looks so good. Yeah. But yeah, back to her history in 1981, K H J T V in Los Angeles, wanted to bring back a weekend horror movie show with a charismatic host, Ms. Peterson auditioned and won the role and producers left it up to her to create the roles image, and she, and her best friend, best friend. Robert Redding came up with a sexy punk vampire look and thus Elvira and Elvira's movie McCobb was born. Yes.

Steve:

And so you building a character off of just movie commentary. The movie didn't even have to be good. If anything, I guess it was better when it was bad.

Stephen:

Absolutely. Because she was saying all the things everybody was thinking. But funnier.

Steve:

Yes, but I mean, again, notice with her tight fitting low cut Cleveland's displaying Blackdown. I mean, just her look to begin with certainly makes you listen to what she's about to say. And then when she says it it's even better because she's also this, you know, flippant tone of the California Valley girl, even though she looks, you know, like, you know, a goth princess and she brought us, you know, sarcastic edge to her commentary. Reveling and dripping risque, double entendres and making frequent jokes about her cleavage. And

Stephen:

I that's one of the things I love about her is that she's always in on the joke.

Steve:

Yes. She's very self-aware and she's always in control of the joke as well. She's never even in the thing where she's being objectified, like, you know, that like, She was encouraging people like objectify me, look at these babies, but

Stephen:

she holds all the power in every situation. And I love that.

Steve:

And so this movie that we're going to be the discussing was kinda then establish her character more in depth other than what you just see from the commentary, correct? Yes.

Stephen:

And you are new. To

Steve:

Elvira. Yes. I mean, I'm aware of her character being a pop culture character, but had I ever seen anything with her until recently? No.

Stephen:

Your first, probably big experience. It was when she would guest judge on RuPaul.

Steve:

Yes. That's when I knew her as an adult where I actually have memories of experiences that I had,

Stephen:

I guess I remember whenever her first national campaign was coming out and then the movie posters were in the theater. And it just started from there. And then you got to see our guest starring on different things. And I don't know, Elvira has always been a part of my life.

Steve:

Yes. Well, I can certainly see she's everything that you would love, especially in the, you know, the comedy and the horror mixed together and she's witty. And with her doll, entre, entendres,

Stephen:

strong, powerful woman that. You know, the gays are always drawn

Steve:

to. Yes. And so this movie is 1988 comedy heart movie written by Cassandra Peterson, Sam Eger, and, and John Paragon. And it stars Cassandra Peterson, miss Elvira herself. I am DB says the movie is upon arriving in a small town where she has inherited a rundown mansion, a famous horror hostess battles, and evil uncle and townspeople who want her burned at the stake.

Stephen:

I mean right then and there I'm like, yup. I'm sold.

Steve:

Yeah. Yes. And so how would you rephrase that or tell the, you know, the, a brief summary for those of people who might not have seen it in your own words.

Stephen:

So those are all true things, but then I would also add in that, you know, she wins over so many people, the town by being herself. And that's what, and by being herself, and she's also true to all the people in the town as to who they are, that she develops these real friendships, especially with the teenagers in town and other people. So it's what they said, but then it also is this really nice. Friendship movie.

Steve:

Yeah. I mean, I loved about it is, I mean, she's the, the heroin the entire time and everyone judges her because of her appearance and because of her loud mouth. And I know, especially for the loud mouth, but that's like at times. And so I immediately. Enjoyed that once it was, as people got to know her, she didn't even change your behavior. Not once tried to fit in, changed the way she looked changed, the way she acts, she was completely unabashedly herself and they just grew to love her for being her, as they got to know her and they realized it was their own kind of misconceptions about, you know, and assumptions that led to it, nothing that was her or with something that she did. Yeah.

Stephen:

And just like she was judged by her boss at the TV station. Before she quit because of his sexual harassment. And just, as you said, as soon as she's in arrived in town, she was unfairly judged by the conservative members of the town. Like this clip.

Lee is, I don't think we need to resort to name calling. I think what Calvin is trying to say is that this Elvira is a person of easy virtue, a prepay you're a poker today, one woman's Sodom and Gomorrah. If you will slimy slithering your bus, a concubine, a Springbok, or a trap bar.

Stephen:

So, that's TV legend eating. McClurg playing chastity, pariah. And. I mean right then and there, you can see that they're not judging her based on talking to her, really getting to know her. They are entirely basing it on how she looks, how she dresses and that still happens to this day with women. And it's

Steve:

not fair. Yes. I couldn't agree more.

Stephen:

And that's one of the things that I love about Elvira is, you know, she's. Not going to change who she is to make things easier on

Steve:

herself. Yeah. I mean, she's so confident in herself and she doesn't take a bit of crap from anyone like

Stephen:

this clip also with chastity pariah.

Listen, young lady, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you most certainly don't fit in this town. Like you don't even fit in that dress. Listen, sister, if I went to your opinion, uh, beat it out of ya.

Stephen:

if I wanted your opinion, I'm just going to beat it out of you. I mean, it's just, it's perfect. The movie itself was a way for Cassandra to introduce Elvira to the world. It's kind of an origin story. It tells her who she is, where she came from, what makes her tick. And like, as we were talking about, they start off with a riff on her movie. McCobb job. With her, her main desire that she wants an act in Vegas, which is also a nod to her real-life because she used to be a Las Vegas show girl before she went to the Groundlings and started with movie macabre. So this really is like, kind of based on her. Yeah. It's like Cassandra and Elvira and it's all rolled into one and it's lovely. And I love a good origin story. And I love that Elvira gets away with saying all the things that people wish that we could say, you know, the things in our head that we don't let come out in public because. Well that we're not supposed to

Steve:

let, come on, I'm giving this like, devilishly, Greten because that's the one thing that sometimes words just come out of my mouth and I can't stop them. And then that's why I love you so much because I have you here. And then I have crystal at work where if I'm about to say something, she, you know, you were her as like, well, how about instead? Of saying that and getting herself into a whole lot of trouble. Yep. How about instead you say it this way and also breathe.

Stephen:

So we can just in our head little virus say it for us, or, you know, those times like on black Friday and target where I can't stop myself, but you know, we were talking about her low cut dress and her makeup and her hair and. She owns her sexiness. Like she doesn't actually flaunt it in the way that that's just who she is.

Steve:

It's how she dresses that she likes to dress and she feels comfortable and yes, it's sexy, but she's not wearing it because she know she wants everyone else. Necessarily to kind of look at her and then I'm sure that's part of it, but it's also for her. Like she loves every moment of wearing that trust for herself too. And

Stephen:

I love that her mind is usually in the gutter. Oh yeah. And like this clip where you had heard this joke before, but you didn't know that it originated

Steve:

yes. Many times on drag race, but it was nice to hear this origin.

Are you all right? Yeah, I think so. How's your head? I haven't had any complaints yet.

Stephen:

And I can honestly say that I had forgotten. Where it came from until I had rewatched this movie a couple of years ago. And I was like, Oh my gosh. So all the times on drag race with the how's your head and people would be like, you know, it's, I'm feeling pretty good today. And then the judges would laugh because they didn't get where the joke. Yeah, it's supposed to

Steve:

be no complaints. And so, and that's how, like you and I kind of have to talk when we're like, sick is like, if I have a headache and I'm like, I have a headache and you're like, how is your head? I'll be like, it's not feeling great, but you know, that I'm feeling better than moment. You're like, how's your head now? And I'm like, no complaints. And. The first sign that, you know, either one of us is starting to feel better. And so, you know, just for those of you who are in the drag culture, you know, definitely that's a nice way to answer that you got a chance to use more often than you think

Stephen:

it really, it is because, you know, life brings you stress, stress brings headaches, and now you have a chance to use this whenever you're checking in on someone for a little bit of levity or somebody's checking in on you. I also love that she's pure camp. And she owns that too. Like, you know, one of my favorite things are when an actor, an actress has a scene that. Can be a little out there and they go all in. Like one of the first ones I always talk about is for a move on Rouge, where Nicole Kidman is thinking that she's seducing the Duke, but it's actually the musician and she's rolling around on the bed and doing it. Dirty words. Give me your dirty words route and you know, Nicole Kidman. Isn't like when you think of her, you think of poised

Steve:

and graceful and reserved, she just

Stephen:

went. Yeah. Falls in with that scene and it's great. Or the other one is from Jessica Lange, American horror story and asylum. Yup. Whenever she did the name game. Yeah.

Steve:

And when you, like, I mean, just, it is happy. People just go completely out there and like fully into the character with no worry about being silly, because that's something that, you know, in real life, our insecurities oftentimes will prevent us from going all in on something like that. Even if we have that urge. And so it's always refreshing seeing it and I'll have Vajra is a living, breathing, doing that throughout the entire movie, but especially near the, like the S the second act, you know, near the end where yes. And so the, the magic and, you know, the uncle turning into like this, you know, kind of demon, which, you know, person.

Stephen:

But I also love that she broke open the gate with her boobs. Yes. And, and, and because she wrote it, you know, that she was like, I'm putting that in there.

Steve:

You know, that, that was her idea.

Stephen:

One of the things like the immediate, you know, it's witty and it's almost a throw away line. Played this clip.

Bloody Mary, no hard liquor served past eight. O'clock do you want a Virgin maybe, but, uh, I have a couple of drinks first.

Stephen:

And so there's so many double entendre and I get a kick out of that type of humor, like inclu things that if you're not paying attention, Could be thrown away or they go over kids' heads. Like they're, you know, kids are used to like a Virgin daiquiri and stuff like that, that they can get at the store. And so the waitress says, do you want a Virgin, no virus, like maybe, but it'll happen a couple of drinks first. Yeah. You know, it's not the same type of Virgin. Yeah, I love

Steve:

that. I was going to say, I mean, like, especially today, this is the type of movie you can easily watch with like your 10 to 12 year olds. And I would say like the, most of it would like that should go over. Their head would go over there

Stephen:

and there's no nudity. Nope. She doesn't say the F word now. And you know, so like, unless you have a problem with cleavage and things, most of it is going to be more family-friendly than you would think. And the double entendres, most likely they're not going to get any of it. Like yeah,

Steve:

they do. They didn't learn it from here. No, they learned it from somewhere else. Mom and dad or mom and mom or dad and dad,

Stephen:

what and whatever your family looks like. Like whenever they're rebuilding the house and the kids are kind of doing the whole. Tom saw your thing. The teenagers are charging people to come work on the house so they can be around Elvira. And one of her outfits

Steve:

and lawsuits, like, you know, doing work, like leaning over and scrubbing the floors or hammering or

Stephen:

well, and they say Elvira, we have more kids here to volunteer and she goes great. Just grab a tool and start pounding. And it's one of those, another double entendre. And it's just. Really, really funny.

Steve:

And that they had more like the kids in it. Cause I know that that wasn't something that she originally was going to be like all in

Stephen:

for. Right. They talked about that in the, behind the scenes that she wasn't, didn't like the idea of the kids. But I honestly think that the kids and you know, her relationship with the geeky kid or the motel owner's daughter, it really helped to humanize her because. Any, the people that the town saw as less than or different, because they may not be as pretty or they were too smart. She saw them for who they were and was just like, be yourself. Yeah. And I, because she's a kind and genuine

Steve:

person, she certainly is. And for those of you like me, who, while they were watching the, the teenagers was wondering that that kid with the big glasses, especially I was like, I know him, I know him. And he was in the third nightmare on Elm street, the dream warriors, the good one. And it's like, yeah,

Stephen:

that's like one of the better nightmare on

Steve:

Elm street. Yeah. Yeah. And so that, that is where at least I recognized him right away.

Stephen:

Like the boys are originally drawn to her because of her looks, but they stay friends with her because of how she treats them. And I love that they care so much about her, that by the time they finished the house and they go outside and they look at it and they have these nervous looks of, Oh God, this is Goddy and awful. She looks at it and says, It's fabulous and it is fabulous. Amazing.

Steve:

Yes. I would love to have our house like crazy

Stephen:

like that. And even though she's genuine and things, she knows that she can also like play on their emotions a little bit, like in this clip where she needs some help.

If they ever ask about me, tell them I was more than just a great set of boobs, incredible pair of legs and tell him, tell him, well, I never turned down. A friend never turned down a stranger for that matter. And tell him, tell him that when all is said and done, I only asked the people, remember me by two simple words.

Stephen:

That's just a really fun, like drawn out thing. And then she does the tears.

Steve:

I love that. Any words, as long as they're simple

Stephen:

and again, she's in on the joke with herself and there's several, like if you can break that up into several things that are just really funny and then altogether, it's just such. A good speech. And when we saw behind the scenes, that was one of the first things they filmed and she was nervous about it. But I think that she totally nailed that same company completely. No, I

Steve:

love that.

Stephen:

And as I said, one of the things that has always, I love about Elvira is this quote that she has, that's always associated with her is be yourself. No matter what people say. For, if you were a perfect person, you would still be judged by people. And that's true. Yes. That America loves to put people on a pedestal, but the thing they love more than that is to tear those people down. Yeah.

Steve:

That's why we put people up on pedestal system. Again,

Stephen:

knock them down.

Steve:

They're just looking at you. Brittany Spears, sorry, girl,

Stephen:

or, I mean, anybody, like, they just love to watch icons fall for some reason. And. With her. She's just like, you know, I'm going to have the big hair. I'm going to have the big boobs. I'm going to have the dark makeup. I'm going to have the low cut dress and I'm going to be me because that's who I am. That's what I love. And everybody else can just F off. And I think we would all be a lot healthier if we took that attitude into thinking. About what other people think of us because we spend a lot of time being people pleasers. Yeah. And there's a point where that can go too far.

Steve:

Yeah, no. And I agree. And I mean, another group of people that are similarly have that attitude because they probably overcome a lot, or I know that they overcome a lot as drag Queens. Right. And I mean, that's kind of, I know that one of her things that she said was that she was raised by a pack of wild drag Queens. Tell me more about that. My love. So

Stephen:

I think a lot of her attitude and confidence. You know, you always think it has to come from somewhere. And they, it actually comes from a drag bar called the purple cow in Colorado Springs, where Cassandra also performed as a drag queen. So, you know, it's not the norm to have a biological female. Performing

Steve:

drag, but call them bio Queens, bio, Queens. But it is something that can happen. It's, you know, the idea of cause drag makeup is obviously different than regular, everyday makeup. And so you can be a drag queen by just dragging up

Stephen:

your life. Yup. My friend center for went as a drag queen for Halloween in college and you know, she was. A woman dressed as a man dressed as a woman. And it was great. And but Cassandra was around so many drag Queens and gay men when she was young and two drag Queens, Mr. Bobby and Tommy tan helped her dress up as a woman, which she would do. And then they would perform as the Supremes and that all led to her becoming a Las Vegas show girl. At the dunes, which, you know, we were in Vegas, the dunes isn't there anymore. It's now the Bellagio

Steve:

Bellagio. Yes. And that actually makes me think of the question. If you were to do drag, what would be your go-to song or your first song?

Stephen:

Oh, goodness. I think it might be from the movie trick. Where unspeakable joy that I put on our playlist, the unspeakable joy, because they did not give it. They could not take it away. Yes. Like I can identify with that. And I think my drag, if I did, it would be about making people feel good. Yes. I

Steve:

agree. Or mine would, I wouldn't want to be really out there. And so it'd be like lady Gaga and it'd be a chance to do like wild fashion.

Stephen:

Yeah. That I could see. So, I mean, drag is fun and I think drag is for everybody.

Steve:

Yes. At least watching it. I have not successfully done drag myself.

Stephen:

Well, I have either I, the, anytime that I dressed up for Halloween or nightclub promotion or things, I had a professional drag queen doing the makeup for me and. It is an art. Like they don't just go in and put on makeup, they're painting and it's an art form.

Steve:

It certainly is. So, I mean, if a listener wants to be my drag mother email, happy

Stephen:

life pod@gmail.com. I'll try

Steve:

anything once or twice, I guess, at this 0.3

Stephen:

times, if you like it. Oh yeah. So. Well, we were talking before she was a local LA celebrity with the cage J T V show. And then core's beer came along. Everybody knows core's beer. And so around Halloween they wanted to do a national campaign around spookiness and things. So. What better than to have Elvira hosted. And that skyrocketed her international stardom. And that's where I refer first. Remember seeing her as a kid and because Kors was trying to be the official beer of Halloween, I believe. And so she wasn't only on TV, but there were cardboard cutouts of her in grocery stores and liquor stores. And so it made her a familiar face across the U S. But then it came to an end because the ultra conservative core's

Steve:

family. Yeah. Within, you know, the P the people, the raging alcoholics, you also were raging conservatives.

Stephen:

Yeah. And so the family that owned it was calling her the daughter of Satan and stuff like that. And so she was like, you know what, this money isn't worth it. This exposure isn't worth it to have to deal with people like that. So she called it off. And I have a lot of respect for that because you she's true to herself and she's not going to let somebody like shit talker.

Steve:

Yes, no, I can certainly understand and imagine.

Stephen:

And despite being a nationally syndicated star after just two years of the series, The producers refuse to give her a raise, even though it was making them a lot of money. And so she started saying, you know, well, can I have the rights to the Elvira fan club? And they were like, sure, you can do that. And then later she was like, well, can I have the appearance rights? So like, when I appear anywhere, any of the money just goes to me, like opening a mall or just meet and greets and stuff like that. And they were like, You know, fine. And lo and behold, over the next couple of years, piecemeal, she got 100% of the rights of Alvira. So whenever you see anything of her anywhere, All that money goes to her and people will say to her now, like, don't you feel typecast? Don't you want to stop playing Alvira? And she's like, hell to the, no, are you kidding?

Steve:

Yeah, it was like, that took so much work for her to get to the point where she owns every little bit of Elvira that you can't start over with a new character, not to mention that I wouldn't want her to change a bit. I love her. And that character is only aged, like to the point where a million, a while back when she started it, it was like risque and like, Ooh, ah, now. It's like celebrated. Yeah. You know,

Stephen:

because we saw her just this year, she hosted Bette Midler's hula ween. Oh yeah. That was awesome. With the Sanderson, the hunt for the Sanders census or search for the Sanderson sisters. But like she has fine tuned Elvira. We saw it in Scooby-Doo Halloween. She helped the kids solve the mystery

Steve:

and always happy wherever she goes.

Stephen:

Daphne wanted to be Elvira. You

Steve:

want to be Elvira? Sometimes I

Stephen:

do. She's amazing. Yes.

Steve:

And one thing that I also love about her is. It reminded me of how much I miss going to burlesque

Stephen:

shows. Was it the tassel twirling the movie

Steve:

at the end? I mean that entire scene, just, I mean, ending the movie with her, getting her dream of being, you know, a Vegas showgirl could have easily been like a, you know, a sequence or like, you know, kind of during the credits, but no, this was. Fully produced, outrageous like musical dance number, where she just was phenomenal from start to finish. But at the end with a tassel twirling, I mean, I wish our girls in town like could practice and watch that and then like recreate that for a burlesque number

Stephen:

because the amount of time that she was able to do it with the control, I've only seen a couple of burlesque performers have that sort of control to do it. That skillfully during a number. And

Steve:

typically that's when they've had breast augmentation. Correct. And aren't as aren't hers, like completely natural for me. I, I understand

Stephen:

a

Steve:

girl never tells a girl never. Okay. Because I know like at some point though. Yeah. Cause it doesn't, she have to, she tied them down when she was on that. Ask an expert game show.

Stephen:

Right? Whenever she was on a thing recently where they had to guess who the secret identity of the people were, and she was pretending to be a grandmother. And like, I recognize Cassandra Peterson, but so many people that may be, might not be you know, Fans of the dark, you know?

Steve:

Yeah. I was gonna say, cause if you want to know how a biological woman can be a drag queen, look at Cassandra Peterson as herself, and then look at Elvira. And that is what a bio queen does to be a drag queen. And it certainly isn't Oh,

Stephen:

100%. And 14 year old Cassandra learned how to tassel twirl. From a stripper at a club and as a minor, Cassandra couldn't do it with pastries by showing off her boobs. She, I would hope not well, right under age, no matter what state you're in, but,

Steve:

and that at that age that she was a go-go dancer. I was like, girl. Yeah, it was raised by a package for equity, but

Stephen:

where were her parents? Her mother was the one that made her the tasseled bikini top that she could practice. And she did it until she perfected it. And so whenever it came time to do it for the movie, she said it was like riding a bike. You know, you never forget.

Steve:

Yeah. Now I'm imagining her mom being Amy Poehler and mean girls,

Stephen:

girls. If you're going to drink hundreds, I'd just like you to do it here.

Steve:

I'm a cool mom. Let's let's teach you how to TIHDI tassel.

Stephen:

So the. We talked about the teams. And do you know one of the people that was up for one of the teen roles? Yes

Steve:

I do, because I helped to research it, but I love that our listeners probably don't because it was Brad Pitt.

Stephen:

Yeah. Brad Pitt was actually one of the front runners to be one of the main teen characters. But Cassandra during casting was like, no, Cannot he is too handsome. The audiences would never believe that even though Bob, that she goes for is a handsome gentleman, that Brad Pitt is another level. And the audiences wouldn't believe that she would pick Bob. Over one of the teens and then it becomes really awkward. Right. That being

Steve:

a teenager convenient team, even though at the time he was 21 or 22, he would be playing a 16 or 17 year old. So not so great if she's like, you know, lusting after him. But of course, I mean, how couldn't she apparently, I mean, she didn't cheat right on her notes. Yup.

Stephen:

Yeah. Yup. That was next to his casting notes was yum. Yum. And so it would have been fun to have Brad Pitt in the movie, but. Probably better that he wasn't. I was going to say yes. Also one of the other famous things about Elvira people associate her with that

Steve:

car. Yes. Then the Cod mobile

Stephen:

and the cob mobile. Can you say that right? Isn't macabre. Macabre. Macabre. Okay. Yep. It is a 1958. T-Bird hard top. They purchased it for$2,500,$7,000 in alterations. And because. Girls smart Casandra still owns the car and uses it for public appearances. But now in any of the pictures, like on our website, you can get autograph pictures. She's laying across the car. And in the movie, the license plate says. Kick ass. Yes. But now it says two McCobb. Yes.

Steve:

And a girl knows how to stretch a dollar. Yes. Cause I mean, you know, with math that's like$9,500 and she's had her for this long and is still making money off of pictures and merge and having it as being part of her brand. So. I mean, just so much of her as a person also just makes me happy. The more I learn about her, not just Elvira, but Cassandra as a business woman is just brilliant. I feel like there are actresses and you know, people out there that can learn a lot from the way that she's managed her career.

Stephen:

I mean, it's a 40 year career as one character that is in demand every year. She is the queen of Halloween. She is, there is nobody else that is out there. Like you, sorry, Boulay

Steve:

brothers, sorry.

Stephen:

Youth summed it up really well a second ago. But do you have any other final thoughts you wanted to share as Elvira? No, that

Steve:

was my final thought. It's like, that's my final answer.

Stephen:

That's your final answer. That's really good. And I always see Elvira is like our golf Dolly Parton. Yes. And

Steve:

you love

Stephen:

yourself dally too. And

Steve:

so what dollar movie will you pick when we do it? Eventually big business. Okay. They don't know that

Stephen:

isn't in big business. Apple won't work. That was bet Midler.

Steve:

Cause it was on a, what was it? UK drag race or was it on, it was on

Stephen:

season 13, 13. I meant to say Nine to five. Okay. Which is about big business.

Steve:

So I think that I saw that with you at one point, do we have it on DVD? We do not. Oh, nevermind. That. I don't

Stephen:

know. Yeah. But back to what I was saying Elvira is like our golf Dolly Parton. She speaks her mind and supports everyone from all walks of life. She brings confidence in life, into our lives while making us laugh. And she's the cool aunt that we're all thankful.

Steve:

Yes, certainly. I would love her to be my

Stephen:

aunt. And if you would like to reach out to us and interact with us, you can find us on all the socials at happy life pod. Yep. So that's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram happy life pod. And we would love to hear from you and be part of the conversation. And until next time everyone. Unpleasant dreams. No, it stay

Steve:

happy,

Stephen:

babe. Sorry. I was still in my end Elvira moment. Okay. Let's try it again. Cue back up until next time. Stay

Steve:

happy.