What are the main difference between the two versions? I think it would be fun to do a comparison list?
Joe
For the most part, the two incarnations are the same. But going off 30 year old memories (which is an inexact science)...
Peterson invented the Elvira character for the show (matter of fact, someone else came up with the name -- crew members put names into a hat and "Elvira" was drawn, a name Peterson initially didn't like because it reminded her of the Oak Ridge Boys song which had then-recently hit the charts). In the early days, the Elvira character was different than she is today. She spoke with a very droll valley girl accent and, although there were always bad puns and corny jokes, there wasn't the continuous association with horror -- she was just a wisecracking valley girl in a low cut dress and a (hideous) black Elura wig. It took her a few years to hone the character, but by the mid-'80s (when she began hawking Coors beer, hosted a line of ThrillerVideo releases and starred in an MTV Halloween special) she had the character perfected and it's since remained unchanged. That outta the way...
As mentioned above, the opening titles sequence has changed pretty drastically. Originally the show was titled "Movie Macabre," whilst the new show is "Elvira's Movie Macabre." The old credits sequence featured her walking around a gloomy mansion while "Elvira's Theme" (composed and performed by Peterson's ex-husband Mark Pierson) played. ("Elvira's Theme" has made an appearance or two on the new show but not during the credits.) The new show's opening sequence is a stroll into a decrepit movie theatre scored by The Black Belles' "What Can I Do?."
As I mentioned in other threads, the biggest difference in the show is the caliber of films. On the old Movie Mac, there was a wide array of obscure titles, some of which were surprisingly good. Of course, someone else was footing the bill. For the new show, which Peterson is funding herself, all of the titles are in public domain, many of which have run endlessly on late night TV for decades.
The other notable difference is the magic mirror sequences. In the new incarnation, she pops up on-screen in a mirror at various points to mock the films MST3K-style. At some point, she began interrupting movies to spout off one-liners (they'd literally stop the movies and cut to a shot of Elvira), but I think that came later when she began freelance hosting. Someone may prove me wrong, but I don't recall her interrupting films on the original show; she just popped in with comments and gags at the commercial breaks.
The Breather (in addition to looking greasier) showed up a lot more regularly than he does today, and Paragon also did voice-overs for various gags. Of course, the reason for that is because John Paragon was Peterson's co-writer on the original show. Today she's co-writing with Ted Biaselli, who's following closely in Paragon's footsteps, though he hasn't actually appeared on-screen that I'm aware of (unless he was amongst the partiers seen during "Scared to Death").
The set's also a little different. On the old show, she was on a darkened set (actually a desolate soundstage) that featured her trademarked sofa and candelabras. On the new show, her sofa and candelabras are on a set that vaguely resembles an actual room, which is supposed to be her basement.
On the old show, I don't recall previews of the next week's movie, but obviously they don't know what the hell they're doing with that since they're changing the format of the next week's preview on a weekly basis.
I also seem to recall her reading fan mail regularly on the old show, which she's not doing today (which is weird in an age of email). Of course, it's possible (and even probable) that the fan mail was concocted by the writers as gags. My memory's fuzzy on that detail, I just recall her regularly having a stack of letters strewn across the couch.
The only other thing I can think of worth noting is the quality of Elvira's segments. Even when they were originally broadcast, it looked like Elvira's scenes were recorded on videotapes that had been taped over 472 times. The picture was extremely hazy and washed out. Perhaps it was cheesecloth filters to soften the overall look, but I'm of the opinion the segments were just very cheaply produced.
That's about all I can think of, and the majority of differences are so slight that they were hardly worth noting.
Great detailed post man.
shareVinnieRattolle, I think you covered it. Very well said.
shareVinnie, awesome job recounting all of this. A few things though I'd like to confirm/correct/point out.
Elvira's name as you noted correctly was drawn by a crew member, from a coffee can. Because of the Oakridge Boys (as you mentioned) she hated the name. Fans asked her if the song was about her, she claimed it was and admitted sheepishly to The Oakridge Boys that she had done this, they admitted they had claimed they wrote it about her.
The old intro/credits featured an opening sequence that shifted slightly as the show progressed. It started out with her beckoning through a doorway in an old home. As well as her walking slowly and seductively down that same hallway, pushing through old cobwebs until she blacked out the screen. Other intros featured various footage from old films of bats flying in the sky, a lightening bolt crashing, a silhouette of a cat running across a stone wall etc. With the music Mark wrote playing.
As for interrupting the films. On a few occasions she would break right into the movie and make a very fast comment and then typically do either a 'good grief' or her classic open mouthed silent laugh when she told a really bad joke. However most of her segments were before and or after commercial breaks.
The old set was her sofa on a raised platform, her three candelabras and that was it. From time to time a random prop would be placed nearby, like a small end table with a telephone for a call from Breather, or some sort of table with props laid out for a skit.
The fanmail on the original show was one of my favorites and happened quite frequently.
"Yep, that's right it's that time darlings, it's SACK time... MAIL SACK that is. Sheesh!"
"And remember, keep those cards and letters...PLEASE!"
As for the quality of her segments. They were HIGHLY filtered and hazed to give the old school look. It also helped tone down the harsh nature of her makeup and how heavy and rich the colors she used were. It also helped create a soft glow around the candles. Cassandra still owns all of her original wrap-arounds for every episode of Movie Macabre. They are all on BETA masters kept in a climate controlled storage facility.
When she began releasing them on DVD a few years back with Shout! Factory (formerly Rhino Home Video) she had to get an old Beta player to watch them and began the process of having them transfered to digital media.
The 'taped over' look you may be thinking of is that through out the 90's and into the early 2000's fans were so desperate for old episodes that whenever a copy would surface it would be copied, traded, copied, traded until a second generation copy was now 20th generation. I still have some of those now.
Beyond that I was highly impressed with the accuracy and knowledge you have on all of this! Kudos!