Nightmare Cafe

Nightmare Cafe
Created by	Wes Craven Thomas Baum
Starring	Robert Englund Jack Coleman Lindsay Frost
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	6
Production
Running time	1 hour, with commercials
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	29 January – 03 April 1992

File:Nightmarecafecast.jpg

the cast of Nightmare Cafe

Nightmare Cafe is a short-lived American telefantasy program which aired on NBC for an abridged first season from January to April 1992. While the overall tone of the program was that of a mystical fantasy, it frequently incorporated elements of dark humor, horror, and even outright comedy. A total of six episodes were produced before low ratings led to its cancellation. The series has subsequently been shown on the Sci Fi Channel as part of their Series Collection.

Overview

Nightmare Cafe broadly concerns the inhabitants of the titular otherworldly café: mysterious proprietor Blackie, sarcastic but good-hearted cook Frank, and insecure yet gutsy waitress Fay. During the show's limited run, the origins of the café were never revealed, but it has the power to materialize in any location (much like the TARDIS in Doctor Who, albeit apparently without the ability to time-travel), and seems to be sentient on some level. The café is usually situated by a waterfront; when it changes its location, its inhabitants realize that they are about to be given a mission.

Themes

Nightmare Cafe is a show about second chances. Characters who enter the café - presumably drawn there by the café itself, as an embodiment of fate - are given the opportunity to correct something in their lives that went wrong, if they are morally good; or, if they are morally bad, to atone for something they have done or will do, sometimes against their will, and often incorporating poetic justice.

The Café

The café serves as both a central location for the action and as a plot catalyst, primarily by exerting its influence upon each episode's protagonist(s), or antagonist(s), to bring them into contact with the regulars. Aside from transporting itself from place to place in its entirety, once settled, it can also create portals between itself and various locations, which are traversed (often unexpectedly, on the whim of the café) by crossing the threshold of one of the café's many doorways. These portals are not even restricted to the Earth; the café can also travel to outer space and, apparently, even heaven, which hints at a supernatural origin. The café also has the ability to make both idle and heartfelt wishes come true, which of course are not always what the recipient actually wants or needs, and the café seems to take a perverse delight in "misinterpreting" such wishes. Frank and Fay often take advantage of this ability by wishing themselves from place to place; when this occurs, or when the café otherwise deems it important, those remaining in the dining room can watch the exploits of their companions on the (sometimes interactive) television set mounted in the far wall.

Cast

• Robert Englund - Blackie
• Jack Coleman - Frank Nolan
• Lindsay Frost - Fay Peronivic

Opening Sequence

Following the pilot, the remaining five episodes began with an introduction narrated by Robert Englund as Blackie:

"Touch that remote and you die! Now that I've got your attention, here's the deal. See those two people? That's Frank, and that's Fay. Strangers when they met, turns out they've got a lot in common. Both died on the same night, both ended up in the same body of water, and both took refuge in the same all-night cafe. Me, I run the place. Name's Blackie. Been here from the beginning. Now, I know I said Frank and Fay were dead, but the cafe needed a new cook and waitress, so it gave them a second chance at life. They do their job, they get to stick around and help unsuspecting customers turn their lives around. 'Course, anything can happen to those who wander in - their worst nightmares, or their forbidden dreams. Yeah, it all happens here...in this little place we call the Nightmare Cafe."

Episodes

• Pilot (29 January 1992)
  Frank Nolan and Fay Peronivic find themselves mysteriously drawn to an all-night café following a surreal brush with death.

• Dying Well is the Best Revenge (06 March 1992)
  When Frank gets involved with a married woman whose husband is very possessive, Fay worries for his safety.

• Fay & Ivy (13 March 1992)
  Fay's younger sister Ivy comes to the city to visit her, but trouble comes along in the form of her scummy boyfriend Jesse.

• The Heart of the Mystery (20 March 1992)
  The café slows down time in order to enable a detective to find the answer to an unsolved murder before his death by gunshot.

• Sanctuary for a Child (27 March 1992)
  The café brings Frank back to his hometown, where he befriends a boy whose comatose body lies in the town hospital.

• Aliens Ate My Lunch (03 April 1992)
  When a desperate tabloid writer concocts a story about a small-town alien invasion, his simple lie snowballs out of his control.

Taglines

Three souls caught between this world and the next, proudly serving mankind with hot coffee and second chances 24 hours a day.

External links

The Nightmare Cafe web page