Nightmare Cafe

Nightmare Cafe

1992
Nightmare Cafe
Nightmare Cafe

Nightmare Cafe

7.1 | en | Sci-Fi

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. The series began showing on NBC Universal's horror and suspense-themed cable channel, Chiller in March 2009.

View More
AD

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

Seasons & Episodes

1
EP6  Fay & Ivy
Mar. 13,1992
Fay & Ivy

The cafe appears in the agricultural town of Fort Weatherhill, but Frank is more concerned with his tabloid. He is in awe of a particular writer, Harry Tambor, to Fay's amazement. Blackie wonders if their new country locale will provide a good story for Frank's idol, but Frank seriously doubts it. ""Guess again!"" chuckles Blackie, and disappears. The television clicks on. Harry Tambor has been called to the office of his editor - Sid Hogoboom, played by Blackie - who claims that Tambor hasn't been giving the Conspirer any good stories lately. Hogoboom wants one by tomorrow. Harry is irked when Sid refuses all of his celebrity story ideas. ""'Aliens Ate My Lunch,' is that what you want?"" ""Now you're talking!"" grins Sid. ""And pictures...lots, lots of pictures! Do it as if your job depended on it."" As Harry leaves, Blackie disappears; then the real editor enters and asks his secretary if she's been smoking cigars in the room. Frank wants to know why Blackie is jerking Harry's chain; Fay jus

EP5  Dying Well is the Best Revenge
Mar. 06,1992
Dying Well is the Best Revenge

The cafe materializes in a Midwest farm town as the sun is coming up. Fay is sleepy because of the early-morning start. A boy comes in the door and Frank offers him a seat, then asks if he'd give him a hand cooking. The boy agrees to help, and introduces himself as Luke. Frank asks Luke when he ran away. Luke tells him he ran away the night before, but he doesn't know how he got to the cafe. As they eat, Frank offers to talk to Luke's parents about getting him a part-time job at the cafe. Luke doesn't want to go back, because he feels safe at the cafe, and he doesn't think his parents will miss him. Frank is adamant, but when he gets up to get a bagel, Luke disappears. Fay peeks out the blinds and realizes that the cafe has moved, but Frank has gone to see if Luke went to the bathroom. As he opens the door, he appears in a hospital room. Luke is on the bed, in a coma, and the nurse tells him that Luke has been that way for a year. Frank leaves the building and, like Fay, sees that the

EP4  The Heart of the Mystery
Mar. 20,1992
The Heart of the Mystery

""They say there's a million stories in the city. Well, here's one, about a guy named Stan. An honest cop who's seen just a little too much...or maybe not enough. There's one thing he never put to rest, you see. A mystery, and a wound, all wrapped up together in a single name...a name that will haunt him to his dying day. What would a man like this wish for? A second chance, perhaps? But would he wish for it if he knew it would shatter everything he's ever known?"" Detective Stan Gates places a rose at the foot of a gravestone which reads: Charlotte Benning 1954 - 1976 Her Love Still Touches Us All As he stands in contemplation, a boy tries to break into a car across the street. Stan chases the boy away from the car and pursues him down an alley, as the cafe appears behind him. The boy points a gun at him, but Stan reassures the boy that he only wants to help. The frightened kid backs away from Stan and trips over a piece of trash. The gun goes off. In the cafe, Frank and Fay

EP3  Sanctuary for a Child
Mar. 27,1992
Sanctuary for a Child

Fay's letters, describing the opulence of the city and her blossoming life, lure her naïve younger sister Ivy to pay her a visit. She arrives with her boyfriend Jesse, who teases her for reading a particular letter so many times and snatches it out of her grasp. As she chases him to get it back, he tosses it away - and it lands in Blackie's hand. He reads it wryly and realizes that Fay has gotten into a lot more than she bargained for. She may have forgotten inviting Ivy to visit her, but the cafe won't let her. When Blackie returns to the cafe, Fay expresses her desire to alter her past - specifically, she wishes she'd had a mother that listened to her because then she could have lived her life differently. Blackie hints that surely someone looks up to Fay, but the waitress doesn't catch on to what he means. Ivy and Jesse have arrived in a sleazy part of town on their search for Fay's place of residence, and Ivy is certain that they have taken a wrong turn. They come upon a corner liq

EP2  Aliens Ate My Lunch
Apr. 03,1992
Aliens Ate My Lunch

As their car coasts to a halt, a woman - Angela - beseeches her husband, Edward, to take a romantic walk with her, but he isn't in the mood. She gets out anyway as the cafe's neon lights come on. Spotting them, Angela tries again to get Edward to visit the cafe with her, but he refuses, hoping she'll get back in the car. Angela goes to the cafe. Frank, who has been feeling lovelorn, is fascinated by Angela, and flirts with her, ignoring Fay's teasing. Angela flirts back, and Frank inquires if she came with anyone. To his disappointment, she tells him that her husband is waiting outside because they had a disagreement. Edward has given up waiting for Angela, and gets out of the car to find her. He is set upon by a mugger, who attacks him before running off. Frank asks Angela what she would really want, if she had the chance. ""All I want is for Edward to love me...and never leave me,"" she tells him. ""I'm just so afraid that he'll abandon me even more than he already has."" At this point,

EP1  Nightmare Cafe
Jan. 29,1992
Nightmare Cafe

A car zooms down a darkened street, screeching to a halt at the water's edge. Out of it emerges an upset-looking woman, who pauses only to take in the sight of a man singing as he swims in the harbor; then, taking a deep breath, she jumps. The man notices her plummet, and goes after her, but her body has sunk by the time he gets there. He climbs out of the water and walks along the dock, bumping into the woman as he goes. The man is surprised, having thought her dead; the woman is just confused and scared, but determined not to show it. Down the dock, lights flicker on - it is an all-night cafe. The duo enter as a man steps from the shadows. He has a conversation with the audience: ""Do you believe in second chances, hmm? It's human nature, isn't it? But for a second chance, would you face your worst nightmare? The very thing that frightens you most, or drove you to the brink of disaster - hmm? Or would you then... See those good folks? Well, they're about to get a second chance. An

SEE MORE
7.1 | en | Sci-Fi | More Info
Released: 1992-01-29 | Released Producted By: MGM Television , Wes Craven Films Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

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. The series began showing on NBC Universal's horror and suspense-themed cable channel, Chiller in March 2009.

...... View More
Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Jack Coleman , Lindsay Frost , Robert Englund

Director

Wes Craven

Producted By

MGM Television , Wes Craven Films

AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Reviews

dr_foreman ...but I think it was cool.Sometimes I like to surprise people by bringing up obscure TV shows from the 1990s that even I can barely recall. My two favorite programs to cite are "Nightmare Cafe" and "Covington Cross" - both short-lived, and both with a cool premise. Generally speaking, nobody I talk to has seen or heard of either one of them.I remember "Nightmare Cafe" better. If memory serves, it was about a creepy café (of course). People stumbled in and had weird things happen to them. Oddly enough, I recall that the café was not strictly evil - sometimes, it would help people resolve conflicts in their lives. But in a creepy, cryptic way, naturally.Mostly I remember the tone of the show, which was eerie, in a "Sapphire and Steel" sort of way. I also found Robert Englund very charismatic, and it was nice to see him out of mutated makeup for a change.Of course the show was canceled, for the usual reason - it had a lousy time slot! I wonder if, given a chance, it might've been another "X-Files." Apropos of nothing, one person I spoke to once did actually remember this show. And she was really, really hot. What does this say about the quality of the show itself? Nothing, but I thought it was worth mentioning!
dancinflowers I was 12 yrs old when this show was on. I remember it was one of my favorite shows back then. I watched it religiously. One day I realized it never came back on. It had been canceled, but I was still always looking for reruns. All I can remember from it is the sense of fantasy, and spookiness. You can only find those good, supernatural shows during Halloween season. And hardly even then these days. But with that show, you got that Halloween feel every week, even though it wasn't Halloween season.Looking on this website, I saw for the first time that it was created by Wes Craven. As soon as I saw that, I knew why I liked it so much. I loved how when they opened the door to the café, there was nothing but space....literally....Outerspace....nowhere. That was awesome for a young mind to fathom. I just really loved that show and I wish that I could see it again.
Tics The tv-series Nightmare Cafe was one of my favourite shows when I saw it by mistake one saturday night. Great characters and one of my at the time favourite actors, Robert Englund as a mentor figure helping the dead man and woman to help other lost souls. Funny, imaginative and with this nice everyday halloween scare to it. But not totally satisfying, mostly because the possibilities are not explored enough. Except for that Nightmare Cafe is one fine treat.
TVholic I first saw Nightmare Cafe when NBC had a special Wednesday "sneak preview" some weeks before it premiered in its fatal timeslot in the graveyard of shows, Friday nights. The pilot seemed stylish and imaginative, although the effects were less than state-of-the-art even for that time. Taking place all in the span of a single night, it had a very closed-in feeling. The two leads were convincing and capable, but Robert Englund seemed just a bit too smarmy, trying too hard to distance himself from his infamous Freddy Krueger role. Still, it was a fine beginning for a fantasy show, or as one reviewer termed it, the flipside of Fantasy Island.The remaining five episodes were uneven in quality, but it's unfair to expect a new show to find its voice in only weeks. "The Heart of the Mystery" was one of the better ones. But by the end, the show had abandoned the night setting and the mysterious waterfront the cafe was on. It just didn't feel right to have a "nightmare" show taking place in broad daylight.Overall, it was a set of intriguing possibilities mostly left unexplored. I have the pilot on tape, and it's a good reminder of what could have been.