Café Americain

Café Americain
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Peter Noah
Starring	Valerie Bertinelli Lila Kaye Sofia Milos Maurice Godin Jodi Long Graham Beckel
Composer(s)	Roger Bellon
Production
Producer(s)	Pamela Grant Peter Noah
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Peter Noah Productions Warner Bros. Television

Café Americain is an American television sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli that aired on NBC from September 18, 1993, to February 8, 1994, with two leftover episodes shown on May 28, 1994. It was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

Overview

Bertinelli played a young American woman, Holly Aldridge, who finds a job working as a waitress in a small café in Paris. The cast consisted of an assortment of eccentric characters from around the world who regularly visited the café, interacting in many hilarious circumstances. Madame Ybarra, a former dictator's wife, was a thinly veiled spoof of Imelda Marcos. Fabiana Borelli, the tempestuous Italian model, and her perpetually jealous Italian lover Carlo, regularly sparred and reconciled, with Carlo declaring of any real or imagined rival, "I kill him! I kill him bad! I kill him two times!" Marcel's on and off relationship with Holly set the stage for comedic interference by several guest star suitors.

Cast

• Valerie Bertinelli as Holly Aldrige
• Lila Kaye as Margaret Hunt
• Sofia Milos as Fabiana Borelli
• Maurice Godin as Marcel
• Jodi Long as Madame Ybarra
• Graham Beckel as Steve Sullivan

Production and casting

Although Lila Kaye played the role of Margaret in the series pilot, the role was re-cast with Happy Days actress Marion Ross when the series was picked up. Within a month, Ross was gone and Kaye agreed to reprise the role. The role of Margaret Hunt was also offered to Rue McClanahan, but she turned it down.

At the time of filming, Valerie Bertinelli was married to guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who appeared in the 7th episode, "Home Alone," as a street musician that Bertinelli's character Holly Aldridge chases out of the cafe. Van Halen spoke one line, "Praat je tegen mij?" The line is Dutch for "Are you talking to me?"

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
1	“Pilot”	James Burrows	Peter Noah	September 18, 1993 (1993-09-18)
2	“Le Confidence Game”	Robert Berlinger	Peter Noah	September 25, 1993 (1993-09-25)	12.8
3	“Weekend at Holly's”	James Burrows	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	October 2, 1993 (1993-10-02)	10.8
4	“The Language of Really Good Friends”	Robert Berlinger	Bruce Rasmussen	October 9, 1993 (1993-10-09)	13.9
5	“Happy Birthday to Moi”	James Burrows	Eric Cohen	October 16, 1993 (1993-10-16)	12.1
6	“Every Picture Tells a Story...Don't It?”	Robert Berlinger	Bill Barol	October 23, 1993 (1993-10-23)	11.2
7	“Home Alone”	Robert Berlinger	Bruce Rasmussen	November 6, 1993 (1993-11-06)	11.3
8	“There's No Business Like Show Business”	Robert Berlinger	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	November 13, 1993 (1993-11-13)	10.0
9	“...And Giblets for All”	Robert Berlinger	Bill Barol	November 20, 1993 (1993-11-20)	10.0
10	“Toast of the Town”	Robert Berlinger	Bruce Rasmussen	November 27, 1993 (1993-11-27)	10.1
11	“Mommy Dearest”	Robert Berlinger	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	December 11, 1993 (1993-12-11)	9.0
12	“Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly”	Robert Berlinger	Eric Cohen	December 18, 1993 (1993-12-18)	9.0
13	“The Dating Game”	Robert Berlinger	Sarit Catz, David Silverman, Gloria Ketterer & Marcy Gray Rubin	January 4, 1994 (1994-01-04)	9.8
14	“Le Date”	Robert Berlinger	Peter Noah	January 11, 1994 (1994-01-11)	8.3
15	“All About Kelly”	Robert Berlinger	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	January 18, 1994 (1994-01-18)	10.0
16	“Love the One You're With”	Matthew Diamond	Bruce Rasmussen	February 8, 1994 (1994-02-08)	9.0
17	“Oh, Brother”	Pamela Fryman	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	May 28, 1994 (1994-05-28)	6.6
18	“The Fashion Show”	Robert Berlinger	Eric Cohen	May 28, 1994 (1994-05-28)	6.8

External links

• Café Americain at the Internet Movie Database

• Café Americain at epguides.com