''Café Americain'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

starring

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress and television personality. She began acting as a child actor, child and made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of Apple's Way, ''Apple's Way''. She gained wide recognition f ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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 Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Overview

Bertinelli played a young American woman, Holly Aldridge, who finds a job working as a waitress in a small café in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. 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 Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...

. 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

as Holly Aldrige * Lila Kaye as Margaret Hunt * Sofia Milos as Fabiana Borelli * Maurice Godin as Marcel *

Jodi Long Jodi Long is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Madame Ybarra on '' Cafe Americain'' (1993–1994), Mrs. Kim on the Margaret Cho sitcom ''All-American Girl'' (1994-1995), Ok Cha on '' Sullivan and Son'' (2012–2014), as wel ...

as Madame Ybarra *

Graham Beckel Graham Stuart Beckel (born December 22, 1949) is an American character actor, known for his roles in films and guest appearances on television. Early life and education Beckel graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. ...

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 ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'' 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 Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles on television sitcoms, including Maude (TV series)#Characters, Vivian Cavender Harmon on ''Maude (TV series), Maude'' (1972–78), ...

, but she turned it down. At the time of filming,

was married to guitarist

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

, 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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Americain 1990s American sitcoms 1993 American television series debuts 1994 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in Paris NBC sitcoms