Bagdad Cafe (TV series)

Based onBagdad Cafe by Percy Adlon

Developed by

Mort Lachman
Sy Rosen

Bagdad Cafe
Genre	Sitcom
Based on	Bagdad Cafe by Percy Adlon
Developed by	Mort Lachman Sy Rosen
Directed by	Paul Bogart
Starring	Whoopi Goldberg Jean Stapleton
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	15
Production
Executive producers	Zev Braun Mort Lachman Thad Mumford Sy Rosen
Producer	Michael Mount
Running time	23 minutes
Production companies	Mort Lachman and Associates Zev Braun Pictures New World Television CBS Entertainment Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	March 30, 1990 (1990-03-30) – July 27, 1991 (1991-07-27)

Bagdad Cafe is an American television sitcom starring Whoopi Goldberg and Jean Stapleton that aired on CBS. The series premiered March 30, 1990,^[1]^[2] and ran two seasons before being cancelled in winter 1990. The last two episodes aired in July 1991. The show is based on the 1987 Percy Adlon film Bagdad Cafe.

Whoopi Goldberg as Brenda
Jean Stapleton as Jasmine
James Gammon as Rudy
Monica Calhoun as Debbie
Scott Lawrence as Juney
Cleavon Little as Sal

In this version, Jasmine was not German.

Production

The series was shot in the conventional sitcom format, in front of a studio audience.^[3] The show did not obtain a sizable audience, being forced to compete with ABC's Top 20 hit Family Matters and was cancelled after two seasons.^[4]

Insiders say that production of the series ended on November 16, 1990, after a dispute between Goldberg and the show's co-executive producer, Thad Mumford.^[5] Executive producer Kenneth Kaufman was told that Goldberg called CBS president Jeff Sagansky in late November to say that she was quitting the show.^[4] With no time to recast Goldberg's role, CBS ended the series and pulled the remaining episodes from the broadcast schedule.^[4]

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes	Originally released
Season	Episodes	First released	Last released
1	6	March 30, 1990 (1990-03-30)	May 11, 1990 (1990-05-11)
2	9	September 28, 1990 (1990-09-28)	July 27, 1991 (1991-07-27)

Fifteen episodes were produced, and are registered with the United States Copyright Office.^[6]

Season 1 (1990)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code ^[6]	US viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	Paul Bogart	Mort Lachman & Sy Rosen	March 30, 1990 (1990-03-30)	101	24.0^[7]
2	2	"When You're Hot, You're Hot"	Unknown	Unknown	April 6, 1990 (1990-04-06)	103	18.3^[8]
3	3	"You Say It's Your Birthday"	Unknown	Unknown	April 13, 1990 (1990-04-13)	102	16.3^[9]
4	4	"Too Many Cooks"	Unknown	Unknown	April 27, 1990 (1990-04-27)	106	12.8^[10]
5	5	"Breakdown"	Unknown	Unknown	May 4, 1990 (1990-05-04)	105	15.1^[11]
6	6	"Art"	Unknown	Unknown	May 11, 1990 (1990-05-11)	104	15.4^[12]

Season 2 (1990–91)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code ^[6]	US viewers (millions)
7	1	"This Bird Has Flown"	Unknown	Unknown	September 28, 1990 (1990-09-28)	204	12.7^[13]
8	2	"Not Enough Cooks"	Unknown	Unknown	October 5, 1990 (1990-10-05)	201	13.9^[14]
9	3	"City on a Hill"	Unknown	Unknown	October 26, 1990 (1990-10-26)	202	11.7^[15]
10	4	"Sixteen Candles"	Unknown	Unknown	November 2, 1990 (1990-11-02)	205	12.7^[16]
11	5	"I Got a Crush on You"	Unknown	Unknown	November 9, 1990 (1990-11-09)	206	13.1^[17]
12	6	"Rainy Days and Mondays"	Paul Bogart	Vicki S. Horwitz	November 16, 1990 (1990-11-16)	207	10.9^[18]
13	7	"Hell Hath No Fury"	Unknown	Unknown	November 23, 1990 (1990-11-23)	203	9.7^[19]
14	8	"Over My Dead Body"	Unknown	Unknown	July 27, 1991 (1991-07-27)	208	7.5^[20]
15	9	"Prisoner of Love"	Paul Bogart	Victor Fresco	July 27, 1991 (1991-07-27)	209	8.6^[20]

Reception

References

1 2 O'Connor, John J. (March 30, 1990). "TV Weekend; Open Season on Husbands as Comedy Stars Return". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
1 2 Rosenberg, Howard (March 30, 1990). "TV Reviews - Goldberg, Stapleton Team in 'Bagdad Cafe'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
1 2 Tucker, Ken (March 30, 1990). "Bagdad Cafe". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
1 2 3 Harris, Mark (December 21, 1990). "Goodbye to Bagdad Cafe". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
↑ Puig, Claudia (November 27, 1990). "TV & Video". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
1 2 3 From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
↑ "ABC gets an Oscar boost". Life. USA Today. April 4, 1990. p. 3D.
↑ "ABC claims rare Sunday win". Life. USA Today. April 11, 1990. p. 3D.
↑ "For the week, a network tie". Life. USA Today. April 18, 1990. p. 3D.
↑ "'Caroline?' a hit, no question". Life. USA Today. May 2, 1990. p. 3D.
↑ "NBC barely sweeping by CBS". Life. USA Today. May 9, 1990. p. 3D.
↑ "Sunday night sinks NBC". Life. USA Today. May 16, 1990. p. 3D.
↑ Donlon, Brian (October 3, 1990). "NBC wins; CBS still surprises". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
↑ Sloan, Eugene (October 10, 1990). "NBC tops in ratings, barely". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
↑ Donlon, Brian (October 31, 1990). "CBS, no longer the long shot". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
↑ Donlon, Brian (November 7, 1990). "NBC wins with fewer viewers". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
↑ Donlon, Brian (November 14, 1990). "'Cheers' sweeps up for NBC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
↑ Donlon, Brian (November 21, 1990). "ABC pulls past CBS in sweeps". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
↑ Donlon, Brian (November 28, 1990). "ABC's 'It' confirms competitors' fears". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
1 2 Donlon, Brian (July 31, 1991). "'20/20' wins for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.