Robert Englund played Freddy Krueger many more times than some may realize. In addition to the eight feature films we all know and have easy access to, Englund also played his most famous role as the host of an anthology series called Freddy's Nightmares, which ran for two seasons, 1988 to 1990.
Based on the Nightmare on Elm Street film series, "Freddy's Nightmares: A Nightmare on Elm Street the Series" is an anthology show hosted by Freddy Krueger. Krueger sometimes appeared in the episodes, but often he just hosted the strange, "Twilight Zone"-like stories about the residents of Springwood's nightmares. Episodes consist of two stories, usually with a small character from the first half of the episode becoming the focus of the second half. In an unusual move for an anthology series, many episodes had sequels that documented the further adventures of characters who had appeared in previous episodes.
The series started off with an episode called "No More Mr. Nice Guy", which was directed by Tobe Hooper. There has been a lot of talk over the years about a NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movie that would serve as a prequel to the original 1984 film, showing the events that led up to child killer Freddy Krueger getting burned alive by a vengeful mob. Well, that's exactly what "No More Mr. Nice Guy" is. It was already done on TV in '88.
The show ran for a total of 44 episodes, with its directors including Mick Garris, JASON LIVES' Tom McLoughlin, HALLOWEEN 4's Dwight Little, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 2's Ken Wiederhorn, and many more, including Robert Englund himself.
Only a handful of Freddy's Nightmares episodes have ever officially made it to home video, but in recent years it has been rerun on in2tv and Chiller. The rights to air the show have now been picked up by Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network, where it will be added to the programming schedule by the end of the year.
El Rey nabbed Freddy's Nightmares as part of a new multi-year acquisition deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Also included in the deal are the shows Constantine and Almost Human, which will start airing on El Rey in November, and Mortal Kombat: Conquest, which will be on the network by the end of 2015. The original V mini-series, the recent V revival, the 2002 version of The Twilight Zone, and Night Visions will follow in 2016, with more to come in the future.
Freddy's Nightmares was cheap and generally pretty bad, but I have fond memories of sitting down in front of the TV late at night to watch Freddy tell me some horrific stories. The series is a notable part of the Elm Street franchise, and it's good to see that it's not just getting left in the past.