Why Nightmare on Elm Street’s TV Show Failed, According to Robert Englund
A Nightmare on Elm Street star Robert Englund explains why the short-lived TV spinoff, Freddy's Nightmares, failed. Because A Nightmare on Elm Street was flourishing in the '80s, with five movies coming out that decade, New Line Cinema decided to give Freddy his own TV series, much like Paramount had done with Friday the 13th. Freddy's Nightmares started in 1988 and lasted for two seasons (44 episodes) before it got canceled in 1990.
The first episode of Freddy's Nightmares was a prequel to Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper. Robert Englund's Freddy Krueger would appear in each subsequent episode as a host, similar to the Crpytkeeper in Tales From the Crypt, but the majority of the show followed an anthology format that didn't connect to the Springwood Slasher. Because the series aired in syndication, a lot of different directors and writers got to see their visions become a reality.New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye has previously stated that creating Freddy's Nightmares was simply a way for them to make more money on the brand and admitted that the show's quality massively dipped after the first five or six episodes. Graphic content such as gore and nudity would often be cut from the series to please the censors, which is likely part of the reason Freddy's Nightmares didn't last long.
Related: Brad Pitt's Freddy's Nightmares Episode Explained (Does He Die?)
In an interview with Bloody Disgustingon their The Boo Crew Podcast, Englund opened up about why he believes the series failed after only two seasons. The actor explained that money and the promise of directing were the two main reasons he agreed to appear in Freddy's Nightmares. Despite originally
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