- Nightmare Stage
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Ševa, CroRom, Malnar and Stankec Nightmare Stage members on stage in 2003.
Nightmare Stage (Croatian: Noćna mora) (OTV 1992 - 2005), (Z1 2005 - 2010) was a late night talk show on Croatian TV station Z1 hosted by maverick traveller and author Željko Malnar.
The contact anti-show, starts airing on October 3, 1992 live on Saturday nights 22:00-03:00 (sometimes to 04:00 - 06:00), pushes the boundaries of television programming. The host throws all tact and taste through the window, taking rough manners from the street to the screen without either diluting them with etiquette or stylizing them for theatrical effect. He asks his guests uncomfortable and aggressive questions in order to expose their flaws and often resorts to flat insults. The show also has elements of a freak show, featuring pitoresque recurring characters with unusual mental makeups (nicknamed Cezar, Tarzan, Jaran, Remzo, Laki, Ševa) from the streets of Peščenica, Malnar's neighborhood in Zagreb. Malnar has ostensibly proclaimed Peščenica an independent Republic of Peščenica with him as president and this cast as his cabinet. Often is the case that phonecallers and the hosts and guests of this show insult each other.
Show sometimes ends with Malnar's angry message to viewer(s)/caller "Jadnici, ugasite televizor i idite spavati! Idiote, zar nemaš pametnijeg posla, nego gledati televiziju u tri ujutro! Hajde, laku noć! Što je, bijedniče, nemaš novaca za biti vani, nego moraš mene gledati na svome malom crnobijelom televizoru?" (You miserable people, turn off the TV and go to bed! You idiot, don't you have a better thing to do at 3AM than watch TV? Come on, good night! What is it, you poor thing, you have no money to go out on Saturday, so you have to watch me on your small black and white TV?)
Nightmare Stage is also the title of a column written by Malnar regularly appearing in the weekly Globus.
In 2002 Nightmare Stage hosted Dennis Rodman who came to Zagreb only for the show after his Croat friend showed it to him through internet streaming. When the usual receiving of viewer's telephone calls occurred, many female viewers flirted with Rodman and wanted sex with him.[1] He readily invited them to his hotel room and told them the address while being live in the studio.
In 2004 the cast of the show starred in a feature film of the same name.
On May 5, 2010 the most popular character Zvonimir Levačić - Ševa died at age 67. Following the death of Ševa, Nightmare Stage formally ended on June 26, 2010 after 18 years of live airing and 878 shows. However on October 9, 2010 Malnar started a new show called Mali Noćni Razgovori.
References
- ^ "Newspaper article published on 09-10-2003". Slobodna Dalmacija.hr. http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20031009/reflektor01.asp. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
External links
Categories:- Croatian television series
- 1992 television series debuts
- 2010 Croatian television series endings
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