Friday Night Dinner

Friday Night Dinner is a British television sitcom written by Robert Popper and starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap.[1] The comedy is focused on the regular dinner experience of the middle-class British Jewish Goodman family every Friday night. The first episode aired on 25 February 2011 on Channel 4. The show received two BAFTA nominations in 2012. The first series was nominated for Best Situation Comedy, while Tamsin Greig was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance.[2]

Friday Night Dinner
Main title screen
GenreBlack comedy
Cringe comedy
Farce
Sitcom
Slapstick
Created byRobert Popper
Written byRobert Popper
Directed bySteve Bendelack
Martin Dennis
StarringTamsin Greig
Paul Ritter
Simon Bird
Tom Rosenthal
Mark Heap
Opening theme"Animal" (Punks Jump Up Remix) by Miike Snow
Composer(s)"Meddle" by Little Boots
"Fot i hose" by Casiokids
"1901" by Phoenix
"Believe E.S.P." by Deerhoof
"Walk The Line" (Original Mix) by Dani Siciliano (series 4–)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes37 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)Nira Park
Caroline Leddy
Kenton Allen
Producer(s)Robert Popper
Production location(s)London
Running time21–25 minutes
Production company(s)Popper Pictures
Big Talk Productions
DistributorBBC Studios
Release
Original networkChannel 4
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Audio formatStereo
Original release25 February 2011 (2011-02-25) –
present

Premise

Friday Night Dinner depicts Shabbat dinner in the middle-class secular Jewish Goodman family, reflecting writer and producer Robert Popper's own secular Jewish upbringing.[3] It is set in suburban North London, and filmed there, in Mill Hill.[4] The family consists of mother Jackie Goodman (Tamsin Greig), father Martin (Paul Ritter), elder son and musician Adam (Simon Bird), and younger son and estate agent Jonny (Tom Rosenthal). The episodes follow the family as the sons arrive at the family home and proceed to their dinner, which is often interrupted by numerous things. Most frequently, it is disrupted by Adam and Jonny pranking each other, Martin's oddities and their strange neighbour Jim Bell (Mark Heap), who is attracted to Jackie. Jim visits the Goodmans frequently, in most cases accompanied by his dog – of whom he is afraid.

Jackie's best friend, Valerie "Auntie Val" Lewis (Tracy Ann Oberman), is also a frequent visitor, as was Jackie's mother, Eleanor "Nelly" Buller (Frances Cuka). Martin's mother, Cynthia Goodman (Rosalind Knight), referred to as "Horrible Grandma", was an occasional guest to the Goodman household.

Cast and characters

Main
  • Tamsin Greig as Jacqueline "Jackie" Goodman, the mother of the family.
  • Paul Ritter as Martin Goodman, the father of the family.
  • Simon Bird as Adam Goodman, the elder son of the family, a musician and advert jingle composer.
  • Tom Rosenthal as Jonathan "Jonny" Goodman, the younger son, an estate agent.
  • Mark Heap as Jim Bell, the Goodmans' bizarre neighbour. He has dogs Wilson (series 1–5) and Milson (series 6–).

Recurring
  • Frances Cuka as Eleanor "Nelly" Buller, Jackie's mother, referred to as Grandma (series 1–4, recurring), (series 5, guest, voice only).
  • Tracy Ann Oberman as Valerie "Val" Lewis, Jackie's neurotic best friend, known as "Auntie Val" to the boys (series 1–2, guest), (series 3–, recurring).

Episode list
Main article: List of Friday Night Dinner episodes
SeriesEpisodesOriginally airedAverage UK viewers
(millions)[lower-alpha 1]
First airedLast aired
1625 February 2011 (2011-02-25)8 April 2011 (2011-04-08)N/A
267 October 2012 (2012-10-07)11 November 2012 (2012-11-11)N/A
Special24 December 2012 (2012-12-24)1.54
3620 June 2014 (2014-06-20)25 July 2014 (2014-07-25)1.45
4622 July 2016 (2016-07-22)26 August 2016 (2016-08-26)1.66
564 May 2018 (2018-05-04)8 June 2018 (2018-06-08)2.09
6627 March 2020 (2020-03-27)1 May 2020 (2020-05-01)4.70
  1. The average rating for the first three series have been calculated using 7-day viewing figures, while the ratings for the latter three series use 28-day viewing figures.

American remake

In September 2011, Deadline Hollywood announced that Greg Daniels, who had adapted The Office for American television, would spearhead an American remake of the series for the broadcast network NBC.[5] The remake was picked up for a pilot, written by Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis[6] and starring Allison Janney and Tony Shalhoub as the mother and father.[7] The pilot did not go to series.

In 2014, CBS bought an adaptation of the British show for the American market, as a "put pilot".[8]

In 2016 a third attempt at an American remake was under development by CBS, with the title Sunday Night Dinner.[9][10]

See also

References
  1. Plunkett, John (12 February 2010). "Tamsin Greig and Pulling's Paul Ritter to star in Channel 4 comedy". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  2. "Television Awards Winners in 2012". BAFTA. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. Saner, Emine (4 March 2011). "Tamsin Greig: 'I always think I'll never work again'". The Guardian.
  4. Friday Night Dinner stars Simon Bird and Tom Rosenthal talk returning to the show
  5. Andreeva, Nellie (6 September 2011). "Greg Daniels To Adapt British Comedy 'Friday Night Dinner' For NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  6. Andreeva, Nellie (3 February 2012). "Ken Kwapis Set To Direct NBC Pilot 'Friday Night Dinner', Reunites With Greg Daniels". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  7. Andreeva, Nellie (7 February 2012). "Allison Janney & Tony Shalhoub To Star in Greg Daniels' NBC Pilot 'Friday Night Dinner'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  8. Nellie Andreeva (21 August 2014). "CBS Buys Adaptation Of British Comedy 'Friday Night Dinner' As Put Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  9. Nellie Andreeva (30 August 2016). "CBS Developing New Adaptation Of UK Comedy Series 'Friday Night Dinner'". Deadline. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. Jeffery, Morgan (31 August 2016). "They're remaking Friday Night Dinner for the US – again". DigitalSpy. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
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