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
Genre	Black comedy Cringe comedy Farce Sitcom Slapstick
Created by	Robert Popper
Written by	Robert Popper
Directed by	Steve Bendelack Martin Dennis
Starring	Tamsin Greig Paul Ritter Simon Bird Tom Rosenthal Mark Heap
Opening theme	"Animal" (Punks Jump Up Remix) by Miike Snow
Composers	"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 origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	37 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Nira Park Caroline Leddy Kenton Allen
Producer	Robert Popper
Production location	London
Running time	21–25 minutes
Production companies	Popper Pictures Big Talk Productions
Distributor	BBC Studios
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	25 February 2011 – 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, due to his loneliness, 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 had two 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 3–6, recurring).

Episode list

Series		Episodes		Originally aired		Average UK viewers (millions)[lower-alpha 1]
				First aired	Last aired
	1	6		25 February 2011	8 April 2011	N/A
	2	6		7 October 2012	11 November 2012	N/A
	Special			24 December 2012		1.54
	3	6		20 June 2014	25 July 2014	1.45
	4	6		22 July 2016	26 August 2016	1.66
	5	6		4 May 2018	8 June 2018	2.09
	6	6		27 March 2020	1 May 2020	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

• List of Friday Night Dinner episodes

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.

External links

• Friday Night Dinner at Channel 4
• Friday Night Dinner at British Comedy Guide
• Friday Night Dinner at IMDb
• Friday Night Dinner at TV.com