Friday Night Dinner

Did You Know?

• For the 10th anniversary, a special 90-minute documentary episode aired on Channel 4 on 28 May 2021, entitled Friday Night Dinner: Ten Years and A Lovely Bit of Squirrel.
• The documentary was dedicated to Paul Ritter, who had died of a brain tumour seven weeks earlier.

Premise

The Goodman family gathers every Friday for their Shabbat dinner, a tradition in their secular Jewish household in suburban North London. The show, filmed in Mill Hill, was inspired by its creator’s own upbringing. The family includes Jackie, the mother; Martin, the father; and their two sons, Adam and Jonny. Each episode begins with the sons arriving at the family home, and the meal that follows rarely goes smoothly. Jackie often tries to keep things running normally, but she is usually the one reacting to the chaos around her. The dinner is regularly interrupted by the brothers pranking each other, like sneaking salt into one another’s drinks, or by Martin’s odd behavior, such as walking around without a shirt or eating food past its expiration date. When something goes wrong, Martin tends to yell his catchphrase, “shit on it.” Their neighbor Jim, a kind but odd man who has a crush on Jackie, frequently drops in because he is lonely. He usually brings his dog, Wilson, even though he is scared of the animal. After Wilson dies in series five, Jim gets a new dog in the first episode of series six, which he names Milson. Jackie’s best friend Valerie, known to the boys as Auntie Val, is a frequent and neurotic visitor, along with Jackie’s mother, Nellie, called Grandma. Martin’s mother, Cynthia, makes occasional appearances; the boys call her “Horrible Grandma” because she is cruel and condescending. Other guests include Nellie’s suitor, Mr. Morris, who appears in three episodes, and Val’s husband, Larry, who briefly shows up in two episodes.

Reception

Friday Night Dinner earned a 72 out of 100 score on Metacritic from five critics, which counts as "generally favorable." Reviewers liked how it mixed chaotic family life with sharp comic timing, but some felt it leaned too heavily on repetitive slapstick. Michael Hogan of The Telegraph called it "warm, daft escapism" that stayed consistent. Over its run, the show built a loyal following and became a fixture in British TV comedy, with its family dynamics striking a chord with audiences. The first series launched on 25 February 2011, pulling in 2.31 million viewers in its opening week. Digital Spy reported that the third episode of that series got 1.06 million views, while the fourth climbed to 1.5 million. By the time the sixth and final series aired, its first episode drew 4.29 million viewers in its debut week. The show picked up four British Comedy Awards nominations, three BAFTA nominations, one Broadcasting Press Guild Awards nomination, one Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival award, and one nomination plus one win from the Royal Television Society. Among the nods were Tamsin Greig for Best TV Comedy Actress at the 2011 British Comedy Awards, a Best Situation Comedy nomination at the 2012 BAFTAs, and Paul Ritter for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme at the 2021 BAFTAs.

American version

Several attempts have been made to adapt the British sitcom for American television. In 2011, Greg Daniels, known for adapting The Office, was set to lead a remake for NBC. A pilot was written by Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis, featuring Allison Janney and Tony Shalhoub as the parents, with Gary Anthony Williams playing the renamed character Mark. This pilot was not picked up. CBS acquired an adaptation as a "put pilot" in 2014, and in 2016, another CBS attempt was in development under the title Sunday Night Dinner. In July 2022, Amazon Freevee ordered a remake called Dinner with The Parents. The series starred Dan Bakkedahl, Michaela Watkins, Carol Kane, Daniel Thrasher, and Henry Hall. It premiered on 18 April 2024, received poor to mixed reviews, and was canceled in December 2024.