Friday Night Dinner - Series 6 Page 2

Quote: Rood Eye @ 11th April 2020, 9:36 AM

Bloody hell, Alf!

I can understand why you're not in love with "Alma's not normal": I love it but I realise it's not everybody's cup of tea.

What I can't understand is why you (or anybody else) wouldn't like "Friday night dinner". The scripts are funny, the characters are funny and the highly talented actors are putting their hearts and souls into their work. In short, it's one of the best sitcoms I've ever seen.

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Neither are my kind of sitcom but I thought the central character in ANN is at least a character, good luck to it, should get a series or two whether I watch or not.

From the very little I've watched of FND, snippets of eps over last few years, I've found it hard to get into, just looked like a lot of chatter round a table with no stand out characters, and what is it we are we told by the experts Not to write?

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 12th April 2020, 10:57 AM

the hypocritical Beeb going against what they tell all aspiring sitcom writers that similar shows to those that have recently been aired won't be considered.

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When it comes to writing comedy (or indeed anything else) and being paid money for it, there are certain rules that must be followed.

I think almost everybody accepts the essential truth of that proposition.

The strange thing is, of course, that it's absolutely false.

When it comes to getting your writing published, there are rules - but they only apply to rejected material.

As I suggested in my earlier post, "Friday Night Dinner" is superficially indistinguishable from countless sitcoms that have been aired on TV channels all over the world since TV was invented.

Be that as it may, however, my guess is is that somebody at Channel 4 took a look at a script for "Friday Night Dinner" and thought "We've seen this sort of stuff a million times before - but it's bloody funny and I'm having it!"

Sorry it went to C4 of course, not the Beeb but the same broadcasting rules are said to apply across the board to sitcom commissions. They obviously don't.

Maybe a good selling point is to look to some minority and work from there?

If you don't know any people of the Faith, maybe you need a good chat up line?

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 12th April 2020, 12:50 PM

Maybe a good selling point is to look to some minority and work from there?

If you don't know any people of the Faith, maybe you need a good chat up line?

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I don't think Jewishness is at all relevant. I've only seen a few episodes and they don't ram it down your throat.

This week's episode was hilarious once again. Some wonderfully funny scenes between Gibby and Jim played beautifully by Sally Philips and Mark Heap.

Excellent series so far, once again.

Quote: Chappers @ 12th April 2020, 3:20 PM

I don't think Jewishness is at all relevant. I've only seen a few episodes and they don't ram it down your throat.

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That's why it's a Friday night dinner, it is Shabbat. https://toriavey.com/what-is-shabbat/

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 12th April 2020, 7:50 PM

That's why it's a Friday night dinner, it is Shabbat. https://toriavey.com/what-is-shabbat/

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Correct, Paul.

In the 1980s and for years thereafter, one could hardly visit a pub or a club in North Manchester without hearing somebody singing, "Shabbat you face!"

I Have Loved This Series So Far,

friday's one was absolutely bloody fantastic . with jim doing his dance

Episode 3 on Friday night just gone was hilarious. I was howling throughout. Shalom.

Like every other actor in this series, Sally Phillips put her heart and soul into her part.

Sally's character, Gibby, was (like Mark Heap's Jim) totally unbelievable and yet entirely believable. I know that doesn't make sense but it's just how it is - and it's a glowing testament to both the writing and the acting.

The episode was packed with funny moments but, for me, the highlight was when Martin was at the dinner table, helping himself to potatoes.

Jackie cheerfully encouraging him to take as many as he wanted while almost immediately hitting his hands with a serving spoon for taking too many might never go down in sitcom history alongside Del Boy falling through the bar but it was beautiful comedy nevertheless.

It's formulaic, but "funny" isn't a bad formula to follow when you're making a sitcom.

Consistently excellent. Love it.

Last Friday's episode (17th April) was another little masterpiece.

A great many writers struggle to write convincing natural dialogue but FND's 30(ish)-minute TV slot contains more dialogue than many a 90-minute film and it's all beautifully well-observed and very funny.

Again, we had a character (Martin's mother) who many viewers might have found hardly credible but who many others will have found dreadfully, terribly, nightmarishly real.

If I had to sum up the mother's character in one word, it would probably be "Pinteresque".

Has there ever been a better British sitcom?

That depends, among many other things, on how we define "better".

However, for me, the short answer is looking very much like "No".

Quote: Rood Eye @ 19th April 2020, 8:47 PM

Again, we had a character (Martin's mother) who many viewers might have found hardly credible but who many others will have found dreadfully, terribly, nightmarishly real.

If I had to sum up the mother's character in one word, it would probably be "Pinteresque".

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Played by Rosalind Knight, who was in Carry On Nurse & Teacher over 60 years ago and was also the owner of the Villa Bella in OFAH's Jolly Boys' Outing.