[HN Gopher] Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous...
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Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
Author : Tomte
Score : 392 points
Date : 2022-12-31 11:34 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.historyhit.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.historyhit.com)
| linuxhansl wrote:
| The last day of the year would not be complete without watching
| this! Together with "Ein Herz und eine Seele: Silvesterpunch". :)
| Simran-B wrote:
| There is also a digitally colorized version of Dinner for One
| from 1999 (possibly geo-fenced):
|
| https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/comedy-und-satire/dinner-f...
|
| It is rarely broadcasted in Germany, however, because people just
| like the original black and white version better and vocally
| rejected the colorized version when it was first aired.
|
| There were also plans to record a live version in color in 1968,
| but Freddy Frinton sadly passed away before it was realized.
| de6u99er wrote:
| Most important when watching it is to have a drink whenever the
| butler drinks.
| mbg721 wrote:
| Dashiell Hammett's novel "The Thin Man" lends itself well to a
| similar game.
| subpixel wrote:
| I'm reminded of the possibly apocryphal story about 30 Rock being
| the worst-received comedy in German tv history.
| rospaya wrote:
| Because of the Liz Lemon German jokes?
| doctor_eval wrote:
| Yeah, well, I'm married to a German, and if there is anything
| I've learned, it is that Germans respond to jokes not by
| laughing, but by correcting you.
| brazzy wrote:
| Not apocryphal, here's a source for you:
| https://www.serienjunkies.de/news/rock-amerika-23820.html
|
| However, it suffered from extremely unfavorable conditions: it
| ran on a newly introduced digital channel that people would
| have to fiddle with their TV's settings to receive at all, and
| competed with some extremely popular series running at the same
| time.
| nonrandomstring wrote:
| As a Brit deeply into comedy I can confirm my total ignorance of
| "Dinner For One". How very strange what travels. Visiting the US
| I was surprised how many Americans knew obscure and not terribly
| funny Monty Python sketches word for word, and meeting a Chinese
| CTO once whose first words were "Ah Mr. Bean".
| notahacker wrote:
| Mr Bean travels well because it's universal humour requiring no
| translation. Has done well in British consciousness for a
| single 15 episode series too. For slightly related reasons,
| Norman Wisdom became absolutely massive in the Eastern Bloc
| because his apolitical slapstick could be portrayed as
| "struggling against capitalism" :D
| ndsipa_pomu wrote:
| I remember The Benny Hill Show was hugely popular outside of
| the UK too although I suspect it's declined now as it's very
| much a product of its time.
| chinabot wrote:
| Saw this a lot in Asia during the late 80s, never
| understood the hate for it, most of the jokes are on the
| old white men and he was a real gentleman in real life.
| smitty1e wrote:
| Rowan Atkinson is such a comic genius. Look at what he can do
| with a piano key: https://youtu.be/CwzjlmBLfrQ
| ndsipa_pomu wrote:
| British here as well and I only heard about this a couple of
| years ago whilst looking for xmas films. It's generally unknown
| in the UK.
| ThePadawan wrote:
| For the reverse of the reverse - no one in Germany actually
| cares about David Hasselhoff.
| manmal wrote:
| He certainly dominated the lineup of a major Austrian music
| festival a few years back. His act wasn't even really good,
| but people just love him.
| jFriedensreich wrote:
| not true. i have seen more david hasselhoff posters in my
| german peers flats than probably all of the usa combined.
| gegenschall wrote:
| This is an interesting one and I'm going entirely off
| anecdotal evidence here: yes, you will be seeing David
| Hasselhoff posters and the like quite often throughout
| Germany. Me personally, I have yet to meet a single person
| who unironically likes his music or is a ,,fan" (whatever
| that may mean to you) - and this holds true for the
| generation of my parents as well.
|
| My working theory is that there's some kind of reverse
| self-fulfilling prophecy at play here: It's been imposed on
| Germans that "we love Hasselhoff" over and over again and
| at some point we just went with it, albeit it's mostly and
| irony thing now.
|
| Then again, I might be totally off and not realize that I'm
| looking at it from within a bubble of people not actually
| liking him.
| prionic6 wrote:
| I don't know if there is a _current_ fanbase of The Hoff
| in Germany. But back then, Knight Rider and Baywatch were
| huge here and _I've been looking for freedom_ was one of
| the most played songs. And then there is the Berlin Wall
| incident.
| jFriedensreich wrote:
| ah i see, well you cannot mix up his music and acting
| careers. his music career is usually perceived as funny
| and liking it as a bit ironic, that does not mean that
| his roles in knight rider and baywatch are not truly
| loved by many. Just play the opening scene of knight
| rider at a random party of 30 somethings and you will see
| the reaction.
| realworldperson wrote:
| [dead]
| jahnu wrote:
| https://www.berlin.de/en/tickets/rock-pop/david-
| hasselhoff-8...
|
| He's not "huge" but as a musician he is bigger in DACH than
| anywhere else.
| folli wrote:
| To be fair, he used to be huge in the 80s, 90s, with Knight
| Rider and Baywatch being essential TV shows for every kid.
|
| Now I guess he's just a washed out actor, I didn't even
| realize he's still touring
| wewxjfq wrote:
| The thing about David Hasselhoff and the Germans is that both
| are in on the joke, the rest of the world just doesn't get
| it.
| mbg721 wrote:
| Except Norm Macdonald's ghost, which to this day pops up with
| that telltale smirk.
| steve1977 wrote:
| He definitely was very big with us kids in Switzerland in the
| 80s
| realworldperson wrote:
| [dead]
| _joel wrote:
| Likewise, never heard of it
| zerocrates wrote:
| Now I need to know just where this transatlantic Monty Python
| sketch appreciation difference lies...
| smcl wrote:
| For a long time I hadn't either. It's become much more well-
| known in last few years though - around this time of year a few
| places like BBC or Guardian run stories on this tradition.
| frank_bb wrote:
| [dead]
| doener wrote:
| An interesting fact from the German Wikipedia, translation with
| DeepL:
|
| "The sketch was also part of the New Year's Eve program in the
| GDR. There, however, not the classic with Frinton and Warden was
| broadcast from 1978, but an early variant with the actors Ernest
| E. Regon and June Royal under the title Erinnerungsmahl, which
| had already been played 20 years earlier on the Munich Variete
| stage Annast. Beginning on New Year's Eve 1988, a little less
| than a year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, GDR television
| then also showed the Frinton version.[28]"
|
| https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_for_One
| omnibrain wrote:
| A little know fact is, that the swiss TV produced their own
| version with the same actors, but subtle (and not so subtle)
| differences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP7Q8B8YB5k
| omnibrain wrote:
| Funny, I just checked on Youtube: all the copies (that are not
| specif "new" versions with other actors, or dubbed, etc) are
| this swiss version. And almost noone seems to notice.
| torarnv wrote:
| What are the differences? Do you have a link to the original?
| cjpearson wrote:
| The NDR version can be watched on their site [0], but it
| might be region locked. The only notable differences I saw in
| the Swiss version is they removed the intro and the "Must I?"
| before taking the admiral's drink.
|
| [0] https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/Dinner-for-One-Das-
| Original,din...
| omnibrain wrote:
| The mos obvious difference is that the Swiss version has no
| tablecloth.
| js2 wrote:
| Same version AFAICT is also on YT:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To8g9XxAdXs
| omnibrain wrote:
| That one is regionlocked and can't be watched in Germany.
| ;)
| tmnvix wrote:
| Also a NYE tradition in Australia.
| MichaelMoser123 wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTCh4FYOqJI - all the action
| starts at 2:33 (never got what's funny about it, i think it is
| quite sad)
| agolio wrote:
| Random trivia,
|
| Here in Germany, we wish each other "Guten Rutsch" on New Years
| Eve, literally "(have a) good slide (into the new year)"
|
| Guten Rutsch to all
| gambiting wrote:
| In Poland, the British comedy "keeping up appearances" is very
| popular for some reason. When I moved to the UK I was surprised
| it's almost unknown here for anyone under the age of 60.
| mbg721 wrote:
| It was unusually popular in the US in the 90s because it was
| shown on the public educational TV network, along with "Are You
| Being Served?". Because low-brow jokes about Mrs. Slocombe's
| naughty bits are highly intelligent and sophisticated as long
| as the accent is British.
| InCityDreams wrote:
| >Because low-brow jokes about Mrs. Slocombe's naughty bits
| are highly intelligent and sophisticated as long as the
| accent is British.
|
| What 'naughty bits', all I rememeber are joks abut her pussy.
|
| And, for any non-English, or ESL-speakers, 'it' is ithe
| funniest word in the English language. For any English
| speakers (mother tongue etc) - prove me wrong. You'll notice,
| the more you try, the harder it gets.
| mbg721 wrote:
| Fine, but it's a little jarring to go from Sesame Street to
| documentaries about Roman coins to "I apologize for being
| late, Captain Peacock, it was raining and I just had to
| stroke my wet and sensitive pussy. (laugh track gap)"
|
| (Not going to object to "it"--I suspect you may be right.)
| Symbiote wrote:
| Keeping Up Appearances is well known at least by people over
| 30. It was on prime time TV when we were children.
| vander_elst wrote:
| The best thing about the German version (if you watch in on tv)
| is that before the comedy begins, there's an explanation about
| why it's funny.
| andrei_says_ wrote:
| Isn't this required for all televised comedy in Germany?
|
| ;)
| doener wrote:
| Here's the part you mean:
|
| https://www.ndr.de/kultur/dinner_for_one/Dinner-for-One-Hein...
|
| What to keep in mind: It is one of the few pieces of German
| television tradition that are shown entirely in English -
| without subtitles. The English is intentionally made so simple
| that many people without good language skills can understand
| it. In 1963, however, when the sketch was recorded, a great
| many Germans knew only a few scraps of English. The explanation
| is mainly meant to make sure that the following sketch is
| understood anyway.
| blkhawk wrote:
| vell how would man know if zee sketch is funny otherwise?
| pm3003 wrote:
| Germans stereotypically have a conceptual intelligence. If
| something is good, they will like it. This is why they like
| badly-translated US sitcoms so much when there's a laugh track.
| This is why the French sell so much bad-tier wines in fancy
| bottles (even if you know the producer and the wine, don't buy
| it in Germany unless you've tasted it or it's certified like
| AOC). This is why their sense of humour is so...strange.
|
| That said, I like North German humour and Flachwitze.
| sebmellen wrote:
| I'm German-American, and I would say I am culturally much
| more American than German, but I find German comedy quite
| funny. I think it is much more observational and satirical
| than US standup comedy, but it's also more biting, which
| makes it funny in a more self reflective way.
|
| German comedy seems to play the role of a court jester
| speaking uncomfortable truths through humor. American comedy
| to me is much more surface level by comparison -- there are a
| few comedians like Carlin who seem to have embodied the
| German satirical spirit.
|
| I think another aspect of German comedy that is very hard to
| translate is the linguistic structure of it, where the
| structure of the language often plays a key role in the
| funniness of the joke.
| mbg721 wrote:
| I think German improv is generally better than German
| sitcoms. I have the disadvantage of mentally translating
| and overanalyzing as I watch in a way that a native speaker
| wouldn't, but Schillerstrasse, for example, strikes me as
| funny.
| Barrin92 wrote:
| Being German I think our political satire is really good.
| Kabarett/Cabaret is huge and has a long tradition and it's
| often uniquely dark and has a lot of gallows humor compared
| to other places. We also I think have one of the largest
| poetry slam communities. Everything that comes out of the
| performing arts scene really is pretty solid.
|
| But popular television type comedians here are _really_ bad
| and cringeworthy. Much worse than in Britain or the US.
| Kind of like music in that way. Popular music in Germany is
| bad compared to across the pond and most of the good stuff
| is more niche.
| codeflo wrote:
| For anyone outside of Germany who's wondering, the introduction
| mostly has the function of explaining the setting and the key
| repeating line to people who might not be completely familiar
| with the English language. It's usually shown without
| subtitles.
| phkahler wrote:
| I found it on YouTube with German subtitles and a rather
| annoying laugh track.
| chki wrote:
| A laugh track on top of the original laughs (the whole set
| was filmed in front of a live studio audience)? The
| audience laughter is an important part of the show, with
| the person having the most prominent audience laughter
| being interviewed about her experience 50 years later
| ("Today I'm rather embarrassed about my laughing"
| https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/dinner-
| for...)
| rkta wrote:
| It's a short round up. There's still enough to discover.
|
| I must admit that I was way to long already at adult age before
| I got the final joke.
| keepquestioning wrote:
| What's the final joke?
| Thlom wrote:
| James assists Miss Sophie to "retire". The same procedure
| as every year. _wink wink_
| jancsika wrote:
| I'm torn between believing that Germans have a good sense for
| the absurd, and thinking they just experience joy when they
| find a good source of randomness with which to re-seed their
| internal PRNGs.
| mattl wrote:
| British comedy writer here and I only heard of it when I worked
| with Swedish people at a tech job
| TEP_Kim_Il_Sung wrote:
| In one of the German places I stayed, it was MUTTERTAG.
| [deleted]
| wernsey wrote:
| Growing up here in South Africa, my parents and their friends
| also had a tradition of watching this (recorded on VHS) on New
| Year's Eve.
|
| I always assumed it was just a thing among my parent's friend
| group
| sails wrote:
| I wonder why, maybe influence of German heritage South
| Africans?
|
| This was part of my childhood, and I presumed it must be a
| British influenced thing.
| doener wrote:
| It's all of Germany, every family I know. I grew up in
| Dusseldorf in the 1980s and 90s.
| crotho wrote:
| [dead]
| timwaagh wrote:
| As a Dutch: never heard of it until very coincidentally earlier
| today. We decided to spend New Year's in Bremen (beautiful old
| center btw) so we looked up German new year's traditions online.
| Apparently the Germans like to eat on the evening before new
| year's so we were a little unlucky in the finding a restaurant
| department.
| xz18r wrote:
| Belgian here, my grandparents put their VHS with the recording on
| _every single_ New Year's day when we went to visit.
| jll29 wrote:
| Not to forget the German TV tradition of watching the "Die Hard"
| sequel over Christmas on public television.
| jug wrote:
| Same for that too in Sweden! :D Funny this...
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| Also a New Year's tradition in Norway.
|
| It has been broadcast by NRK on New Year's Eve every year since
| 1980.
|
| https://serienytt.no/events/grevinnen-og-hovmesteren-2022/
|
| https://www.nrk.no/kultur/alt-om-_grevinnen-og-hovmesteren_-...
| judofyr wrote:
| I think you mean "The Day before Christmas Eve" (what is called
| "Little Christmas Eve" in Norway) instead of New Year's Eve.
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| Yes, of course. No idea why I wrote New Year's Eve. Actually
| I haven't seen it for several years, no broadcast television
| subscription.
| karencarits wrote:
| And it is wildly popular, about 1.7 million viewers
| (population ~5 millions), around 80% of those watching TV at
| that time are watching it. And it always aired at 21:00. In
| 1992, NRK tried to air it earlier, but they received so many
| calls from the public that night that they re-sent it later
| in the evening
| arcade79 wrote:
| Not on New Year's Eve. It's always on December 23rd.
| stemos wrote:
| In a similar vein, "Sound of Music"[1] about the Austrian Trapp
| family is a very popular Christmas movie in the US, but barely
| anyone in Austria (and Germany) watched it. The reason may be
| that Schnitzel is served with noodles in the movie[2]. NO
| Austrian would ever do that!
|
| [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music_(film) [2]
| - https://oe3.orf.at/stories/2916424/ (German)
| smcl wrote:
| I never thought about the schnitzel/noodles thing before, I
| guess "schnitzel with potato salad" doesn't quite fit with the
| rhyme nor the rhythm of the song :)
|
| Those famous musicals made during that era aren't usually very
| culturally accurate. For example Dick Van Dyke played a cockney
| chimney sweep in Mary Poppins, made a bit of a pigs ear of the
| accent but otherwise turned in a performance that was really
| fun, and if you're able to let a few things slide they can be
| quite enjoyable.
| vr46 wrote:
| I had never heard of it in 2005 when my future in-laws - Germany
| - started going on about it. But it is truly brilliant.
|
| I hear they're making a prequel!
| NextHendrix wrote:
| We had German aupairs when I was younger who introduced us to it.
| They were surprised we'd never heard of it before, but it's
| excellent.
| dusted wrote:
| Here in Denmark, it's new years tradition to watch this on NYE,
| it's about as important as the Queens new years address.
|
| Also, it _NEVER_ stops being fun*
|
| [*] Legally required to hold this opinion.
| n1b0m wrote:
| It's going to be getting a prequel
|
| https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/30/european-new-y...
| antihero wrote:
| Do people drink along with it? Is it on TV or is a vaguely good
| copy available.
| vlz wrote:
| I'm sure some people are drinking along with James the Butler
| (quite a feat) but that is not widespread. It is on TV each
| year but I would be surprised if many people aren't watching
| via YouTube.
| Sharlin wrote:
| Several years ago, some friends at my then uni started
| organizing a special _sittning_ [1] on the New Year 's Eve,
| where the idea is simply to watch Dinner for One when it's
| broadcast and to drink the four served drinks in sync with
| Miss Sophie. For added challenge one can decide to go
| either "half" or "full James". It's something of a
| hilarious deconstruction of the entire concept of
| _sittning_ , normally a three-course dinner party lasting
| several hours and featuring plenty of drinking songs and
| often other entertainment.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sittning#Student_sittning
| interfixus wrote:
| And lest we forget: The hackneyed Disney Christmas Show at 1600
| hours sharp on the 24th of December. In this household,
| Christmas officially starts when the mouse from Cinderilla
| squints and runs the thread through the giant needle's eye.
| These are generally the only two times of the year I have
| anything to do with live TV. Godt nytar!
| heywhatupboys wrote:
| And Christmas 2021 Disney mistakenly put on the wrong voices
| and we almost killed the guy from DR planning it
| TazeTSchnitzel wrote:
| Whereas in Sweden it starts at 15 and, for some reason[0], is
| titled "Donald Duck and his friends wish you Merry
| Christmas", despite Jiminy Cricket being the presenter.
|
| [0] The reason is obviously his popularity in Sweden
| goto11 wrote:
| I was surprised to discover that Mickey Mouse was more
| popular and well-known in the US than Donald Duck. Come on,
| Donald Duck is a much more fun and interesting character!
| mbg721 wrote:
| I grew up thinking the Warner Bros. characters were the
| superior cartoon stars (and that Daffy is better than
| Bugs; my wife and I still argue about that). Disney is
| more like Apple...the people who like them really love
| them and get sucked into the rabbit-hole, but everyone
| else sees them as a cult.
| ndsipa_pomu wrote:
| Is it due to the US being prudes and Donald Duck doesn't
| wear any trousers/underwear?
| mbg721 wrote:
| I'll contribute another anecdotal data point; I've never
| known anyone even to consider that point of view. It's
| more that Donald Duck comic books just didn't catch on
| here the way they did in other countries. But people do
| recognize Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
| thebooktocome wrote:
| No, most Americans don't perceive him as naked, any more
| than they do Bugs Bunny or other anthro mascots.
|
| I think it's the accent. His voice actors are pretty hard
| to understand sometimes.
| ygra wrote:
| Interestingly, having only ever introduced to those
| characters through comics, I never pictured any
| particular accent and instead imagined them speaking
| normally.
| joezydeco wrote:
| I love the _Kalle Anka_ tradition.
|
| https://slate.com/culture/2009/12/sweden-s-bizarre-
| tradition...
| jabl wrote:
| This was a favorite of mine growing up. But I made the
| mistake of trying to watch it with my kids once, and behold,
| it had turned from showing the best of the Disney classic
| cartoons into running trailers for upcoming Disney movies.
|
| Thanks for destroying that tradition, Disney Inc.
| dataking wrote:
| Can confirm; couldn't have said it better myself!
| sureglymop wrote:
| In Switzerland too and it's also shown on national television!
| And on christmas morning it's tradition that the movie "Drei
| Nusse fur Aschenbrodel" (Cinderella) is broadcast on national
| television.
| martinclayton wrote:
| First time I (Brit) saw it was Christmas at my mother-in-laws
| in Denmark in about 1998. They couldn't believe I didn't know
| it.
| hnarn wrote:
| Don't forget that while this is broadcast on NYE in Denmark and
| Sweden, in Norway it's broadcast on Christmas which is
| something you should definitely bring up on a mixed
| Scandinavian family dinner.
|
| It's also quite fun since there's a joke relationship between
| Swedes and Norwegians calling each other stupid, so it's quite
| fun to insinuate that Norwegians simply do not understand that
| the movie is set on NYE.
| kristofferR wrote:
| Here in Norway every year on Christmas eve we also show Karl-
| Bertil Jonssons jul, a Swedish cartoon from 1975, where a
| underage postage worker steals packages from the rich and
| gives it to the poor.
|
| It's hard to imagine it would be well received in most other
| countries, especially as a tradition.
| Mizza wrote:
| Don't forget Tre notter til Askepott, an old communist
| Czech movie that's somehow so critical to Norwegian
| heritage they had to send a Norwegian team to another
| country to make sure it was preserved and restored.
| flohofwoe wrote:
| To be pedantic, it was an East German / Czechoslovakian
| coproduction (called "Drei Haselnusse fur Aschenbrodel"
| here), and it's still huge in Germany too (browse German
| TV channels at any time between Christmas and New Year,
| and it's very likely that the movie is running on at
| least one of them).
|
| The 'movie castle' is Schloss Moritzburg btw:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritzburg_Castle
| tut-urut-utut wrote:
| Thanks for pointing out. I was confused by parent calling
| it ,,communist Czech movie". It's a fairy tale FFS, what
| does it have to do with communism? I never understood
| that obsession some people have with communism to see
| everything in the world through their iron curtain
| glasses.
| tpm wrote:
| It's important to understand that everything, even
| fairytales went through censorship / ideology conformity
| reviews, especially in those years ("normalisation",
| after the events of 1968/9). Many movies were either not
| produced at all or banned after production, others were
| heavily cut. Yes, even fairytales had to adhere to the
| communist ideology - for example the poor were usually
| shown as being morally superior, while the rich were
| decadent and mostly stupid, etc.
| ivanhoe wrote:
| It's also important not to forget that West Germany
| wasn't immune to the censorship either, and bans, beside
| what realistically was a Soviet propaganda, also included
| some really good documentaries and artwork even by
| today's standards.
|
| https://film-history.org/approaches/not-approved-
| screening
| jamiek88 wrote:
| They simply meant from that era, relax McCarthy.
| cguess wrote:
| My favorite part is how it's all dubbed into Norwegian by
| one guy doing all the voices, but he sorta starts giving
| up distinguishing the characters about half way through.
|
| Spending Christmas with my friend's Norwegian family was
| just getting one "tradition" after another explained to
| me for a week while I continuously got more and more
| confused.
| tormeh wrote:
| The guy doing the voices were improvising as he went
| along, as he was under the impression that it was a test.
| That this ended up being the track they used is, in
| itself, really odd. It's a funny track, though, so I
| guess that could be the reason?
| kristofferR wrote:
| Yup, and a remake was released last year, featuring one
| of our main pop stars. It is apparently an annual
| Christmas movie in 14 other countries too though, unlike
| Karl-Bertils, which likely due to the political subject
| matter is only tradition in the Nordic countries.
| Per_Bothner wrote:
| "the movie is set on NYE"
|
| Is it? I don't recall anything to suggest that. The title in
| German in "The 90th birthday".
| djxfade wrote:
| It's not shown on Christmas in Norway, rather on "little
| Christmas" (lille julaften), on the 23rd
| erk__ wrote:
| Some yeas back a DR2 made a satirical parody of it called the
| 80 years birthday (in Danish it is called "the 90 years
| birthday") where all the characters was played by a series of
| Danish comedians https://youtu.be/H07O6j6-6vQ
| Simran-B wrote:
| Thanks for sharing! I didn't know Dinner for One is a thing
| elsewhere in Europe, and even had parodies.
|
| There are also some German adaptations, like the one with
| Anette Frier and Ralf Schmitz (two well-known comedians).
| It's in _kolsch_, the dialect spoken in the Cologne area -
| which is quite fun to listen to, at least for Germans:
|
| https://youtu.be/yGUo9VfbxnE
| brazzy wrote:
| I prefer the "Dinner fur Brot" adaption:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smgbPO0KaZw
| cycomanic wrote:
| A lot of famous comedians have played one version of it
| (often live ans Theater plays, which I believe is also true
| for the original). Here is a version with Otto:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4iCGdURpd4
|
| There are also several platt versions (a dialekt spoken in
| the north which is actually more like a separate language)
| lqet wrote:
| German here - New Year's Eve preparations are nearly done. The
| Raclette is ready, and I have prepared "Do-it-yourself Mr. Bean"
| and "Dinner for One" for repeated re-watching. My 3 year old
| loves it, as I did when I was 3, and as my parents did when they
| were 3 in the 60ies.
|
| The same procedure as every year.
| Chinjut wrote:
| Your parents loved it when they were 3 in the 60s? The article
| suggests it only became a regular part of German New Year's Eve
| celebrations starting in 1972.
| drfuchs wrote:
| And how old were each of you when you caught on to the slightly
| risque punchline?
| theminidriver wrote:
| Used to be played regularly on New Year's Eve in South Africa as
| well, at around 18:30 if I recall. Used to watch it before going
| out for the evening.
| sveme wrote:
| It's British actors, but was filmed in Hamburg by the public
| broadcaster NDR. It is a tradition which is not that funny unless
| you are already shitfaced. Loriot, on the other hand...
| jamesblonde wrote:
| My kids think it's the funniest, and they don't drink :)
| PurpleRamen wrote:
| The recording shown on TV is a German Production, but the
| sketch itself originates from British theater and later TV. The
| origin story is even somewhat interesting. Seems there is not
| one, but two people who are involved and mainly known for this
| little sketch. The original author, and the comedian who made
| it famous around Europe and is the actor from the recording.
| And in some way it also kinda sad, as it seems to be the only
| work for which they are now remembered.
| Per_Bothner wrote:
| I read that Freddie Frinton is better remembered in the UK
| for starring in the sitcom "Meet the Wife" (which is
| mentioned in a Beatles song).
| CatKillerJames wrote:
| [dead]
| dukoid wrote:
| Fruher war mehr Lametta -\\_(tsu)_/-
| Tomte wrote:
| And then the nuclear plant explodes and all the little cows
| fall over!
| someweirdperson wrote:
| Zicke-zacke, Huhnerkacke!
| schroeding wrote:
| _Dum-Dum-Duum, Dum-Dum-Duum, Dum-Dum-Duum-Dididum-
| Dumduum_ [1]
|
| [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZKtqz4fzDQ
| Garlef wrote:
| > Loriot
|
| Bourgeois snobbery!
|
| What's wrong with laughing about a drunk butler tipping over a
| tiger's head?
| hef19898 wrote:
| Or drinking from a vase after removing the flowers?
| Tomte wrote:
| Or hopping over it with both feet after the first few times
| stumbling.
| hanche wrote:
| Part of the fun comes from seeing it every year. You know all
| the jokes and look forward to them, but can't remember their
| exact order. So you sit on needles every time he approaches the
| tiger head, wondering. Will he jump it this time, or bypass it
| unexpectedly? I can't explain why this makes it funnier, but it
| does work for me.
| FrontAid wrote:
| Same in Switzerland. There is even a remake/adaption in Swiss
| German https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNJrprqPVns but I like the
| original way more.
| cookiengineer wrote:
| Can confirm, it's a huge tradition to watch it on NYE in Germany.
|
| It's almost as popular as watching Tatort on public viewing
| events in bars on Sundays.
|
| I'm also legally obligated to like it, it comes with the
| citizenship :D
| Semaphor wrote:
| > It's almost as popular as watching Tatort on public viewing
| events in bars on Sundays.
|
| I have never even heard of anyone doing that, I'd say dinner
| for one is vastly more popular.
| 411111111111111 wrote:
| Isn't more of a boomer tradition? Few people really go to
| bars nowadays, do they?
|
| It's maybe clubs for tweens and even that's declining to my
| knowledge
| Semaphor wrote:
| > It's maybe clubs for tweens
|
| I'm guessing I'm not the only one who thought that "tweens"
| meant people in their 20s. As a tip: Don't say you are into
| tweens.
|
| https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tween#Etymology_2
| noodles_nomore wrote:
| An earlier version of wiktionary had that definition.
| Apparently it was deleted for lack of citation other than
| Tolkien which might be an in-universe term.
|
| > 1. A person in their twenties, between 20 and 29 years
| old. Possibly including 30-32.
|
| > 1954 "The Fellowship of the Ring", J.R.R. Tolkien
|
| > At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the
| hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between
| childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.
| Semaphor wrote:
| That's amazing, thank you. I just hit my wife over the
| head with it, and she's not amused. But I feel vindicated
| that Tolkien, 41*, and I all are ahead of everyone else
| ;)
| 411111111111111 wrote:
| Oh, i thought it was people between teen and early
| twenties, as it looks like a combination of these words.
|
| I misused the word, thanks for pointing that out. Really
| confusing when you stumble upon such a total
| misconception about the meaning of a word in your own
| vocabulary.
| Semaphor wrote:
| As I said, I made exactly the same mistake ;) Teen comes
| from ten, it only makes sense that tweens comes from
| twenty. IMO we are right and everyone else is wrong ;)
| jug wrote:
| Also in Sweden. I'm surprised by how widespread it is.
| [deleted]
| hestefisk wrote:
| "I'll kill that cat."
| Thlom wrote:
| Sugar in the moooorning.
| eecc wrote:
| And in NL. I'm not sure if he still does, but I remember uncle
| would ritually piss his pants watching this show, while
| ingurgitating copious amounts of oily pistachios. Fond memories
| (although I was as puzzled as I am today about the funniness of
| it.)
| doener wrote:
| "It has become traditional viewing on New Year's Eve in European
| countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden,
| Norway, Finland and Estonia,[1] or on 23 December in Norway, and,
| as of 1995, was the most frequently repeated television programme
| in Germany ever."
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_for_One
| sdk77 wrote:
| Really nice to see this here. I'm in the Netherlands and it has
| been a tradition in my family and my mother's family to watch
| this (on tv) on new year's eve. It's been quite a while since I
| watched it, living on my own. I'm going to tune in tonight!
| DandyDev wrote:
| Fellow Dutchie here. This has also been a tradition in my
| family for as long as I can remember. My parents would actually
| act out parts of the sketch sometimes.
| jpswade wrote:
| As a Brit, I've never heard of it.
| tim333 wrote:
| As a Brit who had not seen or heard of it, this seems to be it
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7VI0rC8ZA
|
| (update there seem to be two versions, 11 and 18 min. This is the
| 11 min)
| EmilStenstrom wrote:
| In Sweden, it has been shown since 1969 on New Year's Eve. The
| distribution rights were bought 1963, but since there was so much
| drinking involved it took 6 more years before it was broadcast.
| We use the Swiss version that is 11 min long, not the 18 minute
| German version.
| jamesblonde wrote:
| Yes, it is huge here in Sweden. As an Anglo Saxon, I was
| surprised it was so popular and we never heard of it.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| What is an "anglo-saxon"? iirc they died out a thousand years
| ago.
| anglosaxony wrote:
| [flagged]
| wendyshu wrote:
| https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon#Noun
| every wrote:
| I'm not exactly sure how we stumbled upon it but it is now a
| fixture in our New Years Eve celebration. The two of us huddled
| before the TV we only turn on once per year and eating black-eyed
| peas for luck in the middle of Texas...
| lelanthran wrote:
| > I'm not exactly sure how we stumbled upon it
|
| Probably over a tiger's head.
| nickkell wrote:
| Currently in an Airbnb in Germany that has an old, decrepit tiger
| rug. They keep it around because it reminds them of this skit!
| We've obviously watched it today
| throw0101c wrote:
| Seems there's a prequel in the works:
|
| > _UFA's planned prequel series,_ Dinner for Five, _based on a
| 2002 crime caper by the German author Michael Koglin, is set 51
| years before the famous birthday party, in the year 1921, at a
| country house near Eastbourne, East Sussex._
|
| * https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/30/european-new-y...
| st_goliath wrote:
| Also here in Austria, usually broadcast shortly before midnight.
|
| Not sure if the author confused it with Australia, which is
| confusingly mentioned under "Popularity across Europe", or lumps
| us up with Germany, which misses the fun factoid that we split up
| again in 1945 (and also tends to get people over here
| surprisingly pissy).
| nkrisc wrote:
| > The short 18 minute long movie has also managed to delight
| audiences in Australia and South Africa, though it is less
| popular there than in Europe.
|
| Considering they mention Australia and South Africa together,
| then later in the same sentence say it is " less popular there
| than in Europe," I would say with 100% confidence that the
| author meant to say Australia, not Austria.
|
| After all, Australia is not in Europe so if they had meant
| Austria then it would be strange to say it's less popular there
| than in Europe.
|
| There are also many European countries not mentioned so I don't
| think anything is being lumped together.
| wsdan wrote:
| I can confirm that in Australia SBS (a government owned TV
| channel) has played the show every New Years Eve at 6.10pm
| for 30 years and everyone I knew always watched it before
| heading out to celebrations.
|
| https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2016/12/19/broadcast-
| sb...
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| > _Australia is not in Europe_
|
| Maybe not by geography, but by Euroision, it is?
| nkrisc wrote:
| I'll leave to Europeans and Australians to debate. I've no
| skin in this game.
| smcl wrote:
| Some of these continental orgs are quite flexible about
| what countries they permit to join. For example Israel is
| also in Eurovision, but it's not in Europe. Similarly
| Australia are part of the Asian Football Confederation
| rather than Oceania's Football Confederation (and Israel is
| a member of UEFA rather than AFC, for obvious reasons)
|
| I don't think anyone is saying "Australia is part of
| Europe" with a straight face though :-)
| aussiesnack wrote:
| _Saying_ , no, but feeling, yes. Keating's "Asian
| Century" version of Australia never took strong cultural
| hold. Our nearest neighbours PNG & East Timor are ignored
| except by our NGOs and spies, and few visit Indonesia
| other than the Bali beach resorts. A brief 1990's spurt
| in Mandarin teaching in schools is in decline, with
| European languages remaining the most popular. Australia
| is still by far the most Eurocentric of the post-WW2
| immigration nations. And it's literally the whitest,
| which is why it's been the destination of choice for so
| many South Africans since the 1990s.
|
| This is changing to some extent with demographics
| (immigration from China and India, and some generational
| change). But surprisingly slowly and shallowly. Few
| Australians know much about Asia, or even the Pacific,
| let alone feel theirselves to be part of it.
| smcl wrote:
| I wasn't suggesting it was part of Asia, rather
| highlighting that it was not unusual for Australia or
| indeed other countries to be part of continental
| organizations (Israel/UEFA and Aus/AFC/Eurovision) that
| are different from the continent they're usually
| considered to be a constituent of (Israel/ME,
| Aus/Oceania). Regardless I do not think skin tone should
| come into it.
| aussiesnack wrote:
| My "Asia" comment wasn't really a response to you - it's
| been a part of internal Australian debate since the
| 1980's. Keating crowned the 21st the "Asian Century", and
| claimed Australia should turn towards Asia. My point is
| that never really bit culturally. Australia is
| geographically Pacific, economically Asian, and
| culturally European/American Despite self-perception,
| there isn't really much non-derivative Australian culture
| beyond some small Indigenous influence, though we're
| probably a century behind NZ in that respect.
|
| > I do not think skin tone should come into it
|
| It shouldn't, but it certainly does. Little can be
| understood about Australia without it (well, ethnicity at
| least - broader than 'skin tone'). A large part of
| Australia's Europe-longing comes from a historical fear
| of China (as a kind of stand in for people of Asiatic
| ethnicity).
| Semaphor wrote:
| > usually broadcast shortly before midnight.
|
| That's cute. It's been a while, but last I checked, there were
| 10s of broadcasts of it on the different stations throughout
| the afternoon, evening and night in Germany ;)
| st_goliath wrote:
| Well, you have to scale everything down by a factor of 10 to
| map German scales to Austrian ones ;)
|
| We have like 2 or so (?) public broadcasting stations. One of
| which makes a heroic sacrifice for the audience that wants to
| see Silversterstadl, so we need to compromise a bit.
|
| Typical Austrian tradition is to get unreasonably shitfaced
| with friends/relatives throughout the day (same as every
| other holiday), until you have a sufficiently positive
| outlook on the new year.
|
| In that state you're then able to bare the presidents new
| year speech for the purpose of sarcastically mocking it,
| actually find Mundl's antics afterwards funny and can round
| it off with "Dinner for One", right before going outside and
| playing with explosives. If you survive, you get to listen to
| the final parts of The Blue Danube afterwards.
| daneel_w wrote:
| In Sweden it's also a bit of a tradition to watch this on NYE.
| ggm wrote:
| Screened every year in Australia on SBS, the special broadcasting
| station designed for the migrant diaspora which is Australia.
| danieldk wrote:
| I am from The Netherlands and I had never seen it until I started
| dating my now-wife. I got the impression that many Germans
| believe it's a well-known sketch since it is in English.
|
| Our 8yo daughter thinks it's hilarious :).
| Semaphor wrote:
| > I got the impression that many Germans believe it's a well-
| known sketch
|
| Certainly. I've now known for several years that it's mainly
| popular here, but I'd never have guessed it.
|
| > since it is in English.
|
| As usual in Germany, dubbed versions are very common
| imperistan wrote:
| That's funny. I'm Dutch too, and it was a big part of new years
| eve in my childhood. We watched it every year and loved it. I
| don't think I got the final joke about the 'procedure' that
| happens upstairs after the dinner :) I always thought that
| almost all Dutchies had the same experience but maybe I was
| wrong
| Beltalowda wrote:
| > I always thought that almost all Dutchies had the same
| experience but maybe I was wrong
|
| Maybe I'm special, but I never heard of it before today.
| someweirdperson wrote:
| The real news: It's going to get a prequel soon.
|
| https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/30/european-new-y...
| kebman wrote:
| I think this might actually be good. Always wondered what
| happened to her guests. Did she do them in her self? Did they
| trip on the lion while drunk? So many unanswered questions!
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| This should be the top comment!
| helsinkiandrew wrote:
| In the UK, "The Snowman" animation based on Raymond Briggs's
| picture book appears to have become a tradition on Christmas Eve
| - since the eighties at least anyway.
|
| No child or most adults can watch without bursting into tears.
|
| https://youtu.be/ZE9KpobX9J8
| twoodfin wrote:
| With or without the David Bowie voiceover?
| trm42 wrote:
| The Snowman is a tradition here in Finland as well but it airs
| in the midday just before the announcement of Christmas
| Peace[1] (which is aired live every year from Turku and
| watching that as well is a tradition for some).
|
| Quite many Finnish (metal) bands have been covering Snowman
| song as well but they don't sound as good as the original,
| though. One example is the cover by Nightwish [2].
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Peace
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nr-kdo6Lx0
| JoeAltmaier wrote:
| Book that does that for parents is "Love you forever". I was
| asked to read it to the children at church one sunday, by a
| childless woman in charge of the children's program. I refused.
| None of the parents would read it.
|
| We didn't want to break down in tears in front of the entire
| congregation.
|
| The woman was baffled. Maybe it has something to do with having
| children, I don't know. But after my kids wanted it read at
| bedtime repeatedly, I burned our copy and told them it was
| lost.
| vanderZwan wrote:
| > _The book was written after Munsch and his wife had two
| stillborn babies. They have since adopted three children._
|
| No wonder the story has the vibes it has
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_You_Forever
| mbg721 wrote:
| This is a week after the crowd is already warmed up by die
| Feuerzangenbowle, right?
| jll29 wrote:
| In some German universities, on December 6 (St. Nicolaus' Day)
| the movie "Die Feuerzangenbowle is" shown in auditorium maximum
| and tradition has it that students brew live fire tongs punch
| in the back rows.
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(page generated 2022-12-31 23:00 UTC)