Dinner with the Parents

The Langer family gather every Friday for dinner. Jane (Michaela Watkins) and Harvey (Dan Bakkedahl) are the hosts and parents to constantly fighting brothers, David (Henry Hall) and Gregg (Daniel Thrasher). Jane suffers under her domineering mother (Carol Kane). Donnie (Jon Glaser) is their intrusive neighbor.

I love the three older actors in the family. The two brothers are a different story. Their characters are annoying. At the end of the day, they are missing the love in their relationship. Most of all, Gregg is way too annoying. He is a selfish jerk who doesn't love his family. In time, he could develop that part of the character, but the show is canceled after only one season. I don't blame Amazon. These actors deserve better.

I love Michelle Watkins as the mother but I feel she needs to play the part 15% more serious. The father is to much of a goofball and mis cast, the dad should be more aloof then silly. I normally love Carol Kane but her character is an odd fit for the show, this is a case of less is more.

The show obviously has some big shoes to fill from the British version, I just hope they can fix it before it dies on the vine. I'm ok if they have to recast and slim down, and give the characters some more depth, they don't feel real they way they are being played. I truly hope they can make this work because there is nothing else on tv.

This is based off of the brilliant Friday night dinner but lacks any of what makes Friday night dinner a great show. The original is one of my favorite shows and one I've watched several times and this version is criminal. Some things don't need to be remade especially if not done right and this is one of them. It lacks the dry humor and fun of what the original one was. Also there's no way either of the boys are anywhere in their 20s or pass for 20s whoever did the casting needs a career change. All this made me do was wish that prime hadn't taken the original off their free streaming. Nothing good I can really say about it.

The first episode started off kind of awkward and unfunny, but halfway through it started coming together and the characters started clicking. We laughed a few times. The second episode was definitely better. It's definitely not as good as the original Friday Night Dinner, but I knew it was going to be hard to recreate those characters. Carol Kane is pretty funny as the grandma and I like the actor who plays the father. I wasn't sure he could pull off what Paul Ritter could, and while he isn't as funny and cringy as Paul, he is still pretty funny. The actress playing the mother started growing on me in the 2nd episode. We enjoyed it and it's better than I expected.

I definitely recommend watching the original series, especially if you find this one enjoyable. The original is definitely irreplaceable but this is a decent attempt.

Don't waste your time on this pile of soft sh**e, just watch Friday Night Dinner. In the middle of the first episode and I didn't laugh once. No charm, no acting or, I suppose just impossible task - adaptation of almost perfect British comedy. Miscast on almost everyone, great otherways actors just don't "work" here. It will not be the next "Office", I honestly doubt it will become something like US version of "The Bridge ".

Why the hell they put grandma on the 1st episode?

Why people behave "normal"? .... and so much other why's.

Really people, it looks like it was made for Netflix, dumb and bland.

Sorry to disappoint.