Dinner with the Parents

As a fan of the REAL Friday Night Dinner, I had to give this one a try.

Unfortunately, I lasted a little more than 10 minutes, though I could immediately tell, actually from the first scene when one of the sons arrives, that the acting is sub par, it is not funny or even amusing. The neighbor was way off, even his dog was not as funny as Wilson. Unfortunately, a few of the original show members passed away, including the father. The great Paul Ritter (who was sick for a long time) and both Grammas, so that was the end of the show.

So, if you want true comedy, look for Friday Night Dinner wherever it's available and laugh your heart out.

I think the only other reviewer here was truly generous giving the show 2 stars.

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.

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.

Was destined to fail due to casting.

The actor playing "David" is completely wrong for the part. He looks like a peer to the parents, not their child. He also is not a great comedic actor. The ENTIRE point is that the boys give each other "trouble" not that one of them is a punching bag for the other. They've turned a sibling rivalry into basically just bullying by one brother.

Michaela Watkins - Decent actor but... Same as she ever is.. unfunny and overly nervous. Her demeanor is just off for this. She comes across as someone overly worried, and riddles with anxiety about EVERYTHING around her.

Dan Bakkedahl - great in some rolls but far too "goofy" to be the dad in this - at least that's how he's playing it. Dad isn't supposed to be "goofy". He's just supposed to be odd. There IS a difference. Dad here comes across as "stupid", the "dolt", the "moron". Not the well-meaning, but accident prone, nature of the original character.

Carol Kane - great skills, but the character, with the accent is just wrong. Is Ladka around? It's her Taxi character 40 years later. Sure audiences may not know Taxi, but that's the character.

.. overall this is VERY "try hard". So much clear effort to try and get to something funny. It feels exceptionally forced and unnatural. I mean the use of "sissy" is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

This is a very typical US remake.. they complete ignore the "tone" of the original and just rewrite the scripts with a US twist without paying attention to the overall atmosphere.

The original Friday Night Diner was so much, much, much better.. and the AU (or is it NZ?) remake.. Roast Night.. is also better. This show is the worst of the international bunch.