Dinner with the Parents

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.

Unbelievable. Why? If you've watched the British show, Friday Night Dinner, don't even give this show a try. It's horrible by comparison. In the US, we do NOT have the mentality for humor like the Brits do. The Brit wit & open field of comedy is superb. With our US micro-management of what can be said & what can't, the show takes out the best of why Friday Night Dinner works. The scripting is a poor 2nd, 3rd, or 4th sanitized American version. No insult to the US performers, they are not as funny, quirky, cohesive like the original cast. The FND characters of Jackie, Martin, Adam, Johnny, Grandma, neighbor Jim and even Wilson the dog surpass the US counterparts. (You can't do justice to the character of Mr. Morris on American television.) Dinner With The Parents starts & you can't wait for it to end. Just like Call Me Kat's attempt at the British show, Miranda, the script & actors canNOT do justice to its British predecessor. (Ghosts is the only one that seems to work) British television is just more fun & funny than many of our US comedy shows. Try watching Friday Night Dinner on the streaming service, instead of wasting time on Dinner With The Parents.

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.

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.

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.