Friday Night Dinner

Came across this comedy totally by accident, and what a great find it has proved to be. The family dynamic is so reminiscent of most families I know, but this family takes it to a totally new level. The father is by far the star of the show, only for his total ignorance of what the mother is trying to achieve each weekend. With hilarious consequences. The crazy neighbour Jim and his terrifying, yet obviously timid dog, are beyond comedic value. The hand over mouth, and laugh out loud moments Jim is involved with seriously does make him a main character in this show. All in all, this comedy makes you think you've seen all a family get together can produce. Then Friday Night Dinner happens. It is a beautiful show. Well written, well directed, well acted, and well received.

I started watching this series a couple of months ago and I am currently going through it a second time. It's so hilarious that you can't get enough of it. I'll probably keep coming back to it and re-watching it every once in a while. Even though obviously some things are exaggerated for comedy purposes, Jackie's especially annoying, but I know she's meant to be that way. Martin is probably my favourite character, it's unbelievable how good his character is. Jonny and Adam are both hilarious, but I think the overall caricature-type of characteristics of this family is what makes it so funny. The Goodman family and their friends would not be as hilarious if one of the characters weren't part of the story. Jim is another favourite of mine (probably quite typical of most people) as he's creepy but in an adorable way, one that kind of makes him lets it pass. He's just a lonely guy and you can't help but feel sorry for him. Anyway, probably up there with The Inbetweeners. This is why I love British humour, and I get why the British say that is is good. The Americans couldn't do this kind of thing with their remakes.

This is a really good example of a situation comedy where relatively small and seemingly trivial things can be focused on and expanded into hilarious situations. The show rarely extends beyond the confines of the house and typically revolves around the four main characters with the strange neighbour next door making regular appearances and perhaps another individual included for the particular episode in question.

There is a very strong cast and the comedy is balanced between a decent plot, (or set-up), excellent dialogue and some visual humour. It really does have the feel of a family with the little nuances that make family life very funny at times. This is a quality show, which may be under the radar a little, compared to other more high profile productions, but actually is far better than most of them.

Well worth watching an entire episode, (they wrap themselves up quite neatly and satisfactorily in the end), if you haven't heard or seen it before. Far more people are going to enjoy this than not.

Everyone in this hilarious comedy series pulls their weight. Tamsin Grieg is especially brilliant as the wacky mom trying to keep it all together, when her brood gathers for shabat dinner. If you thought she was funny in Episodes, she's just as good here. Each character is just balls out funny, and the cast's chemistry together is spot on. Simple situations that go awry every Friday night when the two boys come home for their weekly family gathering, are inspired and original. The writing is sharp, precise and just plain crazy. The quirks are consistent and so are the laughs. I love that the two 20-something boys fall back on school-boy prank behaviour when they're under mom and dad's roof. Family dynamics are universal, so everyone will find something to relate to. Enjoy.

This show is, I say again,absolute Class. The writing of this show is pristine, very life like yet still funny. Paul Ritter - Martin is the funniest character on TV, so dopey and grubby. The fact that he's deaf makes it funnier because he always mistakes what people are saying, and he just does silly things. Jim is also oddly hilarious. In every episode he pops up to the house, and is very unintelligent. His approach is just hilarious. The two Boys are like two young kids, calling each other names and playing pranks, but this works well for the show, and the mother is very motherly, but joins in with the banter also.

Comedies like these don't come often.