Dinner with the Parents

I would say friday night dinner (FND) is one of my fave sitcoms ever.

So naturally i heard of this and wanted to see what it was about - now i admit i have a low expectation of US remakes of UK shows. They are generally not good and don't translate well (ahem, the inbetweeners, IT crowd and more).

I got 5 mins into the first ep and was crushed. The characters have nothing like the chemistry of the original and the casting is diabolical - eg the ages are all over the place.

Also the neighbour character is plain not funny and you wouldnt notice if he werent there.

The grandma, adds no charm to the family and in fact is worse off for it.

All in all (i've took one for the uk / fans of the show) and watched them all.. and frankly i feel glad to never see it again.

Looks like yet another failed attempt by us Americans to remake a British comedy. And this is like the third or fourth attempt at remaking Friday Night Dinner for American audiences. I didn't laugh once during the first episode. Cringed and rolled my eyes the whole time. People should just watch Friday Night Dinner instead. Damn shame Paul Ritter died and there won't be any more episodes.

This show just not funny. It was a chore to get through the first episode. The characters are more like caricatures, there is no real humor, and there is nothing promising better times to come in future episode. Harder than hard pass.

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.

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.

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.