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.

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.

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.

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.

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.