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Friday Night Dinner is a British television sitcom written by Robert Popper and starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal and Mark Heap. The first series aired from February 2011 on Channel 4. A second series has been commissioned by Channel 4. The series began airing in the US on BBC America as of 30 July, 2011. The comedy is focused around the regular Friday dinner experience of an English Jewish family (the Goodmans) on each Friday night.

Cast and characters

• Tamsin Greig as Jacqueline "Jackie" Goodman: Mother of Adam and Jonathan. A grown up lady with a teenage sense of humour. Funny, fiery and occasionally a bit saucy.

• Paul Ritter as Martin Goodman: Father of Adam and Jonathan, Martin is fond of going shirtless inside and out and seems to have a hearing disability or just has trouble paying attention. Also appears to be deeply concerned with Adam's obtaining of a 'female'. Calls Adam and Jonny "bambinos", English colloquialism for "bambino/bambini" (Baby) in Italian. He is a very keen science lover, and in many ways is socially inept.

• Simon Bird as Adam Goodman: Adam is the elder son. He is in his mid 20s and is trying to forge a career as a musician. Adam is nicknamed "Pusface" by Jonny and sometimes by his mother Jackie.

• Tom Rosenthal as Jonathan "Jonny" Goodman: Jonny is an Estate agent and the younger son. He's always trying to start fights with Adam and play practical jokes on him, causing Adam to retaliate. Jonny is nicknamed "Pissface" by Adam, and sometimes by his mother Jackie too.

• Mark Heap as Jim Bell: Jim is the Goodmans' neighbour who frequently appears on their front doorstep and is seemingly infatuated with, and therefore trying to stalk, Jackie. He does this by dropping hints to attempt to gain entry into the house. He is accompanied by his Belgian Shepherd, Wilson, of whom he is irrationally afraid. He is featured in every episode, and attempts to flirt with Jackie, however this usually goes wrong.

• Frances Cuka as Gran: Jackie's mother. Her sporadic deafness and lack of situational awareness often cause acute comic embarrassment. She has featured in 2 episodes.

• Tuppence Middleton as Tanya Greene: Adam's long lasting crush. In the episode 'The Date', she is invited around the Goodman house, unbeknownst to Adam. The night goes terribly wrong as expected, however towards the end Adam is encouraged by his parents and feels that she likes him. Although this proves to be incorrect when he finds his brother Jonny snogging Tanya beside their house. The episode ends with the father saying 'she is a lovely girl'.

Episode list

Series One

Episode 1 - The Sofabed (Original broadcast date 25 February 2011 (2011-02-25))

Jackie and Martin are having a clear-out, but Martin is reluctant to chuck away all his tatty old magazines, and ropes in Jonny to secretly hide the stash back at his flat. Jackie is very excited because it's the final of Masterchef; Jonny thinks it's 'Mastershit'. Jackie is trying to get on with dinner, but their slightly odd neighbour Jim keeps interrupting to use their toilet as he's broken his own loo in mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, Martin has forgotten a man is coming to pick up their old sofabed. Will Jackie even get to see her precious Masterchef?

Episode 2- The Jingle (Original broadcast date 4 March 2011 (2011-03-04)

In the second episode, when Adam and Jonny come home to find Martin secretly peering into his underpants with a magnifying glass, they're desperate to find out what he's looking at. Also Jackie is just trying to have a nice Friday night, but Jim - the neighbour who's terrified of his own dog - keeps interrupting the meal. Martin takes Adam - who's single - into the toilet to have a private chat about 'females'. Soon the whole family are in the loo quizzing poor Adam and Jonny is loving it. Lastly the secret behind Martin's pants-peering is revealed.

Episode 3 - The Curtains (Original broadcast date 11 March 2011 (2011-03-11))

Jackie's excited about the new curtains, but the boys and Grandma think they're horrible leaving Jackie annoyed. Meanwhile, Martin drops Jackie's beef casserole all over the kitchen floor. It looks disgusting yet Martin scoops it back into the dish. The boys are unsurprisingly not happy about their meal. Later, the argument about the curtains spreads, and Jonny leaves in a huff to go to the pub with Adam joining him only to get there and share a quarter of a pint and a chat with Jim. At home, Jackie and Grandma are still not talking, so it rests with Adam to resolve the family argument - can he save the day?

Episode 4 - The Dress (Original broadcast date 25 March 2011 (2011-03-25))

When Jackie finds out that Martin didn't throw away his old boxes of science magazines in their clear-out, she goes mad and Martin builds a bonfire and promises he'll burn them all. Instead Martin is only pretending to burn them and he is squirrelling the boxes off to his shed/lads pad in the garden. Jackie is excited as her best friend, Val, is popping around with her new dress for her daughter Karen's wedding. Adam and Jonny are convinced Karen has a face like a foot. Meanwhile, Jim's dog Wilson goes missing, leaving Jim distraught. Later, Val comes round and she looks just like Jackie: similar hair, similar clothes and - according to Martin - 'similar bottoms'. She tries on her dress which leaves the ladies in their element and the men supremely bored. Will Jim ever find Wilson, and will Jackie venture once again into Martin's shed to discover the truth behind his 'pretend bonfire'

Episode 5 - The Mercedes (Original broadcast date 1 April 2011 (2011-04-01))

It's Adam's birthday. As he arrives home, a silver Mercedes almost runs him over. Inside is Sheila Bloom - or 'Bitchface' as Adam and his family call her. 'Bitchface' is famously obsessed with her Mercedes, and after some catty remarks about Adam's 'Yugo' ('Err... it's a Nissan'), she speeds off. Martin reveals that he used to have a thing with Bitchface years ago. The boys can't believe it. Jackie's not happy. Later, the family abandon dinner and go for a Chinese, but Bitchface is there. An awkward chat ensues, and finally Martin reveals exactly what he got up to with her...

Episode 6 - The Date (Original broadcast date 8 April 2011 (2011-04-08))

Adam comes home to find the house looking immaculate, with classical music playing in the living room, Jackie's posh bowls on the dinner table, Dad in a smart suit, and - most mysteriously - the table set for five. The doorbell rings and in comes Tanya Green, a girl Jackie has been trying to fix up with Adam for months. What follows is possibly the most excruciating family dinner scene of all time. Meanwhile, Jim has been locked out as his dog, Wilson, has swallowed his keys. Inside, the blind date continues, but will Jackie's dream of an Adam and Tanya wedding come true?

Series Two

In the closing credits of the finale episode of series one, it was confirmed by Channel 4 that the show would return in 2012 for a second series.

References

1. Plunkett, John (12 February 2010). "Tamsin Greig and Pulling's Paul Ritter to star in Channel 4 comedy". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
2. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2011/03/30/13051/second_helpings_of_friday_night_dinner
3. "Friday Night Dinner on BBC America". Retrieved 4 August 2011.
4. Fletcher, Alex (25 March 2011). "Mark Heap ('Friday Night Dinner')". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
5. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/friday-night-dinner/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1
6. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/friday-night-dinner/episode-guide/series-1/episode-2
7. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/friday-night-dinner/episode-guide/series-1/episode-3
8. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/friday-night-dinner/episode-guide/series-1/episode-4
9. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/friday-night-dinner/episode-guide/series-1/episode-5
10. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/friday-night-dinner/episode-guide/series-1/episode-6

External links

• 'Friday Night Dinner' on Channel 4
• Friday Night Dinner at British Comedy Guide
• Friday Night Dinner at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com

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