de shame procheedure ash effery yeer mish soffffie?

I have a quick question I have always wanted to ask. A partner of mine works as a translator and she works a lot in Germany.

And people in Germany watch this movie here religiously almost every year. Sometimes in English - then dubbed in German - then in English all over again. They will literally watch the same movie three times in a row.

Given it was recorded in Germany - but in English - I am curious how many of you have seen it before? And does it surprise you it has become an integral part of new years culture in Germany?

LaFuton

jaa voolkwagen ist a guten auuto

spurious

I have seen it before, but I can't remember why or when.

Snow Garden

Ash dieback is a fungal disease which has wreaked havoc on ash trees around Ireland.

thomil

Native German speaking here

I was born back in 1981, and Dinner for One has been a New Year's Eve tradition in my family basically as far back as I can think.

The reason for the English recording is that Freddie Frinton, the actor who plays the butler James in that sketch flat-out refused to speak German due to his antipathy for Germany rooting from his own wartime experiences.

Also, it wasn't originally planned for New Year's Eve. It was used as a stop-gap for a few years, until NDR, the German public broadcaster covering Northern Germany (There is no main centralised broadcaster for all of Germany), started running it on December 31st, 1972. Ever since then, it's been repeated every year.

LaFuton

thomil wrote: »

Native German speaking here

I was born back in 1981, and Dinner for One has been a New Year's Eve tradition in my family basically as far back as I can think.

The reason for the English recording is that Freddie Frinton, the actor who plays the butler James in that sketch flat-out refused to speak German due to his antipathy for Germany rooting from his own wartime experiences.

Also, it wasn't originally planned for New Year's Eve. It was used as a stop-gap for a few years, until NDR, the German public broadcaster covering Northern Germany (There is no main centralised broadcaster for all of Germany), started running it on December 31st, 1972. Ever since then, it's been repeated every year.

I'm a rabbit, ive always been a rabbit, both my parents are rabbits.

thomil

thomil wrote: »

The reason for the English recording is that Freddie Frinton, the actor who plays the butler James in that sketch flat-out refused to speak German due to his antipathy for Germany rooting from his own wartime experiences.

Thats what I heard too so thanks for confirming that at least anecdotally.

For me it is amazing that a sketch that brilliant as a meme has stayed mostly in Germany - but to the point it is literally ingrained in the language. People use that phrase "same procedure as every year" literally every day when I am there.

Whereas sketches like "four candles" and "dead parrot" have gone all over the world - and the phrase "don't mention the war" has become a funny part of our culture too

I am weirdly obsessed with memes and this one is just one that confounds all my expectations on how a meme should work

Knew someone who was so excited to show it to me since it's tradition. Jesus it's so sad

bluewolf

bluewolf wrote: »

Knew someone who was so excited to show it to me since it's tradition. Jesus it's so sad

It is? Cant say I ever felt that way about it. I thought it was an incredibly well executed sketch. especially considering I also heard some of the props were not meant to be there on the day.

thomil

Deleted User wrote: »

For me it is amazing that a sketch that brilliant as a meme has stayed mostly in Germany - but to the point it is literally ingrained in the language. People use that phrase "same procedure as every year" literally every day when I am there.

That phrase used to be common-place in my family as well, particularly when it came to satirical replies, which were legion

With regards to it not having made it much outside Germany, i think there are a few reasons.

The first is that when this was recorded, it wasn't on a national level. It was a local production in Hamburg that was recorded by NDR, the national broadcasting service for Northern Germany. Remember how I mentioned in my original post that Germany has no centralised national broadcaster, like RTE in Ireland. There are a series of regional broadcasters, such as NDR in the north, WDR covering the west (roughly North-Rhine Westphalia and the Rhineland), BR covering exclusively Bavaria (because OF COURSE Bavaria has to have something special), etc., you get the picture.
That means that, even when it started getting broadcast regularly, it only did so in parts of the country. It didn't begin to catch on nationally until the German cable TV infrastructure had been set up in the 1980s, allowing each regional broadcaster to be received everywhere in the country.

Then, there is a cultural issue. We Northern Germans are "special" in a way. Our sense of humour has always been a bit "off", and we've always been a bit more anglophile than the rest of the country. There's a reason why many late 19th century residential areas in Bremen look like a carbon copy of Fulham or Shepherd's Bush in London. You won't see this type of pattern anywhere else in the German speaking world. This anglophilia also means that English is rather more accepted as a language up in the North than in other countries, something particularly prevalent during the 1960s and 1970s. We in the north were simply able to follow along more easily than the rest, which further impeded a quick spread even in Germany.

Finally, Germany was even less popular back then than it is now. A lot of people who had fought and suffered during WW2 were not just still alive, but right in the middle of the workforce, and they certainly didn't want to see some German TV production, particularly in the UK.

So basically, "Dinner for One" has had the deck stacked against it for much of its broadcast history, and to be honest, that niche category adds to its charm for a lot of Germans.

This is why I love After Hours. Sometimes you ask a question and you get ripped apart for even attempting to ask it.

And sometimes you get an answer more detailed and intricate than you even wished for in the first place

I thank you!

L1011

thomil wrote: »

Remember how I mentioned in my original post that Germany has no centralised national broadcaster, like RTE in Ireland. There are a series of regional broadcasters.

Are they not all divisions of ARD?

Used to watch a lot of German TV; my spoken German has gone to crap since then unfortunately.

Ubbquittious

LaFuton wrote: »

I'm a rabbit, ive always been a rabbit, both my parents are rabbits.

Mijn naam is haas

thomil

L1011 wrote: »

Are they not all divisions of ARD?

Used to watch a lot of German TV; my spoken German has gone to crap since then unfortunately.

It's actually the other way around. ARD is a joint project run by the individual state or regional broadcasters. Its actual name is (long German monstrosity incoming!): Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, which translates to "Working Group of the Public Service Broadcasters of the Federal Republic of Germany". Ah, the wonders of the German language...

ARD does run its own channel, "Das Erste", and it does produce Germany's premier news programmes, Tagesschau and Tagesthemen, but it is not a full service broadcaster, it doesn't have its own radio stations for example, and it relies on the production facilities of its members to produce its content. Tagesschau and Tagesthemen for example, are aired from NDR's studios in Hamburg.

This is deliberate, by the way. Following World War 2, it was decided that having a single nationwide public broadcasting service in the mould of the BBC would be too much of a risk in case fascist tendencies would ever arise again in Germany. For this reason, regional or state level broadcasters were set up, such as NDR, BR, etc. These all sport a TV station with extensive production facilities, as well as several radio stations, and are completely independent in how they design their programs and shows. You'll see that BR from Bavaria produces a lot more religious, and particular catholic content due to the more conservative nature of that state, while NDR is a lot more secular. SWR from Baden-Wuerttemberg is a lot more adventurous, particularly in its radio programs, while Eastern German MDR is...well... shall we say "special?" Seriously though, back when I still watched German TV, they did a lot of "Ostalgie" shows, which are basically programs that show the nostalgic aspects of the DDR.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

LaFuton wrote: »

I'm a rabbit, ive always been a rabbit, both my parents are rabbits.

Jojo rabbit?

Hannibal_Smith

We watch it evey New Years Day

Myself and my husband were in Germany last year and were in the hotel bar having a couple of drinks. The waiter came over and asked 'same procedure as last year' and my husband replied 'same procedure as every year James'.

We were all as surprised as each other that we all got the reference. I had no idea it was popular in Germany.

biko

Not German but have seen it many times and love it.

LirW

In Austria they show it at 23.50 every New Year's eve. It's great, hundreds of thousands of people tune in and you go on to fireworks and waltz after that

Aglomerado

It was a Danish friend who introduced me to this tradition. They love it there too.