Dinner For One

Germans Celebrate New Year’s Eve with ‘Dinner for One’ Great Fun “ We went to a New Year Eve's party here in Cuenca last night that was hosted by some friends of ours that are German.  Bill and Elke have been watching this thing every year, since they teens, when it was released in 1963. - Cuzzin Ricky and Cuzzin Lady Friend Do you know who Freddie Frinton was? Or May Warden? Nope. Don’t feel so bad. If English is your native language and you live in the US or the UK, then you’re not alone. But a German would likely know the names, or surely at least know their most famous characters. Mr. Frinton and Ms. Warden, who died in 1968 and 1978 respectively, truly would have been forgotten were it not for their roles in a short, slapstick comedy called “Dinner for One” that almost inexplicably is a staple of German television on New Year’s Eve. Versions of it are also shown near the end of the year in other northern European countries. The sketch, also called “The Ninetieth Birthday,” profiles the elderly Miss Sophie, a seeming scion of the English aristocracy as she celebrates her 90th birthday with four friends and her butler James. The odd thing though is that her friends are all long since dead.    [Continued] I had never seen this before; all I could think about was it is was tailor made for Carol Burnett and Tim Conway (not that they could have improved on it.)  ”