British comedy writer here and I only heard of it when I worked with Swedish people at a tech job
Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
131–140 of 229 posts
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here in Norway every year on Christmas eve we also show Karl-Bertil Jonssons jul, a Swedish cartoon from 1975, where a underage postage worker steals packages from the rich and gives it to the poor. It's hard to imagine it would be well received in most other countries, especially as a tradition.
Don't forget Tre nøtter til Askepott, an old communist Czech movie that's somehow so critical to Norwegian heritage they had to send a Norwegian team to another country to make sure it was preserved and restored.
To be pedantic, it was an East German / Czechoslovakian coproduction (called "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" here), and it's still huge in Germany too (browse German TV channels at any time between Christmas and New Year, and it's very likely that the movie is running on at least one of them).
The 'movie castle' is Schloss Moritzburg btw: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritzburg_Castle
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#133As a Brit deeply into comedy I can confirm my total ignorance of "Dinner For One". How very strange what travels. Visiting the US I was surprised how many Americans knew obscure and not terribly funny Monty Python sketches word for word, and meeting a Chinese CTO once whose first words were "Ah Mr. Bean".
For the reverse of the reverse - no one in Germany actually cares about David Hasselhoff.
Except Norm Macdonald's ghost, which to this day pops up with that telltale smirk.
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#134The best thing about the German version (if you watch in on tv) is that before the comedy begins, there's an explanation about why it's funny.
Germans stereotypically have a conceptual intelligence. If something is good, they will like it. This is why they like badly-translated US sitcoms so much when there's a laugh track. This is why the French sell so much bad-tier wines in fancy bottles (even if you know the producer and the wine, don't buy it in Germany unless you've tasted it or it's certified like AOC). This is why their sense of humour is so...strange.
That said, I like North German humour and Flachwitze.
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here in Norway every year on Christmas eve we also show Karl-Bertil Jonssons jul, a Swedish cartoon from 1975, where a underage postage worker steals packages from the rich and gives it to the poor. It's hard to imagine it would be well received in most other countries, especially as a tradition.
Don't forget Tre nøtter til Askepott, an old communist Czech movie that's somehow so critical to Norwegian heritage they had to send a Norwegian team to another country to make sure it was preserved and restored.
My favorite part is how it's all dubbed into Norwegian by one guy doing all the voices, but he sorta starts giving up distinguishing the characters about half way through.
Spending Christmas with my friend's Norwegian family was just getting one "tradition" after another explained to me for a week while I continuously got more and more confused.
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
And lest we forget: The hackneyed Disney Christmas Show at 1600 hours sharp on the 24th of December. In this household, Christmas officially starts when the mouse from Cinderilla squints and runs the thread through the giant needle's eye. These are generally the only two times of the year I have anything to do with live TV. Godt nytår!
Whereas in Sweden it starts at 15 and, for some reason[0], is titled “Donald Duck and his friends wish you Merry Christmas”, despite Jiminy Cricket being the presenter. [0] The reason is obviously his popularity in Sweden
I love the Kalle Anka tradition.
https://slate.com/culture/2009/12/sweden-s-bizarre-tradition...
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#137Most important when watching it is to have a drink whenever the butler drinks.
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget Tre nøtter til Askepott, an old communist Czech movie that's somehow so critical to Norwegian heritage they had to send a Norwegian team to another country to make sure it was preserved and restored.
To be pedantic, it was an East German / Czechoslovakian coproduction (called "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" here), and it's still huge in Germany too (browse German TV channels at any time between Christmas and New Year, and it's very likely that the movie is running on at least one of them). The 'movie castle' is Schloss Moritzburg btw: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritzburg_Castle
Thanks for pointing out. I was confused by parent calling it „communist Czech movie“. It’s a fairy tale FFS, what does it have to do with communism? I never understood that obsession some people have with communism to see everything in the world through their iron curtain glasses.
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#139Most important when watching it is to have a drink whenever the butler drinks.
Dashiell Hammett's novel "The Thin Man" lends itself well to a similar game.
Re: Dinner for one: A little-known British comedy famous in Germany
#140The best thing about the German version (if you watch in on tv) is that before the comedy begins, there's an explanation about why it's funny.
Germans stereotypically have a conceptual intelligence. If something is good, they will like it. This is why they like badly-translated US sitcoms so much when there's a laugh track. This is why the French sell so much bad-tier wines in fancy bottles (even if you know the producer and the wine, don't buy it in Germany unless you've tasted it or it's certified like AOC). This is why their sense of humour is so...stran…
I’m German-American, and I would say I am culturally much more American than German, but I find German comedy quite funny. I think it is much more observational and satirical than US standup comedy, but it’s also more biting, which makes it funny in a more self reflective way.
German comedy seems to play the role of a court jester speaking uncomfortable truths through humor. American comedy to me is much more surface level by comparison — there are a few comedians like Carlin who seem to have embodied the German satirical spirit.
I think another aspect of German comedy that is very hard to translate is the linguistic structure of it, where the structure of the language often plays a key role in the funniness of the joke.