dinner for one

starting sometime in the mid-afternoon each year on new year’s eve, the german public television network ARD begins its annual recurring broadcast of dinner for one, an ~20-minute, black-and-white sketch comedy filmed in british english. the sketch is replayed on multiple local public stations until long past midnight, and according to Wikipedia it is watched by nearly half the German population every year. it is the only foreign language program i have ever seen broadcast on german television in its original form (instead of dubbed over) - and without subtitles at that! the irony is that although the sketch is wildly popular in german-speaking and scandinavian countries, it appears to be largely unknown to the anglosphere (although it is broadcast in Australia and South Africa too, also according to wikipedia).

the plot of dinner for one follows a single (or widowed?) woman, Miss Sophie, who is celebrating her 90th birthday with her butler. he has arranged place settings at the dinner table for 4 of her late friends who have all passed away before her, and the premise of the sketch is that the butler must take turns pretending to be each of the four friends throughout a multi-course dinner along with various alcoholic drink pairings, becoming very inebriated in the process. one of the running jokes is the repetitive exchange between Sophie and her butler, in which he asks if he should do something the same way he’d done it the previous year, and she responds without fail: “same procedure as every year." at the end of the night, Miss Sophie winds up taking her butler to bed, which appears to be part of the yearly procedure too.

even though there is a silly, slapstick feel to the sketch, i find something poignant in the idea of continuing traditions which once belonged to our loved ones long after they have gone. as much as i like the idea of longevity and somewhat aspire to become a centenarian myself, i think an often overlooked burden to growing superlatively old is that you will inevitably lose many more people you’ve loved than, say, if you lived an average-length life. and so i can picture myself growing old like Miss Sophie (though sans butler, so perhaps even more alone) and clinging steadfastly to traditions and routines to stitch the passing years together.

in case you’re curious, here’s a youtube link to the sketch (although I can’t verify if it works; the video is blocked here in Germany on copyright grounds!):

…wishing you all a very happy new year, and see you again in 2023! 🥳