Kenton Allen, CEO of Big Talk Productions, told Variety that ‘Friday Night Dinner’ will not return following the death of much missed Paul Ritter, who died in April from a brain tumour. “He was an enormous part of the show. The idea of making any version of ‘Friday Night Dinner’ without him is impossible and too awful to contemplate. So that is it. ‘Friday Night Dinner’ is no more.”
Having said that however, a US version is going straight to series with an as-yet-unnamed network. Written by Jon Beckerman (“Late Show with David Letterman”) it will be renamed “Dinner with the Parents” and, despite being set in the U.S. with an American cast and an American writing team, will be shot entirely in the U.K. — purely because it’s more cost-effective.
Also in the pipeline is a US version of ‘Mum’ for which Stefan Golaszewski won a Royal Television Society award for Best Comedy Writer and the star Lesley Manville for Best Female Comedy Performance. The new version is being adapted by actor and writer Tracy Letts (“August: Osage County”) with Laurie Metcalfe (Sheldon’s mother in Big Bang Theory) attached to star. Check back for further details when available.