BBC
Raise a glass on a German New Year’s Eve and you’ll likely encounter this toast:
“The same procedure as last year?”
“The same procedure as every year.”
It comes from a 15-minute, black-and-white comedy sketch, in English with a British cast, but filmed in Hamburg in 1962. It’s called Dinner for One, and it’s been shown on German television networks every New Year’s Eve for decades.
Just as the Queen’s Speech goes with a British Christmas Day, so Dinner for One goes with German New Year’s Eve (I suggest watching the short video of the original broadcast before reading on so as to not spoil the “procedure.”). More
More on the sketch, the performers and why it never caught on in the States. Here
Vick Morrow and Rick Jansen knew how to deal with krauts.
Can you imagine if they showed “Combat” reruns again. Or maybe “Rat Patrol”? I didn’t miss many of those.
joe6pak
They are. I introduced the younger gen to Combat over the holidays. They binge watched it 24 hours strait. I’ll e mail you the channel. Combat is timeless.
H&I TV broadcasts Combat reruns on Sat. nights at 10 PM PST. It used to be on at 9 which is better for me to watch an hr. earlier. I grew up watching Combat back in the early and mid 60’s. It’s still as good now as it was then.
One of the best episodes of Fawlty Towers with John Cleese was called the Germans where Basil Fawlty got into a hilarious shouting match with some German tourists.
And don’t forget the lethal joke from Monty Python’s flying circus where the British developed a lethal joke that they read to German soldiers on the other side that caused the krauts to start laughing uncontrollably and immediately fall over dead.
“H&I TV broadcasts Combat reruns”
I think the GET network does too. I’ll look it up and post it. I record them all to our Hopper. Get to the Hopper! Anyway i have a bunch of them recorded. Vic Morrow was the shit.
Most Europeans can better relate to aristocratic customs and class distinctions in this movie. Americans don’t have that history, except for upper class hierarchy.
You would think the Brits might enjoy the movie, but the BBC probably restrict showing it for some reason. Protecting the monarchy image, no doubt.
BTW, love “Combat”, “Rat Patrol”, “12 O’Clock High” etc. Watch on H & I – great channel!
As kids those shows inspired our Army battles with toy soldiers and military vehicles, plastic airplanes, dirt roads, runways and buckeye fights!
In just a few years, the “traditional” German toast will be “Allahu Akbar!”…
H&I also has reruns of the original Hawaii 5 O on Friday afternoon from 12-5 PM. Book em Dano. The new version literally sucks with all the queers on it, I’ve never watched it and never will.