Channel 4 Comedy and Entertainment Commissioning Editor, Darren Smith, has commissioned Big Talk Productions’ and Popper Pictures new single-camera comedy, Friday Night Dinner, to full series.

Friday Night Dinner stars Tamsin Greig (Green Wing, Black Books), Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners), Paul Ritter (Pulling) and comedy newcomer, Tom Rosenthal.

Each episode takes place over the course of a Friday night, as twenty-something brothers Adam (Simon Bird) and Jonny (Tom Rosenthal) go round to their parents’ house for Friday night dinner.

Many Jewish families – who aren’t even remotely religious – have a tradition of Friday Night Dinner. It’s a time for food, family and general bickering. Sometimes candles are lit.  Think Sunday lunch. Then take two days away, and move up one in the meal scale, and that’s the setting. 

Friday Night Dinner is written and produced by Robert Popper, co-creator of BBC2’s Look Around You and author of the best-selling The Timewaster Letters. He also produced the BAFTA-winning Peep Show, and script-edited The Inbetweeners and The IT Crowd.

Darren Smith said “The pilot proved so strong with its brilliant script and fantastically talented cast that we couldn’t resist in commissioning it to full series.  It’s both clever and funny and is likely to be a real comedy gem.”

Robert Popper said “I want the show to capture the way we all revert to being kids again when we go round to our parents’. But it’s also pretty autobiographical, i.e. it features a dad who drinks ketchup straight from the bottle, just like mine.”

As a former Comedy Commissioning Editor at Channel 4, Robert commissioned Bo’ Selecta!, helped develop The IT Crowd, oversaw two series of Black Books, and series 2 of Spaced.

Directed by Steve Bendelack (The Royle Family, The League Of Gentlemen) Friday Night Dinner will be executive produced by Big Talk Productions Chief Executives, Kenton Allen (The Royle Family) and Nira Park (Spaced).

Friday Night Dinner will air on E4.

Selected Coverage

-Tamsin Greig and Pulling’s Paul Ritter to star in Channel 4 comedy [John Plunkett] guardian.co.uk, 12th February, 2010

The production company behind Spaced and Shaun of the Dead has been commissioned to produce a new Channel 4 comedy starring Tamsin Greig, The Inbetweeners’ Simon Bird and Pulling’s Paul Ritter.

Friday Night Dinner, a single-camera comedy, has been written by Robert Popper, former producer of Peep Show and co-creator of BBC2’s Look Around You. It will be made by Big Talk Productions, which made Spaced, and Popper Pictures. [read more]

-C4 orders full series of Popper sitcom [Robin Parker] Broadcast, 12th February, 2010

Robert Popper’s semi-autobiographical E4 sitcom pilot Friday Night Dinner has been picked up for a full series on Channel 4. [read more]

-Friday Night Dinner date for Bird chortle.co.uk, 12th February, 2010

Inbetweeners comic Simon Bird and Green Wing’s Tamsin Greig are to star in a new family sitcom for Channel 4.

Bird will appear opposite fellow Chortle Student Comedy Award finalist Tom Rosenthal in Friday Night Dinner, which has been created by Peep Show producer Robert Popper.

A pilot was shot for E4, but not yet aired, but the single-camera comedy has now been picked up for a full Channel 4 series.[read more]

- Big Talk signs deal with Optimum. First joint project will be ‘Attack the Block’ [Ali Jaafar] Variety, Thursday October 29th, 2009

Brit shingle Big Talk has inked a co-financing and co-production pact with U.K. distrib and producer Optimum Releasing.
It’s the latest sign of Optimum’s desire to ramp up production and become a major player in the British film industry.

The deal will also include pubcaster Channel 4’s production arm Film4, with whom Big Talk has had a partial first-look deal for the past two years. [read more...]

**Be sure to check back soon for video diaries and exclusive content from behind the scenes of Young, Unemployed and Lazy!**

Brit shingle Big Talk has inked a co-financing and co-production pact with U.K. distrib and producer Optimum Releasing.
It’s the latest sign of Optimum’s desire to ramp up production and become a major player in the British film industry.

The deal will also include pubcaster Channel 4’s production arm Film4, with whom Big Talk has had a partial first-look deal for the past two years. [read more...]

The amazing Lance Bangs is on site filming the video blogs, with Simon, Nick and the cast and crew providing further media.

Click here to goto peggster.net

Universal and Working Title Films have added Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch to the cast of “Paul.”

The road trip laffer stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and will be directed by Greg Mottola.

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien.

Rogen will provide the voice of the alien.

Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan will produce with Nira Park of Big Talk Prods. Shooting begins in June.

Pegg and Frost starred together previously in the Working Title-produced “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead.”
Rogen last worked with Mottola on “Superbad.” Hader also starred in that film, and just worked with Mottola and Wiig on “Adventureland.”

• Michael Fleming variety.com, Tuesday May 26, 2009

From left to right: Andy Shepherd, Humphrey Elles-Hill, Tamzin Cary, Luke Alkin, Celia Richards, Simon Curtis, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Leo Thompson, Matthew Justice, Nira Park, Kenton Allen, Robert Popper, Karen Beever, Alison Cain, Lee Thomas, Ruth Sewell.