What German television comedy sketch is traditionally broadcast on New Year's Eve?

“Dinner for One” is the German television comedy sketch traditionally broadcast on New Year's Eve.

The sketch features an elderly woman, Miss Sophie, celebrating her 90th birthday with a formal dinner. Because her four invited friends have died, her butler, James, impersonates each guest and drinks each person's toast. The repeated line “The same procedure as every year” became closely associated with the program.

Although performed in English, the sketch became a German New Year's institution after a 1963 recording by German broadcaster NDR. It is also popular in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and other countries, though it is much less familiar in the United Kingdom, where the performers originally worked.

The title can be misleading: the original stage sketch was written by British author Lauri Wylie, and the television version stars Freddie Frinton and May Warden. Its New Year's status comes from broadcasting tradition, not from the plot explicitly taking place on December 31.