The famous New Year's Eve dinner scene broadcast annually in Germany is “Dinner for One.”
“Dinner for One” is a short English-language comedy sketch written by British author Lauri Wylie. It features an elderly woman named Miss Sophie celebrating her birthday with an imaginary dinner for four absent friends. Her butler, James, serves each course and repeatedly drinks the guests' toasts, becoming increasingly intoxicated.
The sketch was recorded for German television in 1963 with Freddie Frinton as James and May Warden as Miss Sophie. Although it was little known in Britain for many years, German broadcasters made it a recurring New Year's Eve favorite.
The line “The same procedure as every year” became closely associated with the broadcast. The program is also shown in several other European countries, but its particularly strong New Year's connection is a German television tradition.