The German New Year's Eve television tradition since 1972 is the sketch Dinner for One.
The black-and-white comedy was written by British author Lauri Wylie and stars Freddie Frinton as the butler James and May Warden as Miss Sophie. In the sketch, Miss Sophie celebrates her birthday with a formal dinner for four absent friends, while James repeatedly serves their courses and imitates their drinking.
German television first broadcast the sketch in 1963, but its regular New Year's Eve scheduling from 1972 helped make it a cultural ritual. Many viewers know the English-language performance even though the program became far more famous in Germany than in Britain.
The recurring line “The same procedure as every year” is often quoted in Germany around the holiday. The program is not a New Year's story in its plot; its connection comes from decades of seasonal broadcasting.