Editing Dinner for One (section)

==Origin of the sketch==
Lauri Wylie debuted ''Dinner for One'' as a sketch in his London stage revue ''En Ville Ce Soir'' in 1934.<ref name=swedishwriteup>[https://www.expressen.se/noje/tv/sa-snubblade-grevinnan-och-betjanten-in-i-tv/ Så snubblade ”Grevinnan och betjänten” in i svensk tv]</ref>

Frinton and Warden performed ''Dinner for One'' on stage on Britain's seaside piers as early as 1945; Frinton inherited the rights to the sketch in 1951 after Wylie's death. The sketch was also staged elsewhere, for example in 1953 in ''[[John Murray Anderson's Almanac]]'' at the [[Imperial Theatre (Broadway)|Imperial Theatre]] with [[Hermione Gingold]] playing Miss Sophie, and [[Billy DeWolfe]] as the butler and four dead friends.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/6060/John-Murray-Andersons-Almanac|title=PlayBillVault: Almanac|publisher=playbillvault.com|access-date=3 November 2013}}</ref>

In 1962, German entertainer [[Peter Frankenfeld]] and director Heinz Dunkhase discovered ''Dinner for One'' in [[Blackpool]]. The sketch was staged in Frankenfeld's live show on 8 March 1963 at the ''Theater am Besenbinderhof'', [[Hamburg]]. Since no recordings of live TV shows could be made with the technology of the time, a recorded version was commissioned, which was staged at NDR's Studio B in the [[Lokstedt]] quarter of Hamburg, in front of a live audience, between 30 April and 4 May 1963. This version was first broadcast on 8 July 1963. The sketch was recorded in English with a short introduction in German. The introductory theme, [[Charmaine (song)|Charmaine]], was composed by [[Lew Pollack]] and recorded by the [[Victor Silvester]] orchestra. According to the NDR, Frinton and Warden were each paid [[Deutsche Mark|DM]] 4,150. The recorded show was re-run occasionally until it gained its fixed spot on New Year's Eve in 1972.

The comic premise of the skit—a man consuming multiple rounds of alcohol and becoming comically drunk—is generally credited to American actor [[Red Skelton]], who included a similar sketch as part of his [[vaudeville]] routines beginning in 1928 (and allowed the premise to be used by [[Lucille Ball]] in the famed ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' episode "[[Lucy Does a TV Commercial]]").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stardem.com/life/lucy-borrowed-famous-skit-from-red-skelton/article_98bd4211-d622-508d-bf95-49bcfb182feb.html|title=Lucy borrowed famous skit from Red Skelton|first=Gary|last=Clothier|work=The Star-Democrat|date=16 May 2011|access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> There is no definitive evidence of when Wylie wrote the sketch; the first evidence there is of the ''Dinner for One'' sketch being performed is from 1934, and as neither Skelton nor Wylie were internationally famous at the time, neither one likely knew of the other's work.<ref name=swedishwriteup />