History Main / DinnerAndAShow

%%* ''Series/{{Bread}}''

* A very uncomfortable example in Literature/WhaleMusic. Claire invites Dennis' friends, most of whom haven't seen him in years, and he has a meltdown, thinking Danny is speaking to him.

* When the Leonides family sits down to dinner with Charles in ''Film/CrookedHouse'', it isn't long before the family's dirty laundry starts being aired: with accusation of everything from murder to Communism.

* In ''Encanto'', the magical Madrigal household holds a dinner so Mariano Guzman can officially propose to Isabela Madrigal with both his mother's and Abuela Madrigal's blessing. [[TeamNormal Mirabel,]] unfortunately, lets it slip that [[spoiler: she has been prophesied by her estranged uncle Bruno to eventually cause the downfall of their household]] and her cousin [[SuperHearing Dolores]] finds out and struggles to keep her mouth shut. [[FromBadToWorse The dinner leads to the family members all whispering about it to each other, with each response getting more and more dramatic and distracting from the actual proposal,]] until aunt [[NervousWreck Pepa]] finds out and unleashes a thunderstorm indoors. Meanwhile, a bunch of rats are stealing the pieces of the [[spoiler: prophecy]] from Mirabel and piecing them together before showing them to her Abuela. Also, Mirabel's older sister Luisa spends the whole dinner sobbing because she's losing her strength. It all gets worse from there.

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/XTremeXMen'', the team is gathered for a celebratory dinner. After several teammates start teasing [[ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} Ororo]], ComicBook/KittyPryde stands up:

* In ''Encanto'', the magical Madrigal household holds a dinner so Mariano Guzman can officially propose to Isabela Madrigal with both his mother's and Abuela Madrigal's blessing. [[TeamNormal Mirabel,]] unfortunately, lets it slip that [[spoiler: she has been prophecies by her estranged uncle Bruno to eventually cause the downfall of their household]] and her cousin [[SuperHearing Dolores]] finds out and struggles to keep her mouth shut. [[FromBadToWorse The dinner leads to the family members all whispering about it to each other, with each response getting more and more dramatic and distracting from the actual proposal,]] until aunt [[NervousWreck Pepa]] finds out and unleashes a thunderstorm indoors. Meanwhile, a bunch of rats are stealing the pieces of the [[spoiler: prophecy]] from Mirabel and piecing them together before showing them to her Abuela. Also, Mirabel's older sister Luisa spends the whole dinner sobbing because she's losing her strength. It all gets worse from there.

* In ''Encanto'', the magical Madrigal household holds a dinner so Mariano Guzman can officially propose to Isabela Madrigal with both his mother's and Abuela Madrigal's blessing. [[TeamNormal Mirabel,]] unfortunately, lets it slip that [[spoiler: she has been prophecies by her estranged uncle Bruno to eventually cause the downfall of their household]] and her cousin [[SuperHearing Dolores]] finds out and struggles to keep her mouth shut. [[FromBadToWorse The dinner leads to the family members all whispering about it to each other, with each response getting more and more dramatic and distracting from the actual proposal,]] until aunt [[NervousWreck Pepa]] finds out and unleashes a thunderstorm indoors. Meanwhile, a bunch of rats are stealing the pieces of the [[spoiler: prophecy]] from Mirabel and piecing them together before showing them to her Abuela. Also, Mirabel's older sister Luisa spends the whole dinner sobbing because she's losing her strength. [[UpToEleven It all gets worse from there.]]

* Happened during ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' 's yearly ThanksgivingEpisode. Some notable fights included Jackie and Bev fighting about Jackie's cop job, Nana Mary talking about her two abortions prior to having Bev, Jackie and Roseanne finding out about their father's decades of infidelity (though they wouldn't find out it had been decades until the following episode), and Bev [[ComingOutStory coming out]] as a lesbian. Not that it's restricted to Thanksgiving, of course; one family dinner with Bev in attendance featured Roseanne throwing biscuits across the table and Darlene bragging about being groped by a male friend and more recently, Jackie getting in an argument with Darlene [[spoiler: which results in Darlene getting slapped in the face]].

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/XtremeXMen'', the team is gathered for a celebratory dinner. After several teammates start teasing [[ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} Ororo]], ComicBook/KittyPryde stands up:

* In one issue of ''[[ComicBook/XMen Xtreme X-Men]]'', the team is gathered for a celebratory dinner. After several teammates start teasing [[ComicBook/{{Storm}} Ororo]], ComicBook/KittyPryde stands up:

Not to be confused with AtTheOperaTonight where people go to have dinner and watch a show. In this trope, they are part of the "show". This trope may be found in a ThanksgivingEpisode, which will almost certainly revolve around a big dinner.

* Despite the name, ''Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner'' is a subversion; all the craziness happens ''before'' dinner, which happens offscreen after the credits roll.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. "All in all, it was one of the Bluth family's better parties."

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* The Thanksgiving movie ''Film/WhatsCooking?''. You get FOUR dinners and FOUR shows as four diverse families celebrate the holiday in Los Angeles.

* In ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'', the family dinner turns into a kung-fu fight between Frani and her brothers, armed with spaghetti and meatballs, while the rest of the family cheers.

Not to be confused with AtTheOperaTonight where people go to have dinner and watch a show. In this trope, they are part of the "show".

An unfortunate bit of TruthInTelevision, as any advice column published around the holidays can attest to, as relatives who can get along when they keep a respectful (hundred miles or more) distance from one another can end up uncomfortable with one another if they have to be in the same room, especially if the stress of major holidays and the social pressure to present a joyful facade reach a boiling point.

* Happened during ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' 's yearly ThanksgivingEpisode. Some notable fights included Jackie and Bev fighting about Jackie's cop job, Nana Mary talking about her two abortions prior to having Bev, Jackie and Roseanne finding out about their father's decades of infidelity (though they wouldn't find out it had been decades until the following episode), and Bev [[ComingOutStory coming out]] as a lesbian. Not that it's restricted to Thanksgiving, of course; one family dinner with Bev in attendance featured Roseanne throwing biscuits across the table and Darlene bragging about being groped by a male friend.

* Fodder for many an AntiChristmasSong. A good example would be Music/TheArrogantWorms [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCgxJR5dixA "Christmas is Here,"]] where everyone is already tense, but then one member who has been drinking heavily insults his in laws, followed by announcing his wife's affair [[SleepingWithTheBoss with the boss]], causing the wife to start a FoodFight, escalating to knives and shotguns being picked up, and finally the cops arriving to find a massacre.

* One of the defining characteristics of the Crane family from ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', although usually some guests are involved as well. Recounting every time the family has thrown a disastrous dinner that descended into blood, tears, and chaos by the third act would take up half the page, but special mention should go to the time it was heavily {{Lampshaded}} in "Daphne Does Dinner", which featured a bizarre, NoodleImplements-filled opening scene, and in which Daphne's EpicFailure at her first lavish dinner since marrying Niles causes Frasier to proclaim that she is now "officially a Crane."

* In ''Series/DueSouth'', Ray Vecchio's family seems to have this as their default setting.

-->'''Robert:''' Is this your first Walker family dinner?
-->'''Sarah's latest male friend:''' Yes.
-->'''Robert:''' Good luck.
* One of the defining characteristics of the Crane family from ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', although usually some guests are involved as well. Recounting every time the family has thrown a disastrous dinner that descended into blood, tears, and chaos by the third act would take up half the page, but special mention should go to the time it was heavily {{Lampshaded}} in "Daphne Does Dinner", which featured a bizarre, NoodleImplements-filled opening scene, and in which Daphne's EpicFailure at her first lavish dinner since marrying Niles causes Frasier to proclaim that she is now [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "officially a Crane."]]

* In one issue of [[ComicBook/XMen Xtreme X-Men]], the team is gathered for a celebratory dinner. After several teammates start teasing [[ComicBook/{{Storm}} Ororo]], ComicBook/KittyPryde stands up: