肥皂剧的魅力所在

The term "soap opera" was coined by the American press in the 1930s to denote the extraordinarily popular genre of serialized domestic radio dramas, which, by 1940, represented some 90% of all commercially-sponsored daytime broadcast hours. The "soap" in soap opera alluded to their sponsorship by manufacturers of household cleaning products; while the "opera" part came from the fact that they were about dilemmas and other dramatic or melodramatic situations.
“肥皂剧”这个词是20世纪30年代由美国媒体创造的，用来指风靡一时、到1940年已经占据了约90％的日间商业性广播时间的家庭类系列广播剧。“肥皂剧”中的“肥皂”一词暗指它们的赞助商多为家庭洗涤用品生产商，而称之为“剧”则因为它们表现的往往是人所面临的困境以及其他戏剧或情节剧般的情形。

The Appeal of the Soap 肥皂剧的魅力

Many people watch soaps because it pleases us to see and hear other people's problems, which in turn distracts us from our own. However, a soap opera has no real victims as the characters, of course, are fictional. However, we like to make guesses about their actions and reactions based on our knowledge of them. We like to see them develop as we get to know them and we enjoy learning about the complex relationships between characters.
许多人喜欢看肥皂剧是因为我们乐于知晓他人的麻烦，由此转移我们对自身烦恼的注意力。然而，肥皂剧中的受害者并不真正存在，因为那些人物毫无疑问都是虚构的。尽管如此，我们还是乐此不疲地根据我们对他们的了解来猜测他们的举动和反应。在熟悉他们之后，我们就喜欢看着他们一步步走下去，乐于了解人物间复杂的关系。

We become semi-experts on our favourite soaps, and our encyclopaedic knowledge of them, fuelled by the above points, gives us great pleasure. In a voyeuristic manner, we like to watch other people's lives, as, in the case of soap operas, they are just like ours, but more interesting.
我们成为我们所钟爱的肥皂剧准专家，对他们全方位的了解给我们带来了极大的乐趣。我们喜欢窥视别人的生活，因为在肥皂剧中，他们的生活就是我们生活的写照，只是更有趣些而已。

From the point of view of broadcasters, soaps are good because they are very cheap to produce, yet have huge audiences and can, therefore, generate huge revenues. They can often run for years without coming to an end--Days of Our Lives is more than 40 years old. Sets are used again and again, special costumes are not required and little or no location filming is ever needed.
对电视台来说，肥皂剧的受宠是因为它们的制作成本很低，但却拥有庞大的观众群，因此能带来巨额的收入。它们往往可以连续播放好些年还不结束——《我们的生活》就已演了四十多年。布景被不断地重复利用，不需要特制服装，外景拍摄很少或根本没有。

They are also quick to produce--each minute of recording taking only one hour to film. This may sound like a lot, but on film sets, it can often take days just to successfully direct a mere few seconds of action.
此外，它们所需的制作时间很短，一分钟的录像仅需拍摄一小时。这听起来似乎很多，但实际上，如果是拍摄电影的话，成功拍摄一个几秒钟的情节常常要花好几天的时间。

Channels maintain an unspoken agreement that their soaps are not scheduled for the same time. This is because a planned ratings war would not help either broadcaster, as has been proven by past experience.
各频道之间有一个心照不宣的共识，即它们不在同一时间播肥皂剧。这是因为，过去的经验已证明，各电视台间收视率的比拼对大家都没好处。

Advertising slots in soaps are expensive to purchase, but guarantee large numbers of viewers seeing the advert. There are also numerous opportunities for the programme makers to sell themed items based on their soap; this merchandising can be expected to have a very large market.
在肥皂剧中插播广告的费用非常昂贵，但能保证大批观众看到广告。另外，制片商还有无数的机会去销售以该肥皂剧为基础的衍生商品，而这种营销方式也将会占据很大的市场。

The Appetite of the Audience 观众的需求

Soap fans are notoriously loyal, but even loyal fans are enraged when they feel that they are being talked down to by networks. In an age where reality television still rules the ratings, fans of daytime television want to see more reality infused into their soaps--and that means fewer resurrections of characters that have died years earlier.
肥皂剧迷们是出了名的忠诚，但当感觉被电视网耍了的时候，再忠诚的剧迷也会火冒三丈。在这个电视真人秀仍主宰收视率的年代，日间电视迷们希望看到肥皂剧中融入更多的真实因素，而这就意味着他们不愿意看到那些早已去世的人物被重新搬上银屏。

While ultimately an asset, soap opera viewers can also be a major liability to the soaps. Procter & Gamble has often found its products the target of boycotts by viewers who were dissatisfied with decisions made on its soap operas.
从根本上说，肥皂剧迷是财富，但有时他们也会成为电视剧最大的束缚。宝洁公司就经常发现自己的产品成了那些对剧情不满的观众们的抵制对象。

Fanatical viewers flood studios, magazines and web sites with mail stating their disinterest in certain storylines or romantic pairings. Networks execs may then change the course of a storyline based upon this fan mail. However, this mail is often generated by a far smaller percentage of the viewing population than it would appear. As a storyline is changed to appease the minority, the viewing majority then ends up disappointed.
狂热的观众会向电台、杂志和网站发去铺天盖地的邮件，表达自己对某处剧情或剧中恋人配对的不满。电视网的监制们往往会根据这种剧迷来信改变故事情节的发展。可是，这类邮件看似代表众多观众的意见，但却通常出自极小部分观众之手。情节改编后，那个少数群体得到了满足，多数观众却非常失望。

With some soaps having been on the air for more than 30 years, some viewers wonder if the soaps haven't told every story that there is to tell. It is often very true that storylines are rehashed over and over, just with different characters. Soaps need to remain contemporary: life and society are both constantly evolving. There will always be stories to tell. But the soap opera genre is about more than just about telling stories--and if that is a widely-held belief, it needs to be changed.
有些肥皂剧已播了三十多年，一些观众开始怀疑它是否已经把所有能讲的故事都讲完了。很多情况下，故事情节的确被重复了无数遍，区别仅仅是经历的人物不同而已。生活和社会都在不断变迁，肥皂剧也需要跟上时代。故事总是层出不穷的，但肥皂剧不能仅限于讲故事——如果这一观念被广泛认可的话，那么我们就得换换脑筋了。