美国文化口语秀(文本+MP3) 第392期:美国人爱看哪些美剧?

前两天艾美奖刚落下帷幕。说到美剧，大家应该都有自己的心头好。今天呢，推荐一些美国人爱看、而在国内并不那么大众化的美剧。我们会说说为什么这些剧在美国受欢迎。你不仅可以了解新美剧、还能了解它们所反应的当今美国文化。

关键词：

The Emmys were just handed out: 艾美奖刚颁
We'll talk about different viewing habits when it comes to TV shows in America: 今天说说美国人看剧的喜好习惯，和中国有些不同呢
各大奖项后面都要加个S
The Emmys
The Oscars
The Grammys
Because each award has many categories: 因为每个奖都有好多类别，所以要加S
They try to make the show fun and entertaining: 颁奖典礼都走幽默搞笑路线
A standup comedian usually hosts the ceremony: 通常由大排喜剧演员、脱口秀主持人主持
The opening monologue is really important in these shows: 开场白是最关键的

在美国，脱口秀地位不亚于美剧
Talk shows are a huge part of American life: 脱口秀是美国人生活的重要组成部分
Talk shows always reference to pop culture and current events: 节目会谈流行文化、时事
脱口秀吐槽、毒舌、手撕：
What a roast！
The hosts make fun of politicians and celebrities: 主持人都会拿政客、明星开涮
When talk show hosts make fun of famous people, it's called a "roast": 脱口秀主持人手撕名人政客，英语叫“roast"
As in roast meat: 就是烤肉的那个“烤”
They roasted Donald Trump at the Emmys: 这次艾美奖，川普就被roast惨了

对美国人来说，当然没有“美剧”的概念
We just call them TV shows: 我们就说电视剧
The 2 main categories are either comedy or drama: 两大类，喜剧、剧情剧

不过现在当红的还有两类融合剧：
1.Dramady (drama+comedy): 剧情类喜剧
It's not as serious as drama, but not just about being funny as comedy: 不像剧情剧那么严肃，但又不像喜剧一味搞笑
比如HBO的Silicon Valley (硅谷), 就属于dramady
2.Docudrama (documentary+drama): 纪录片式的剧情片
It's filmed documentary style, but it's a drama: 拍得很像纪录片，但其实是个剧情片
例子：
这次艾美奖拿了好几个奖项的People v. O.J. Simpson (美国犯罪故事：辛普森杀妻案)就是一部docudrama

Two Broke Girls, Big Bang Theory
在美国不红？
Two Broke Girls and Big Bang Theory were not nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at this year's Emmys: Two Broke Girls和Big Bang Theory这次都没被提名
Does it mean they are not as popular? 是因为它们在美国没那么受欢迎吗？
They might not have a current season: 可能正好提名季没有播
Also the Emmy nominations now tend to recognize newer, lesser known shows in order to bring attention to them:而且艾美奖提名现在更倾向表彰那些少有人知的新剧，以此让大家注意

这些在美国很红的美剧，你看过吗？
黑人版的“摩登家庭”
为何受欢迎？
这两年，美国种族冲突日益加剧。很多人都感觉大众文化里缺少对黑人文化正面的描述，所以大的network电视台ABC就开始扶持这类戏。
不仅面向黑人观众，更要让白人了解黑人生活。

亚裔美国人
The name of this show comes from an old saying: 这部戏的名字来自于一个英语说法
"Jack of all trades, master of none": 样样都会一点儿，但没一样精通, 就是三脚猫的意思
为何受欢迎？
It's not just about white Americans. It's created by Asian Americans: 这部戏的视角不是白人, 而是亚裔美国人
It talks about these second and third generation immigrants and their lives, their clashes with mainstream society: 它讲述了第二第三代亚裔美国人在美国的生活、虽然已经是美国人，但还是会遇到和主流文化的一些冲突
The show's co-creators Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari won best writing for a comedy series:这部戏的编剧Alan Yang和Aziz Ansari赢得了这次艾美奖的最佳喜剧类编剧

美剧会有更多亚裔美国人
节目里给大家放的那段Alan Yang得奖感言也道出了很多亚裔美国人的心声：
“There’s 17 million Asian-Americans in this country, and there’s 17 million Italian Americans. They have The Godfather, Goodfellas, Rocky, The Sopranos. We got Long Duk Dong, so we’ve got a long way to go.”
“Asian parents out there, if you can do me a favor: Just a couple of you, get your kids cameras instead of violins, we’ll all be good.”

Jenny推荐：
这部戏的主演Aziz Ansari是进入美国主流文化圈的印度裔美国人
He is a famous standup comedian: 是个很有名的脱口秀演员
He was on shows like Parks and Rec: 他演过美剧喜剧“公园与休憩”
“Parks and Rec”也是一部在美国口碑很好, 但在国内知名度不高的喜剧。
故事讲的是在公园与休憩这个美国政府部门工作的人的故事，这个部门负责管理美国的公园、公共休憩场所。
语言不难，但非常幽默、人物也很生动、多元化，非常推荐大家看。

理工男的崛起
代表美剧：Silicon Valley （硅谷）
为何受欢迎？
Silicon Valley's popularity reflects the rise of the startup culture and the rise of geeks:“硅谷”这部戏受欢迎反应了美国创业文化的热潮，还有奇客理工男的崛起
Entrepreneurial culture: 创业文化
If you're into technology, startup, you'll love this show: 如果你对科技、科技创业感兴趣，你应该会喜欢这部戏

美国社会热题：变性人、性别模糊
代表美剧：Transparent (透明人生)
为何受欢迎？
The issue of transgender, gender fluidity are hot-button issues in American society: 变性、性别流动性是美国社会近来的热题

吐槽美国政治
代表美剧：Veep （副总统）
为何受欢迎？
This show is the complete opposite of House of Cards: 这部戏和《纸牌屋》是完全相反的
The perspective on House of Cards is everything is a conspiracy and there's a mastermind behind everything: 《纸牌屋》的世界观是一切都是阴谋，有一个人幕后操控、主导一切
On Veep (nickname for Vice President), national and international politics are just office politics: 在《副总统》里，国家政治、国际政治无非就是办公室政治
Politicians have power but their power is very fragile: 政客虽然有权力，但这种权力是非常脆弱的
This show is extremely popular among well-educated viewers in America: 这部戏在美国知识分子中特别受欢迎
It's so funny, intelligent, the writing and the acting is so spot on: 无论是编剧、还是演出，都特别幽默、睿智，十分到位
It's a ducodrama, dramady: 它的风格是纪录片、喜剧、剧情片
总之Jenny超级五星推荐！

高质量美剧井喷，亚马逊都有自制剧
There has been an explosion of high quality TV shows: 这两年高质量美剧井喷
Networks, cable channels and streaming services are all investing heavily in productions:无线台、有线台、在线服务（如Netflix)都大手笔投入电视剧
Top talents from film are all doing TV now: 搞电影的一流人才现在都来做电视剧了
It's what they call prestige TV: 这类高质量剧叫prestige TV
It's hard to discover and keep up with so many great new shows: 那么多好看的美剧，追都追不过来