longman 24TV what we watchWord文档格式.docx

longman 24TV what we watchWord文档格式.docx

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Teacher:

Goodmorning.WhowatchedTVlastnight?

Ah,mostofyou.OK,todaywearegoingtotalkaboutanimportantpartofthemedia—TV.Specifically,TVviewingandTVdramas.Nowfirst,I'

llgiveyousomebackground,thenwe’lldiscusswhatmakesthistypeofprogramming,dramas,

sopopularworldwide.

OK.Let'

sgetstarted.MostofyouwouldagreethatwatchingTVispartofmostpeople'

slives.NowstatisticsvaryonhowmuchTVpeoplewatch,butresearchshowsthatquiteafewAmericans,onaverage,exceedsixhoursofTVperday.

AnEnglishprofessornamedCeceliaTichihasstudiedTVformanyyears.Inherbook,ElectronicHearth:

CreatinganAmericanTelevisionCulture,shediscusseshowtheTVhasbecomethecenterofactivityathome.Wewalkintoaroom,turnontheTV,andsuddenlytheoutsideworldbecomeslessimportant.PeopleuseTVtotuneout,orforget,abouttheoutsideworld.We’resafetorelaxandjointheworldoftheTVshows.DoyoueverfeelthiswayaboutTV?

Yes,manyofyouarenodding.ShealsoseesourcultureasbeingdefinedbyTV.Now,bythisshemeansthatTVhasahugeinfluenceonourattitudes,onwhatweliketoeat,onwhatweliketowear,onwhatweliketotalkabout.Forexample,popularTVshowsarediscussedatwork,atschool,incoffeeshops.Why,evenchildrenfourorfiveyearsolddothiswiththeirfavoriteshows.ThisshowsthatweliveinaTVculture.

ImprovedtechnologyhascontributedfurthertoourTVculture.Satelliteservices,inparticular,haveexpandedtheTVprogramminginmanypartsoftheworld.TherearenowhundredsofTVchannelspeoplecanwatch,andtheoptionscontinuetoexpand:

gameshows,sports,news,talkshows,comedies,TVdramas,movies,…Man,withcableandsatellitetherearealotofchoices.

NielsenMediaResearchstudiespeople'

sTVviewinghabitsintheU.S.Theymonitorwhichshowsarepopularandwithwhom.Forexample,popularshowshaveincludedthegameshow“WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire?

”andtherealityTVshowSurvivor.Theywerevery,verypopularandwatchedbymillionsofpeopleofallagegroups.

Now,allofthisisreallybackground.WhatIwanttofocusontodayisoneformofapopularTVshowthatispopularwithmanypeopleofmanyagegroups.ThisisTVdramas,specificallyTVdramasknownassoapoperas,or,inSpanish,telenovelas.

Someofyoumightbefamiliarwithtelenovelas.TelenovelasandsoapoperasintheU.S.aresimilarbuthaveonebigdifference—thenumberofepisodestheyhave.TelenovelasandTVserialsendafterabout200episodes.Thestoryeventuallyends.SoapoperasintheU.S.，however,continuedayafterdayformanyyearsandmayneverend.Well,forexample,“TheGuidingLight”hasbeenonformorethan12,000episodes,andonitgoes.Canyoubelievethat?

Morethan12,000episodes!

SoapoperasstartedintheUnitedStatesin1959,withtheshow“TheGuidingLight.”TheseTVshowswerecalledsoapoperasbecausethemainadvertiserswerecompaniesthatmadesoap.

Now,thistypeofprogrammingispopularallovertheworld.Dozensofcountriesmaketheirownsoapoperashows.MexicansoapoperashavebeenvotedthemostpopularTVshowoftheyearincountriessuchasKoreaandRussia.JapanesesoapoperasaresenttoBelgium.U.S.soapoperasarewatchedworldwide.TheLatinAmericansoapopera,“BettyLaFea”,or“BettyTheUgly”,wasahugesuccessintheU.S.Braziliantelenovelasarethemostwidelydistributedtelevisionshowsintheworldandhavebeenseeninmorethan100countries.Andtherearemanyotherexamples.

Whatisitabouttheseshowsthatmakesthempopulareverywhere?

Andwhydopeoplefromverydifferentculturesallenjoywatchingthesamesoapopera?

Well,thereareacoupleofreasons.

OnereasonsuggestedbyRobertC.Allen,whohasdoneextensiveresearchontelevisionviewing,isthatmanysoapoperasdealwithuniversalthemesthatpeopleallovertheworldunderstand.Themesaretopics—forexample,family,love,personalstruggle,moneyproblems,marriageproblems,healthproblems,jobproblems.Viewersdonotneedtoknowthecultureinordertounderstandthefamilyproblemsintheshow.

NowaccordingtoIrnaPhillips,oneofthecreatorsof“TheGuidingLight”,anotherreasonisthatpeopleidentifywiththecharacters.Theyfeelthecharactersarejustlikethem.Toquoteherfromaninterview,"

they（thesoapoperas）dealwithlifeasweknowit.”Nowbythisshemeansthefamiliesinsoapoperasdealwithproblemsofeverydaylife.Andso,aspeoplewatcheveryday,dayafterday,aspecialbondorfeelingdevelopsbetweenthemandtheTVfamily.Theygettoknowthecharactersandtheirproblems.TheTVfamily’swelfarebecomesimportant.Thereisasenseofcommunity,ofsharing,offamily.Allofthesethingscontributetocharacterloyalty.Ifanyofyouhavewatchedashowregularly,youknowwhatImean.Youwatchitbecauseyouidentifywiththecharacters.

Now,writersofTVshowsunderstandthatTVviewerswanttohaveagroupofcharacterstoknowandcareabout.AsWendyRiche,formerexecutiveproducerof“GeneralHospital”putit,“theaudiencewantsapersonal,humanconnection，andwhentheygetit,theyaredevoted.”ThismeanstheybecomeveryloyaltotheTVcharacterstheywatcheveryday.Togiveaninterestingexamplefrom“AstheWorldTurns”:

Someyearsback,thewriterswantedtohavethemaincharacter,BobHughes,getshotonaFriday.Well,thatFridayturnedouttobeChristmasEve.Theproducersoftheshowtoldthewriters,“No,no,no…hecan’tbeshotonthisFriday’sshow.”Doyouknowwhy?

Student1:

Becauseitwastooviolent?

Well,no,notbecauseitwastooviolent,buttheydidn’twanthimshotontheFridaybeforeChristmas.

Student1：

Why?

Imean,whynot?

Becausetheaudiencewouldworryallweekendabouthim.Theywouldn’tknowifhewasaliveordead,andtheywouldnotenjoyChristmas.So,thewritershadtochangethestory,andhavehimshotafterChristmas.Imean，theviewersreallyidentifywiththesecharactersasifthey’rerealpeople.

WritersforeveningTValsotrytocreatecharacterloyalty,butnotwithacontinuingstory.Instead，eachweek,thestorybeginsandends.However,eachweekthesamecharactersappear,andviewerswatchbecausetheyknowthecharactersandtheycareaboutthem,likefriends.Agreatexampleofthiswastheshow“Seinfeld”.Therewerefourmaincharacters:

Jerry,George,Kramer,andElaine.Theyeachhadtheirownproblems,theirownpersonalities.Viewersgottoknowthem,andwantedtoseewhatwouldhappentothem．Whenyouthinkaboutit,don’tgoodwritersusuallydothis?

Theydevelopourinterestinthecharacterssothatwewanttokeepreading,orkeepwatchingTV.

Thenexttimeyouwatchasoapopera,thinkaboutthethemesthatmaketheseshowssopopularworldwide.Thinkabouthowaspeoplewatcheachday,theygettoknowthecharactersandbecomeapartofthatTVcommunity.OK,that’sallfortoday.Uh,it’stimeforyoutogohomeandwatchsomeTV!