longman 24TV what we watch.docx

1、longman 24TV what we watchUnit 4TV: What We WatchTeacher: Good morning. Who watched TV last night? Ah, most of you. OK, today we are going to talk about an important part of the mediaTV. Specifically, TV viewing and TV dramas. Now first, Ill give you some background, then well discuss what makes thi

2、s type of programming, dramas,so popular worldwide.OK. Lets get started. Most of you would agree that watching TV is part of most peoples lives. Now statistics vary on how much TV people watch, but research shows that quite a few Americans, on average, exceed six hours of TV per day.An English profe

3、ssor named Cecelia Tichi has studied TV for many years. In her book, Electronic Hearth: Creating an American Television Culture, she discusses how the TV has become the center of activity at home. We walk into a room, turn on the TV, and suddenly the outside world becomes less important. People use

4、TV to tune out, or forget, about the outside world. Were safe to relax and join the world of the TV shows. Do you ever feel this way about TV? Yes, many of you are nodding. She also sees our culture as being defined by TV. Now, by this she means that TV has a huge influence on our attitudes, on what

5、 we like to eat, on what we like to wear, on what we like to talk about. For example, popular TV shows are discussed at work, at school, in coffee shops. Why, even children four or five years old do this with their favorite shows. This shows that we live in a TV culture.Improved technology has contr

6、ibuted further to our TV culture. Satellite services, in particular, have expanded the TV programming in many parts of the world. There are now hundreds of TV channels people can watch, and the options continue to expand: game shows, sports, news, talk shows, comedies, TV dramas, movies, Man, with c

7、able and satellite there are a lot of choices.Nielsen Media Research studies peoples TV viewing habits in the U.S. They monitor which shows are popular and with whom. For example, popular shows have included the game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and the reality TV show Survivor. They were v

8、ery, very popular and watched by millions of people of all age groups.Now, all of this is really background. What I want to focus on today is one form of a popular TV show that is popular with many people of many age groups. This is TV dramas, specifically TV dramas known as soap operas, or, in Span

9、ish, telenovelas.Some of you might be familiar with telenovelas. Telenovelas and soap operas in the U.S. are similar but have one big differencethe number of episodes they have. Telenovelas and TV serials end after about 200 episodes. The story eventually ends. Soap operas in the U.S.，however, conti

10、nue day after day for many years and may never end. Well, for example, “The Guiding Light” has been on for more than 12,000 episodes, and on it goes. Can you believe that? More than 12,000 episodes!Soap operas started in the United States in 1959, with the show “The Guiding Light.” These TV shows we

11、re called soap operas because the main advertisers were companies that made soap.Now, this type of programming is popular all over the world. Dozens of countries make their own soap opera shows. Mexican soap operas have been voted the most popular TV show of the year in countries such as Korea and R

12、ussia. Japanese soap operas are sent to Belgium. U.S. soap operas are watched worldwide. The Latin American soap opera, “Betty La Fea”, or “Betty The Ugly”, was a huge success in the U.S. Brazilian telenovelas are the most widely distributed television shows in the world and have been seen in more t

13、han 100 countries. And there are many other examples.What is it about these shows that makes them popular everywhere? And why do people from very different cultures all enjoy watching the same soap opera? Well, there are a couple of reasons.One reason suggested by Robert C. Allen, who has done exten

14、sive research on television viewing, is that many soap operas deal with universal themes that people all over the world understand. Themes are topicsfor example, family, love, personal struggle, money problems, marriage problems, health problems, job problems. Viewers do not need to know the culture

15、 in order to understand the family problems in the show.Now according to Irna Phillips, one of the creators of “The Guiding Light”, another reason is that people identify with the characters. They feel the characters are just like them. To quote her from an interview, they (the soap operas) deal wit

16、h life as we know it.” Now by this she means the families in soap operas deal with problems of everyday life. And so, as people watch every day, day after day, a special bond or feeling develops between them and the TV family. They get to know the characters and their problems. The TV familys welfar

17、e becomes important. There is a sense of community, of sharing, of family. All of these things contribute to character loyalty. If any of you have watched a show regularly, you know what I mean. You watch it because you identify with the characters.Now, writers of TV shows understand that TV viewers

18、 want to have a group of characters to know and care about. As Wendy Riche, former executive producer of “General Hospital” put it, “the audience wants a personal, human connection，and when they get it, they are devoted.” This means they become very loyal to the TV characters they watch every day. T

19、o give an interesting example from “As the World Turns”: Some years back, the writers wanted to have the main character, Bob Hughes, get shot on a Friday. Well, that Friday turned out to be Christmas Eve. The producers of the show told the writers, “No, no, no he cant be shot on this Fridays show.”

20、Do you know why?Student 1: Because it was too violent?Teacher: Well, no, not because it was too violent, but they didnt want him shot on the Friday before Christmas.Student 1：Why? I mean, why not?Teacher: Because the audience would worry all weekend about him. They wouldnt know if he was alive or de

21、ad, and they would not enjoy Christmas. So, the writers had to change the story, and have him shot after Christmas. I mean，the viewers really identify with these characters as if theyre real people.Writers for evening TV also try to create character loyalty, but not with a continuing story. Instead，

22、each week, the story begins and ends. However, each week the same characters appear, and viewers watch because they know the characters and they care about them, like friends. A great example of this was the show “Seinfeld”. There were four main characters: Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine. They ea

23、ch had their own problems, their own personalities. Viewers got to know them, and wanted to see what would happen to themWhen you think about it, dont good writers usually do this? They develop our interest in the characters so that we want to keep reading, or keep watching TV.The next time you watch a soap opera, think about the themes that make these shows so popular worldwide. Think about how as people watch each day, they get to know the characters and become a part of that TV community. OK, thats all for today. Uh, its time for you to go home and watch some TV!