5.《三人行》
Beginning in 1977, the American public was introduced to Jack Tripper, a guy who passes out in the bathtub of two young women and, rather than calling the cops, they invite him to live with them while he pretends to be gay so as not to arouse the suspicions of their landlord. Yeah, it's a pretty dumb concept, but it was a tremendously successful show and introduced the world to the great John Ritter, so we're okay with that.
1977年，电视剧《三人行》首播，主人公杰克·特里柏（Jack Tripper）随即成为美国人民茶余饭后的谈资。剧中，主人公杰克昏倒在一间两个年轻姑娘合租公寓的浴室里，但是两个姑娘发现他后，不但没有报警，反而留杰克与她们同住。不过，为了不引起房东的怀疑，杰克不得不假装自己是同性恋。确实，剧情听着是有些老套，但却获得了巨大成功，关键是它让我们认识了帅哥约翰·瑞特（John Ritter，男主角饰演者），这么说来，剧情无聊点也可以原谅了。
The show was actually not an original concept, instead having been based on a British sitcom called Man About the House, which aired from 1973 to 1976 and also led to a film version in 1974. The names are even extremely similar, with one of the female roommates being named Chrissy and the landlord being named Mr. Roper, which are obviously names that Three's Company borrowed for its own characters.
事实上，这部电视剧也并非美国原创，而是依据1973年至1976年播出的英国情景喜剧《合租的他》（ Man About the House）改编而来，1974年还被翻拍成了同名电影。英美两个版本中，甚至连女主角名字都很相似，其中一名女室友都被命名为克莉丝Chrissy，而房东则都被称呼为罗宾先生（Mr. Roper），单从这点我们也能看出这部剧是美国由英国引进的。
4.《副总统》
If you've never seen Veep, it's a hilarious, obscene, biting satire of the political landscape in Washington DC as seen through the eyes of the Vice President and her staff. It's gotten universal acclaim and has steadily grown into arguably the funniest show on TV, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering that it was actually based on a popular British sitcom called The Thick of It. Both shows were created by the same guy, Armando Iannucci, so it's kind of like how Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant brought The Office to America and made it similar enough to draw comparisons, but unique enough to stand on its own. It's not a direct copy of The Thick of It, obviously, considering it's tailored to American politics, but the same social and political satire and viciously funny dialogue is present in both shows.
通过一名女性副总统及其职员的视角，电视剧《副总统》尖锐地讽刺了美国政坛的滑稽和丑陋，一经播出便受到广泛好评，收视率也稳步上升，无可争辩地成为最有趣的电视节目。当然，这些成绩都不惊讶，因为其原版剧集是英国出品的《幕后危机》（The Thick of It），也是一部很受欢迎的情景喜剧。《副总统》和《幕后危机》均出自编剧阿尔曼多·伊安努奇（ Armando Iannucci）之手，这就有点像瑞奇·热维斯 （Ricky Gervais）和斯戴芬·莫昌特 （Stephen Merchant）一样，他俩创作出英国版情景喜剧《办公室》（The Office），并将其改编引入美国，两个版本虽然情节相似，但又各具特色，足以抓住当地人的眼球。很显然，这里提到的《副总统》并不是照搬《幕后危机》的台本，因为毕竟英美两国的政体不一样，所以改编成美国版时还要结合美国的政治体系，不过两个版本中对某些社会和政治现象的讽刺都如出一辙，台词犀利又不乏逗趣。
3.《桑福德和儿子》
Sanford and Son is one of the all-time classic 1970's sitcoms, and like another show that's going to pop up in a minute, it was developed for American television by Norman Lear. And when we say "developed for American television" we mean that, believe it or not, the show about Redd Foxx selling junk – literally, that was his job – was actually based on a British show called Steptoe and Son.
《桑福德和儿子》是20世纪70年代最经典的一档情景喜剧，就像我们将要讲到的最后一部剧一样，这部美国改编版的剧集也出自诺曼·李尔（Norman Lear）之手。什么？美国改编版？没错，不管你相信与否，小编敢跟你打包票说这部剧是由英国喜剧《斯特普托和儿子》（Steptoe and Son）改编而来，瑞德·福克斯（Redd Foxx）在剧中饰演主角桑福德，是个收售废旧品的商人。
Steptoe and Son ran from 1962-1974 on BBC1, and actually inspired a movie adaptation in 1972 and a sequel in 1973. Just like Sanford, it deals with the relationship between an old man and his son. While in Sanford, the father is a cantankerous old coot, Steptoe's father character falls more into the category of "dirty old man." Apparently American audiences were willing to watch Redd Foxx say wildly inappropriate, borderline racist things every week, but they couldn't stand to watch him act like a lech.
英国版《斯特普托和儿子》于1962年至1974年在BBC第一频道播出，并于1972年上映电影改编版，1973年还拍摄了续集。跟美版《桑福德和儿子》一样，这部剧讲述的也是一位中年男子和他儿子的故事。不过不同的是，在美版中，父亲桑福德是个呆头呆脑、没事爱找茬爱吐槽的中年男子，而英版中的父亲斯特普托则更有些偏向 "邋遢的老男人"的形象。美国观众似乎每周都很乐意看着瑞德·福克斯满嘴粗话的吐槽和暗讽种族主义，不过他们可受不了他那好色的小眼神。
2.《幸存者》
It's been nearly 14 years since Survivor debuted in the United States, and we've been stuck with Jeff Probst and his smug, tanned face ever since. Survivor was the show that really opened the door for reality competition in America, which can be viewed as either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether you're making a ton of money producing them, or if you're just plain sick of fabricated "real" drama.
自美国版《幸存者》开播已有大约十四年光景，十四年来，我们的目光期期都追随着那位皮肤黝黑、好沾沾自喜的主持人杰夫·普罗斯特（Jeff Probst）。《幸存者》真正开创了美国真人竞技类节目的先河，不过人们对其评价也褒贬不一，有人觉得它收视率高，是棵摇钱树；但也有观众表示他们对这种假惺惺的"真人秀"已经感到视觉疲劳了。
Amazingly, this show that changed the face of television in America, for better or worse, is actually an import. The show Expedition Robinson debuted in Sweden in 1997, and the concept had actually been in the works since 1994. The Robinson in the title could mean either Swiss Family Robinson or Robinson Crusoe, as there was never really any distinction made. To put into perspective how wildly successful the show was in Sweden, consider that at the time of its finale, the country had about 8.8 million residents, and more than four million of them tuned in to watch. For those who are not particularly quick with math, that's just under half of the entire population watching the final "island council".
你绝对想不到，这档在美国电视节目史上具有里程碑意义的节目其实也是个"舶来品"。它借鉴的是瑞典真人秀节目《鲁滨逊探险记》（Expedition Robinson）。节目于1997年首播，不过其构想早于1994年就已成型。该节目以"鲁滨逊"为名，其灵感可能源自迪斯尼电影《海角乐园》（Swiss Family Robinson ），也可能源自小说《鲁滨逊漂流记》（Robinson Crusoe），不过倒也没人细追过缘由。试想一下在居住人口880万的瑞典，有超过400万的人都守在电视机前守候其收官之作的场景，你就能感受到这档节目在瑞典有多火了。友情提示下数学不好的亲们，瑞典全国上下可是有几近一半的人口都观看了最后一期节目"岛屿议会"，够震撼吧。
1.《全家福》
All in the Family is arguably the most influential sitcom in the history of television, period. It was brash, it was bold, and believe it or not, it was also imported. The show was based on a British sitcom called Till Death Do Us Part, which aired from 1965-1975 on BBC1. Originally, CBS was trying to acquire the rights to Till Death … and turn it into a showcase for Jackie Gleason, but ABC won the bidding war and thus, All in the Family was born.
《全家福》可以说是电视史上最具影响力的一档情景喜剧，它取材醒目而大胆，但小编想告诉大家，这部剧其实也是从国外引进的，信不信由你。该剧是根据英国于1965年至1975年在BBC第一频道播出的情景喜剧《最爱》（Till Death Do Us Part）改编而来。最初是美国CBS电视台竭力获取《最爱》的版权，想将其为杰克·格里森（Jackie Gleason）量身改造，但意外的是，ABC电视台最后赢得了这场竞标，也随之成就了后来的《全家福》。
Now you're probably wondering where you can actually see the show that inspired America's most influential comedy, and the answer is basically nowhere. At least, not if you want to see any of the early episodes, which were wiped out thanks to a peculiar BBC policy that dictated old shows regularly get deleted so the company could reuse the tapes. And this was before reruns became a thing. By all accounts, the show was even more offensive than All in the Family, so maybe it's for the best.
你现在可能很想知道在哪里可以看到这部启示了美国最具影响力的喜剧吧？很遗憾，这部剧的资源几乎已经无处可寻了，至少最初的一些剧集是看不到了。因为当年BBC有一项奇怪的政策，规定要洗掉老节目的录像以便公司可以重新使用那些录像带来录制新节目。当然了，那个年代还没有"重播"这回事。据说这部剧比《全家福》的"尺度"还大，涉及敏感话题多，或许当年洗掉录像带还真是个正确的选择。
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