美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Disjointed' Is Like Any Workplace Sitcom — With More Pot, Sex And Language

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Chuck Lorre is television's sitcom¹ king. But every single broadcast network turned down his latest sitcom. NPR's Neda Ulaby tells us why.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE²: Chuck Lorre's new show starts Friday on Netflix with a huge star, Kathy Bates. It's called "Disjointed."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DISJOINTED")

KATHY BATES: (As Ruth) I'm Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, cannabis lawyer, cannabis activist³ and, just before I opened the door, cannabis user.

(LAUGHTER)

ULABY: Bates plays the proprietress of a medical marijuana dispensary. Recently I visited the show's Los Angeles set, a hippy-looking shop filled with psychedelic posters in glass cases displaying real product and a prop⁴ guy handing out vape pens to the actors.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: And we'll be vaping, vaping.

ULABY: All this was way too edgy⁵ for Chuck Lorre's home network even though his shows at CBS have earned more than a billion dollars according to Deadline Hollywood.

CHUCK LORRE: Nobody - we didn't even get a meeting out of it. We sent the script in and got back no.

ULABY: Bear in mind you're hearing the voice of someone who's created a multitude of other hits, including "Dharma and Greg," "Grace Under Fire," "Mike And Molly" and "Mom." Lorre says his latest show is just a workplace comedy - wacky customers, lovable employees, much in fact like "Cheers."

LORRE: The fact that they're smoking pot or if they were sitting at a bar in Boston, drinking with Sam and Norm and Cliff, there's still a surrogate family happening there of people care about each other.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DISJOINTED")

AARON MOTEN: (As Travis) Mom, this is a blueprint⁶ for the future.

ULABY: The tension in "Disjointed" comes partly from the dynamic between Kathy Bates' Earth mother and her much-more-corporate son. He's trying to convince her to build her pot dispensary into a national chain.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DISJOINTED")

MOTEN: (As Travis) The gold rush is on, and pretty soon, somebody's going to become the Walmart of cannabis. Why not us?

(LAUGHTER)

BATES: (As Ruth) Because Walmart is evil.

MOTEN: (As Travis) You shop there.

(LAUGHTER)

BATES: (As Ruth) Only when I'm buying in bulk.

(LAUGHTER)

ULABY: There are so many issues to explore in "Disjointed," including just the challenges of running a small woman-owned business. To ensure its accuracy, the show hired someone who does it for real.

DINA BROWNER: I am the cannabis consultant⁷ for the show.

ULABY: Dina Browner runs an actual dispensary in West Hollywood. She calls herself Dr. Dina.

BROWNER: I'm not a real doctor, but I am board certified⁸ by Snoop Dogg.

ULABY: Perhaps not the first time she's used that line. Browner says she helps pick out props⁹ for the show and guides the actors, some of whom are green when it comes to smoking weed.

BROWNER: They tend to hold the joints¹⁰ like cigarettes, which is my biggest - yeah, I hate that.

ULABY: But "Disjointed" star Kathy Bates says she needed no such coaching. The subject matter is partly what drew her to the show.

BATES: I have chronic¹¹ pain, and I have had my doctor give me a permit to have medical marijuana. And it's made such a difference for me.

ULABY: The co-creator of "Disjointed" Chuck Lorre does not use cannabis himself.

LORRE: I've certainly had a great deal of experience with the various and sundry¹² chemicals both fermented¹³ and otherwise.

ULABY: It's no secret that Lorre's been in recovery for many years. He does not discuss it directly, but his shows often do. His show "Mom," for example, is about a pair of recovering addicts¹⁴ - a mother and daughter. I asked Lorre how he felt about making a comedy about people using drugs.

LORRE: Why not do it, you know? I don't want to become the spokesperson for sobriety or intoxication¹⁵. But I would like to be the spokesperson for things that I think are funny. You know, I discussed with friends who I trust, you know, for their insight and perspective. Is it appropriate for me to do something like this? And their response was always, why not? It's funny.

ULABY: But pot humor is not always funny unless you happen to be high. Take a moment in the show when two stoners make a YouTube video.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DISJOINTED")

CHRIS REDD: (As Dank) Hi, I'm Dank.

BETSY SODARO: (As Dabby) And I'm Dabby. And you're watching Dank and Dabby, the channel by stoners, for stoners.

REDD: (As Dank) And by stoners.

(LAUGHTER)

ULABY: The entire idea for the show was David Javerbaum's. He co-created "Disjointed."

DAVID JAVERBAUM: Pot humor can be slow. It can be very slow. It can be very arduous¹⁶. That's not going to work with the rhythm of a multi-cam. It's got to be fast.

ULABY: Javerbaum is a former head writer for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." He says with "Disjointed," he actually wants viewers to feel high when they watch it. And he says it's OK with him if most of the audience actually is stoned.

JAVERBAUM: I mean people are watching Netflix stoned with or without our show, you know, by the millions, I would imagine. If the only people who watch us are stoned people who watch Netflix, that's an enormous audience. And I - that would be enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Here we go.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: All right. Let's roll, please.

ULABY: Back on the "Disjointed" set, a director says, we're rolling. On this show, that could mean any number of things. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

5 edgy   

adj.不安的；易怒的

参考例句：

• She's been a bit edgy lately,waiting for the exam results.她正在等待考试结果，所以最近有些焦躁不安。
• He was nervous and edgy, still chain-smoking.他紧张不安，还在一根接一根地抽着烟。

6 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

7 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

8 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

9 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

10 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

11 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

12 sundry   

adj.各式各样的，种种的

参考例句：

• This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
• We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。

13 fermented   

v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰

参考例句：

• When wine is fermented, it gives off gas. 酒发酵时发出气泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His speeches fermented trouble among the workers. 他的演讲在工人中引起骚动。 来自辞典例句

14 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

15 intoxication   

n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning

参考例句：

• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。
• Predator: Intoxication-Damage over time effect will now stack with other allies. Predator:Intoxication,持续性伤害的效果将会与队友相加。

16 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。