美国国家公共电台 NPR A Kinder, Gentler Wave Of Reality TV Tries A Little Tenderness, For A Change

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

When you think of reality television, drama like this probably comes to mind...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I came here to be No. 1.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Coming up next, here on NBC...

KELLY: ...Screaming matches, hot tub hookups, contestants¹ there to win, not to make friends. But recently, reality has taken a kinder, gentler turn. Take the new "Queer Eye" on Netflix, which started its fourth season with a public school teacher getting a makeover.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "QUEER EYE")

JONATHAN VAN NESS: And I really want to celebrate you. And I also want to celebrate that I'm going to be cutting your hair.

KELLY: NPR's Neda Ulaby reports on reality's new nice.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE²: A lot of Netflix reality shows tend to be awfully³ sweet.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW")

MARY BERRY: That's quite something. That is absolutely delicious.

ULABY: "The Great British Baking Show" was just one of many warm-hearted food programs on Netflix including "Sugar Rush," "Street Food" and "Nailed It," where contestants giggle⁴ over epic⁵ failures in decorating cakes. On the Netflix dating show "Dating Around," you'll see hardly any jerks. And on "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo," the Japanese organizing guru gently guides Americans into discarding stuff that doesn't spark joy.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TIDYING UP WITH MARIE KONDO")

MARIE KONDO: Does this spark joy for you?

BRANDON RIEGG: We say spark joy now for everything.

ULABY: Brandon Riegg is the Netflix vice⁶ president in charge of unscripted series. He says the streaming site has more than a hundred reality shows, including some in the works, and many of them are based on people being kind to each other.

RIEGG: In the beginning, it wasn't an intentional⁷ strategy. When we decided⁸ to get into original unscripted programming, it really was a blank slate⁹.

ULABY: So why not, he said, try something different? Namely - being nice.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "NAILED IT")

JACQUES TORRES: You're so nice.

NICOLE BYER: Actually, both of you are so nice.

ULABY: Those are the hosts of "Nailed It." That show and "Queer Eye" were both so successful, Netflix decided to make positive reality programming central to its brand. Since Netflix does not release audience numbers, we don't exactly know what successful means. But Riegg says the trend of sweet-natured reality television has spread across the industry.

RIEGG: Everybody's noticing. Viewers are more drawn¹⁰ to that. There is an appetite for that.

ULABY: NBC may have helped start this trend years ago with "The Biggest Loser," along with ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which Riegg helped develop. Andy Dehnart runs the website Reality Blurred¹¹.

ANDY DEHNART: As a critic, as a fan of reality TV, I love it. It makes it a lot easier to watch, to write about and to just enjoy.

ULABY: Plus, Dehnart says, there's shows families can watch together. Of course there are still mean-spirited reality shows out there, including ones on Netflix. But generally, we may be seeking a break from people being rotten to each other, says Tara Long, who runs a number of reality shows including "Growing Up Hip¹² Hop¹³" and "Siesta¹⁴ Key."

TARA LONG: We actually have production meetings when we start and say we don't want fighting.

ULABY: A profound shift, Long says, from when reality relied on people flipping¹⁵ tables for drama. I asked Long if people like her who make reality television might be trying to change the cultural conversation after 20 years of toxic¹⁶ reality shows.

LONG: A hundred percent. I think we want to create this content and tell these stories to try to course-correct for some of the type of shows that have been done in the past.

ULABY: At a moment when the tone of public discourse¹⁷ feels so lowered, Long says, maybe it's time for reality television - yes, reality television - to lead a push toward civility and respect.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE NICE")

BLACK EYED PEAS: (Singing) Be nice.

ULABY: Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE NICE")

BLACK EYED PEAS: (Singing) Be nice. Be nice.

1 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

4 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

5 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

14 siesta   

n.午睡

参考例句：

• Lots of people were taking a short siesta in the shade.午后很多人在阴凉处小睡。
• He had acquired the knack of snatching his siesta in the most unfavourable circumstance.他学会了在最喧闹的场合下抓紧时间睡觉的诀窍。

15 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

16 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

17 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。