电视剧行业在不断发展进步中经历了三个黄金时代，今天文中的“the golden age of TV”指的是从20世纪90年代后期或21世纪初开始的，被广泛认为是高质量电视剧层出不穷的时代。究其原因，媒体、互联网技术的应用，以及电视可用时数的大幅增加，引发了大量内容创作，也提升了电视剧行业从业者的创造力。
在保持了长期的情景剧风格之后，电视剧开始向小说式的剧情发展。这一时期的电视剧围绕一个故事进行长时间的细节描画，情节发展缓慢。而现在，电视剧仿佛更像是一个短篇故事集，各剧集之间相互独立，由不同的编剧、导演和演员完成。同一个电视剧不同剧集之间质量也可能判若云泥。而这些联系不怎么紧密的剧集也使得我们可以随意选择感兴趣的节目来观看，大大减少了我们需要投入的成本。
但与这一趋势相违背的是 Netflix Bloat 现象。在如今电视节目内容异常丰富的今天，作为观众的我们对于 Netflix Bloat 风格的电视剧无法忍受，与其观看这些剧情模糊而又拖拉的节目，倒不如跟随潮流选择那些可以任意“出入”，不需花费大量力气即可轻松理解的节目。
本篇课程首发于2018年12月03日
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Television has abandoned the novel to become a short story collection
① One of the most common observations on the golden age of TV was that it marked the point where TV became novelistic.
② After years and years of sitcom-style episodic resets - where detective characters never once questioned why such an unthinkable number of people were murdered around them, TV series began to show great delight in telling a single detail-heavy story very slowly.
③ But that was then. Now, television has abandoned the novel to become a short story collection.
④ Every episode self-contained – often with different writers, directors and actors – linked only by a nebulous theme.
⑤ One of the biggest criticisms of the 'Peak TV Era' is the phenomenon of Netflix Bloat.
⑥ We've all constantly got so much good television to watch that we've become much less tolerant when the novelistic story inevitably starts to meander halfway through a series.
⑦ It makes us feel like our time is being wasted. But with an anthology series, you can just dip in and out. It requires much less dedication.
⑧ But by their very nature, anthologies are notoriously patchy affairs.
⑨ Every episode requires a brand new idea, and good ideas are hard to come by.
⑩ They rocket between amazing highs and terrible, terrible lows. Often the good episodes are so good that nobody dwells on the clunkers.
⑪ This sort of show makes perfect sense for 2018.
▍生词好句
observation /ˌɒbzəˈveɪʃən/: n. 观察；监视
detective /dɪˈtektɪv/: adj. 侦探的 n. 侦探
self-contained /ˌself.kənˈteɪnd/: adj. 独立的
dwell /dwel/: vi. 居住；细想某事
▍词汇拓展
1. The golden age of TV: a period started in the late 1990s or the early 2000s with
better TV distribution
2. mark the point: if an event "marks a point in history", it shows the time when something important happened (usually an important change)
3. novelistic /'nɑvə'lɪstɪk/: adj. be related to novels / having the characteristics of the novel
novelistic (novel + -istic): realistic/ futuristic/artistic
His diary describes his life in novelistic detail.
他的日记将生活中的细节以小说的形式记录下来。
The film uses a very novelistic style to tell the story.
这部影片以小说的形式来讲述故事。
4. after years and years: something happened for a long time and then changed
After years and years of eating meat, he suddenly became a vegetarian.
在奉行了许多年的吃肉的习惯后，他突然成为了一个素食主义者。
After years and years of writing poetry, he decided to write a novel.
长时间的创作诗歌后，他决定去写小说。
After years and years of living in England, he decided to travel the world.
在英国居住了很长时间后，他决定去环游世界。
5. sitcom /ˈsɪtkɒm, ˈsɪtkɑːm/: n. television series with the same characters involved in funny situations in every show, like The Big Bang Theory and Friends.
episodic: having lots of episodes
6. reset /ˌri:ˈset/: vt. if you reset something, you change the details of something
I need to reset my password.
我需要重置我的密码。
reset /ˈriːset/: n. something which has been reset / a thing that is the same but has had the details changed
an episodic reset: the same kind of TV episode week after week when some of the details changed
Every episode is reset. The character's memory is reset in every episode.
每一期都重新设定，角色的记忆设定每一期都不同。
7. unthinkable /ʌnˈθɪŋkəbəl/: adj. very unlikely, unbelievable / We cannot believe that it is possible. / It's very difficult or impossible to imagine.
The idea of taking photos with mobile phones seemed unthinkable just 30 years ago.
用手机照相在30年前看起来是不可思议的。
There are an unthinkable number of stars in the universe.
在宇宙中星星的数目大得惊人
an unthinkable number amount = a number that is so high that we cannot believe it or imagine it
8. detail-heavy: adj. too many details
noun + heavy = a lot of something (too much of something)
Fast food can be quite oil-heavy.
快餐太油了。
The music is a bit too guitar-heavy.
这音乐里面有太多吉他的演奏。
The film is a bit too romance-heavy.
这部电影有点太浪漫了。
9. abandon /əˈbændən/: vt. to leave that thing and choose another thing instead
She abandoned law for painting.
她为学画画放弃了法律。
He abandoned the army to go into the politics.
他从队伍中退伍，转而投身了政治。
Early in his musical career he abandoned rock for jazz.
在他早期音乐生涯中，他放弃了摇滚选择了爵士。
Television has abandoned its novelistic style for a short story style.
电视剧放弃了其小说式的风格，转变为短篇故事集的形式。
10. self-contained /ˌselfkənˈteɪnd/: adj. independent / not connected to other parts
Each chapter of the book is self-contained so you can read the chapters in any order.
这本书的每一章节都是相互独立的，所以你可以从任一章节开始阅读。
He is a self-contained person.
他很独立。
11. nebulous /ˈnebjələs/: adj. vague / unclear / cloudy
I think the plan is quite nebulous.
我认为这个计划很不具体。
She has a nebulous idea about her career, but nothing certain or definite.
她对自己事业的想法很模糊，没有任何事情是确定下来的。
There is a nebulous connection between Spider-man I and Spider-man II. 《蜘蛛侠I》和 《蜘蛛侠II》之间的联系很微弱。
12. Peak TV: a time in TV history where the choice of TV programmes is overwhelming for the viewer (there are too many TV programmes)
13. bloat /bləʊt, bloʊt/: vt. something is bloated = too much of something
Netflix Bloat means when TV series have too many episodes and not enough interesting stories to fill each episode, resulting in episodes that seem slow or kind of pointless. They may use 4 or 5 episodes to tell us something that we didn’t really need to know for that TV series.
14. tolerant: willing to accept something
less-tolerant: not to accept something easily / not like it
15. meander /miˈændə, miˈændər/: vi. If something (or someone) "meanders", there is no clear purpose or direction.
The film meanders; it has no clear story.
这部电影很模糊，没有清晰的故事。
The film is meandering.
这部电影故事情节不清晰。
The book is a romance-heavy meandering story with an unthinkable number of boring chapters.
这本书故事不清晰，加入了过多的浪漫因素，而且章节冗余，十分无聊。
16. inevitably /ɪˈnevɪtəbli,ˌɪnˈevətəbli/: adv. something is certain to happen / we know it will happen
17. to dip in and out of sth.: to do something in a very casual way
anthology series: a collection of stories, poems, etc., by different writers
an anthology of children's poetry 《儿童诗歌集》
an anthology of modern quotations 《现代语录选集》
18. dedication /ˌdedɪˈkeɪʃən, ˌdedəˈkeɪʃən/: n. if something requires dedication, you need to give it a lot of your energy and time
She worked with great dedication to find a cure for the disease.
她花费大力气去寻找该疾病的治愈方法。
You will need dedication and determination to complete the course.
你需要全身心的投入和决心才能完成这门课程。
19. by one's very nature: things like this always share the same characteristic
Romantic films are, by their very nature, more popular with teenage girls than with boys.
爱情电影就其本质来说更受女孩的欢迎。
Larger financial investments are, by their very nature, very risky.
大数额的金融投资就其本身来讲是很有风险的。
20. patchy affairs /ˈpætʃi/: If something is a patchy affair, sometimes it’s good and sometimes bad. / Parts of it are good but other parts are bad.
21. hard to come by: difficult to find or get
Part-time jobs are hard to come by in summer because many students are on holiday.
在夏天很难找到兼职，因为很多学生正处于假期期间。
Some fruits are hard to come by in winter.
很多水果在冬天很难吃到。
22. highs and lows: high points and low points
The film tells the story of the highs and lows of his musical career.
这部电影讲述了他音乐生涯的起起伏伏。
23. dwell on sth.: to keep on talking about and thinking about something, especially something bad
Learn from your mistake but don't dwell on them.
你应该从错误中吸取教训，而不应沉溺于错误。
He was fired from his job but he did not dwell on this. He went out and found a new job immediately.
他被老板炒了鱿鱼，但他并未沉沦于此，而是走了出来并立刻找到了下一份工作。
24. clunker /'klʌŋkə, 'klʌŋkər/: n. something very bad in quality or completely unsuccessful
The film is a real clunker, a totally patchy affair with a meandering plot but some good acting here and there.
这部电影真得不怎么成功，故事情节很不清晰，不过还是有好的演技贯穿其中。
Her album is a patchy affair; it rockets between amazing highs and terrible, terrible lows. Some of the songs are amazing and others are total clunkers.
她的专辑毁誉参半，在令人赞许的制高点和特别糟糕的低处来回摇摆。一些歌曲让人很惊喜，一些歌曲却也糟糕得彻底。
▍责任编辑
武志琳、李焕、章晓丹