美国国家公共电台 NPR Film Critic Delves Into 60-Year 'Biography' Of Television

Film Critic Delves¹ Into 60-Year 'Biography' Of Television

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Five thousand years - according to author and film critic David Thomson, that's how much programming has been on television if you played everything that has ever been on every single channel of American TV in its history. Thomson has valiantly³ taken on a survey of this massive medium in his book, "Television: A Biography." He joins us now from the studios of KQED in San Francisco. Welcome to the program.

DAVID THOMSON: Thank you so much for having me.

MARTIN: This is a huge book about a huge topic, so we asked you to do a little work for us. We asked you to suggest some TV moments that signal important milestones⁴ in television. And the first one we're going to play is this one.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TEXACO STAR THEATRE")

MILTON BERLE: (As Uncle Miltie) You're all invited to the farewell surprise party that I'm throwing for myself tonight.

(LAUGHTER)

BERLE: (As Uncle Miltie) I'm throwing a farewell surprise party for myself.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) You're throwing the party? Where's the surprise?

BERLE: I'm paying for it.

MARTIN: (Laughter) So why don't you do the honors of introducing who that is and why it's important?

THOMSON: Well, that was Uncle Miltie, Milton Berle, and he started on television in 1948. In all candor⁵, having looked back at it, because I was too young and too far away to see it at the time, I don't think he was that good.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

THOMSON: But he's an example of something that keeps happening in television, which is that people who are not overflowing⁶ in talent are in the right place at the right time, and they become identified with the medium. And he was known as Mr. Television.

MARTIN: Let's play another famous moment of TV history. This is Walter Cronkite.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WALTER CRONKITE: From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently⁷ official, President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time, 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.

THOMSON: What you don't quite get on just the soundtrack but you saw, if you saw it, is that there was a tear in his eye. And he's clearly deeply affected⁸ and shocked. But for Cronkite personally, ironically, it became a keynote. And people who saw him do it, that were other people doing it on other networks, but they related it to Cronkite.

And I think it had a lot to do with the way in which he would become, in the next 20 years, such a figure of reassurance⁹ and reliability¹⁰. He's probably the classic steadfast¹¹ newscaster that American television has ever had.

MARTIN: It also stands in such contrast to where we are today in terms of the media landscape and the number of choices and how people feel about those newscasters, the level of trust or mistrust placed in them.

THOMSON: I agree totally. And, you know, what you could hear in him was that instinct that this is a huge event and it needs absolute simplicity¹². And there is so much shouting and talking down and talking over other people on alleged¹³ news programs today. And I think that has a lot to do with the way the public doesn't really trust the news anymore, the TV news particularly. In those days, when Cronkite was so big at CBS, he had a very large audience. And no news network today has anything like that audience. The news has been scattered¹⁴ and blown to the wind.

MARTIN: Next, a part of television history we can signal with just four notes.

(SOUNDBITE OF WALTER SCHUMANN'S "DRAGNET")

MARTIN: There it is.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DRAGNET")

GEORGE FENNEMAN: (As Announcer) The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

MARTIN: "Dragnet."

THOMSON: That's right.

MARTIN: Cop shows. It was - was it the original? Was it the first?

THOMSON: I think there were a couple of others around the same time, but it was the first big one. And you can hear there that it's radio. That's where it had come from. And it was a huge success on television, so incredibly simple that now it has the sort of charm of self-parody, which it never intended. But we still have how many cop shows? Every few years, some great new cop show comes along, although, of course, there is a difference.

Time and again these days, the villains¹⁵, the criminals, are the central figures in these shows. And if you look at it overall, historically, it is remarkable¹⁶, I think, how the American audience has shifted its allegiance from the cops who will protect the innocents to people like Walter White in "Breaking Bad," Tony Soprano, who are certainly not the innocents and really don't belong in a world where there is very much innocence¹⁷. So there's been an amazing shift.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BREAKING BAD")

BRYAN CRANSTON: (As Walter White) You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No, I am the one who knocks.

THOMSON: We no longer quite believe in the rigid¹⁸ wall demarcation between people who are lawful¹⁹ and people who aren't.

MARTIN: Yeah.

THOMSON: It's a much, much more complicated society, more cynical²⁰ in many ways, more sad in many ways, too. And the bad cop has become a very key figure in a lot of these series now, whereas Joe Friday, you would never have imagined that Joe Friday would even park illegally.

MARTIN: As a result, Joe Friday wasn't that interesting, was he?

THOMSON: I think if you look at Joe Friday today, it's very hard to believe people watched it as faithfully as they did.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

THOMSON: But again, that's a condition of looking at television historically. You have to say, boy, did my parents love that?

MARTIN: Yeah, it's all relative.

THOMSON: But they did.

MARTIN: David Thomson, author of "Television: A Biography." He joined us from the studios of KQED in San Francisco. David, thank you so much for talking with us.

THOMSON: Thank you so much.

1 delves   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That delves the grave duly. 误不了你的洞房。 来自互联网
• The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. 此次展览向人们介绍了人体物理、气味甚至肠胃胀气的声音等各方面知识。 来自互联网

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 valiantly   

adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳

参考例句：

• He faced the enemy valiantly, shuned no difficulties and dangers and would not hesitate to lay down his life if need be. 他英勇对敌，不避艰险，赴汤蹈火在所不计。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Murcertach strove valiantly to meet the new order of things. 面对这个新事态，默克塔克英勇奋斗。 来自辞典例句

4 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

5 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

6 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

10 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

11 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

12 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

15 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

17 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

18 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

19 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

20 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。