美国国家公共电台 NPR Anthology TV Series Undergo Renaissance With 'American Crime,' 'Feud'

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The third season of "American Crime" premieres this Sunday on ABC.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AMERICAN CRIME")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) When they were running crack in the city, they didn't have any Narcan. They let the Mexicans die. They let the blacks die. Everyone coming to the suburbs, and all of a sudden, they got magic powder.

CORNISH: Now, we wouldn't normally talk about the third season of a TV series, but "American Crime" is an anthology show. Each season is an entirely¹ new story. It's also one of a number of anthologies on TV these days. Joining me now to talk about this is NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans. Hey, there, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE²: Hey.

CORNISH: And our pop culture critic Linda Holmes. Welcome back to the studio, Linda.

LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Hi, Audie.

CORNISH: OK. So let's start with "American Crime" because I know this is a favorite of yours, Eric. Help us understand what it's doing right when it comes to the anthology approach.

DEGGANS: Well, what's interesting to me about "American Crime" is that this year we're getting something different from them where they really take you into the world of migrant workers, vegetable pickers, sex traffickers - people who are sort of at the margins³ of society. And you really sort of get to see life through their eyes.

And this would be hard to sustain, I think, you know, season over season because network TV is often aspirational⁴. We see people living these middle-class lives that may even be beyond what, you know, the salary they may earn and whatever job they're supposed to have. So TV showing us people at the margins of society and really making us identify with them - you know, you can do it for a season, but to try to do it for three or four it would be really hard, I think.

CORNISH: Now, you guys pointed⁵ out to me that, like, this goes back to the '50s actually. "The Twilight⁶ Zone" was an anthology show, but we're not making it up that it's going through a bit of a renaissance⁷, right, Linda?

HOLMES: No, absolutely not. Shows like "The Twilight Zone" and, actually, also "Black Mirror" are more like anthology by episode, and these are more anthology by season. So shows like "Fargo" and "American Crime" are an entire season of one story. And then they stop, and they tell another story, which, although it might be tangentially⁸ connected, is basically a new story with sometimes a new cast and sometimes, like, a half-new cast.

CORNISH: Right. There's "American Horror Story" - Ryan Murphy.

HOLMES: Yeah.

CORNISH: And also he has a new and called "Feud⁹"...

HOLMES: Yes.

CORNISH: ...Which tackles...

HOLMES: Right.

CORNISH: ...Great feuds¹⁰ in history, I guess, at least starting with the first one.

HOLMES: right. The first one is Bette Davis and Joan Crawford when they were filming "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" They've already announced that the next one will be Charles and Diana, so it's a...

CORNISH: Eh (ph).

DEGGANS: Eh?

CORNISH: Eh (laughter).

HOLMES: ...It is a switch of...

DEGGANS: Very much so.

HOLMES: But they're connected by that thematic idea of feuds.

CORNISH: One thing about this is it's made me wish certain shows were anthologies - where (laughter) I'm sitting there watching and thinking that was a great one season...

HOLMES: Yeah.

CORNISH: ...That had a beginning, middle and end. And I'm really not down for you all to drag this out until you get to six seasons...

HOLMES: Right.

CORNISH: ...And qualify for syndication. Like, I kind of want more people to embrace this.

HOLMES: Yeah. I think one of the difficulties of American dramatic television is - particularly serialized television - is that there's an idea that if it's successful, it should go on indefinitely. And that's not typically the way that you would write a story. Typically, when you conceive of a novel or any other kind of story, you would have an idea of its shape. And the indefinite length of a serialized piece of television can make shaping it very difficult. So when you have an anthology, you know what the shape is going to be, even though you don't know how successful it's going to be.

DEGGANS: Yeah. And what's interesting to me - like, I interviewed "Feud" creator Ryan Murphy. And he talked about "Glee," arguably his most - one of his most successful shows, and how he felt like he'd kind of run out of what he wanted to say artistically¹¹ with those characters. But the show went on for two more seasons because it was, you know, a hit for Fox.

And so at least in the anthology format¹² that he's working in with "American Horror Story" and "American Crime Story" and now "Feud," he has a chance to sort of reinvent the stories that he's telling the cast, the characters every season, but still work with these actors that he has a shorthand with. So you see him reusing Jessica Lange in really interesting ways. And her Joan Crawford in "Feud" I think really well done. And same thing with Sarah Paulson and seeing her in "American Horror Story" and also playing Marcia Clark in "American Crime Story" - you know, he's constantly using her in new and interesting and different ways. And as fans, we get to see them in different settings.

CORNISH: All right. Well, anthologies - they get the thumbs up from our critics here, thumbs up from audiences. And there's lots to choose from. So if you want to talk to us more, you can reach out to us on Twitter. Eric Deggans, where can people find

DEGGANS: At @Deggans - D-E-G-G-A-N-S.

CORNISH: And, Linda Holmes, where can they find you?

HOLMES: Well, named after my blog, which is called Monkey See - you can find me at @NPRMonkeySee.

CORNISH: Linda Holmes, our pop culture critic and host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, and Eric Deggans, NPR's TV critic, thanks so much.

HOLMES: Thanks, Audie.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF DJ FORMAT SONG, "TURNING POINT")

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

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 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

4 aspirational   

志同的，有抱负的

参考例句：

• Most of the images that bombard us all are aspirational. 轰击的图像，我们都期望最大。
• Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India's high figures. 分析师们指出，自助读书、热爱读书是印度人均读书时间超过别的国家的主要原因。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

7 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

8 tangentially   

adv.无关地

参考例句：

• The circumstances are delicate, involving their mother and, more tangentially, their father. 情况很微妙，事关他们的母亲也触及他们的父亲。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

9 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

10 feuds   

n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Quarrels and feuds between tribes became incessant. 部落间的争吵、反目成仇的事件接连不断。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• There were feuds in the palace, no one can deny. 宫里也有斗争，这是无可否认的。 来自辞典例句

11 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

12 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。