TV is a speedboat, zipping and weaving in response to ratings, reviews, fan clubs and the zeitgeist. In an age of interactivity, spawned by home computers and video games, and of hybrids, inspired mainly by hip-hop, TV is better able to make adjustments on the hoof, and the frenzied evolution of one genre into another - from, say, a trashyreality show such as Survivor to a stylishdrama such as Lost - is dizzyinglyfast.
　　电视则像高速游艇，随时根据收视率、评论、观众俱乐部和时代潮流，自如地转变方向。在这个家用电脑和网络游戏奠定的互动娱乐时代，电视更容易适应潮流，甚至根据需要，彻底转变风格，比如从粗糙无聊的真人秀《幸存者》（Survivor）转变成时髦的情景剧《迷失》（Lost）。

　　TV writers, perhaps 10 or more on some shows, work together with a supremeguiding force - usually the show’s creator - working up story arcs, character profiles and so on, before handing individual episodes to one or two writers. Their work is then tweaked in committee. Somehow, it works. “TV is as good as it gets because the form forces the writers to be better.”

　　一部电视剧一般有10位甚至超过10位作者，他们组成创作委员会和一位统帅一起——通常是该电视剧的创造者（Creator）——构成故事轮廓、塑造角色，然后将独立剧集分配给1至2名作者。他们的作品再交回委员会修改。不知为什么，事实证明，这一复杂的运作方式是有效的。“电视剧本精彩绝伦，因为这一体制迫使作者做得更好。”

　　Fox put US culture on notice with The Simpsons - which has since established itself as an ongoingmasterpieceof public art, a satiricalBayeux tapestryof the past 20 years of US history and culture - and was set to dominate the 90s as the most aggressively innovative and creative （though not always the most successful） network on TV. （It’s an uncomfortable fact for many that Murdoch, by taking a hands-off approach with his creative people at Fox, played an almost heroic role in driving up the quality of network drama and comedy.）
　　凭借动画剧集《辛普森一家》福克斯向美国文化开刀，该动画剧集被公认为公众艺术杰作；对过去20年美国历史文化的淋漓讽刺。《辛普森一家》使福克斯一举成为上世纪90年代最有创造力。最富攻击性（虽然未必最成功）的电视网。由于对创作人才采取不干涉态度，默多克客观上是促进美国电视喜剧、情景剧质量的英雄。

　　Perhaps the most influential player in recent television history has been HBO. Being a subscriber-only network allows it to transcend the limitations under which the big four networks must labour. Originally, HBO showed uncut, commercial-free studio movies, closed-circuit sporting events and a lot of sex-based programming, but when it began to get the hang of producing original material, it found that the lack of such limits was its greatest asset, leading to superb, adult-oriented shows such as Sex And The City. And then there is The Sopranos, which many, myself included, consider the greatest television drama ever made （it remains so in its new season）. The knock-on effect of the show - its violence, its peerless writing and acting, its effortless channelling of the zeitgeist - were felt not only at HBO, which has had a further string of critical successes with Six Feet Under, Deadwood and Big Love, but also at former most-innovative network Fox.
　　近期的美国电视史上，最有影响力的大概就是HBO.作为收费电视网，不同于面向所有人的4大电视网，它受的限制更少。最初，HBO播放的几乎都是未经剪辑，没有广告的电影、体育赛事和许多色情节目。当它开始创作自己的电视剧后，突然发现，没有审查限制成了它最大的优势，从而成就了一些优秀的针对成人的节目，比如《欲望城市》（Sex And The City）等。当然，还有不能不提到的《黑道家族》（The Sopranos），许多人甚至认为，这是电视历史上最伟大的剧集。该剧的冲击效应——它的暴力、出类拔萃的编剧和表演、不留痕迹表现的时代精神——不仅带动了一系列成功的HBO剧集——比如《六英尺下》（Six Feet Under）、《死木》（Deadwood）、《博爱》（Big Love）——还触动了前任最前卫电视网福克斯。

　　It’s a drama, and we take it seriously, but I don’t think it’s meant to be taken seriously. We have those built-in cliffhangers, there’s action, adventure and romance. What more do you want? And, of course, there is the story itself, the story about family, of how far one man is willing to go to save a loved one. That’s something anyone anywhere can relate to.
　　“它（《越狱 Prison Break 》）显然属于情景剧，且更为严肃，但我认为观众不应太较真。它具备了一切元素：动作、冒险、悬念、浪漫。你还想要什么？”当然，还有故事本身，这是一个关于家庭的故事，关于一个人为了拯救自己爱的人愿意走多远的故事。“这是任何人都能产生共鸣的主题。”

　　Movies are getting worse. So much money is getting thrown at them, they become about the spectacle, not the story. TV is story-driven, so it’s attracting more talent.
　　电影的质量一天不如一天。那么多的钱投进去，结果变成了特效的较量，故事反而被忽略。故事则是电视的生命，因此吸引了越来越多的人才。