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美国国家公共电台 NPR Behind 'The Kominsky Method,' A Sitcom King (He Prefers 'Court Jester')

时间:2018-11-26 02:07:49

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(单词翻译)

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The sitcom1 king is back with a series in which both the sit and the com may be unexpected. Chuck Lorre, the mind behind huge hits that include "Two And A Half Men," "Mike & Molly" and "The Big Bang Theory," has created a series for Netflix that's set in Hollywood, but it's really about the biggest show of all - growing old. It stars a matinee idol2 who's now in his 70s; Michael Douglas as Sandy Kominsky, an old star who now gets turned down for sitcoms3, but he keeps working as an acting4 teacher. Alan Arkin plays his friend, agent and a recent widower5.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE KOMINSKY METHOD")

MICHAEL DOUGLAS: (As Sandy Kominsky) Listen to me. We're all scared, but we get through it because we're not alone. You're not alone.

ALAN ARKIN: (As Norman) Who do I have?

DOUGLAS: (As Sandy Kominsky) Can you see me? I'm right here in front of you.

SIMON: Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. Nancy Travis also stars, and the show has guests that range from Ann-Margret to Jay Leno to Patti LaBelle to Danny DeVito. Chuck Lorre joins us now from NPR West. Thanks so much for being with us.

CHUCK LORRE: Thanks for having me.

SIMON: When the series opens, Sandy Kominsky has a problem confronting mortality, doesn't he?

LORRE: Yes. Yeah. He's - you know, there's a certain self-involvement in the character that has to be overcome. That's part of his journey. And the wife of his friend Norman, who is terminally ill, she has a big impact on him and opens him up to being close to mortality, to being close to the reality of getting older.

SIMON: Well, let me ask you, sitcom king...

LORRE: No, don't use that word. Kings get their heads chopped off. Let's go with something else.

SIMON: Oh, all right.

LORRE: Court jester would be fine.

SIMON: All right. Court jester then, Mr. Lorre. Is this a show that people will watch in part because it is about Hollywood? I mean, it's different than if you - if, let's say, your principal characters were all teachers at a high school in Oregon.

LORRE: I wasn't really that interested in spoofing or doing a show about show business. What was interesting about this in the world of Hollywood and acting is first and foremost he's teaching a class of kids that are several generations removed from him. And that gulf6 between his perception of the world and a 22-year-old's perception of the world was something that was interesting to me. I wanted to write about that. And I also wanted to avoid the pitfall7 of making fun of acting and have a character like Sandy Kominsky who is trying to imbue8 his love for the craft to these students. And some of the students you see as you watch this thing have real chops. They really can act.

SIMON: All that being noted9 and the respect for the craft of acting, there are some hilarious10 moments in those acting classes.

LORRE: Boy, I hope so.

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: Mr. Lorre, you used to play cruise ships and bat mitzvahs...

LORRE: You bet (laughter).

SIMON: ...In your days as a musician.

LORRE: Yeah, about 17, 18 years. I've played saloons in Alaska and cruise ships in the Caribbean and all points in between, you know, a journeyman guitar player.

SIMON: And what do you think you learned from that?

LORRE: I think playing in front of a live audience every night, you have an obligation to a live audience. And the obligation in most bars is the band is there to help the patrons dance, actually, believe it or not, to make them perspire11 so they'll drink more.

SIMON: Oh, my gosh. That never occurred to me.

LORRE: You bet. And if the band doesn't do that, the band gets fired.

SIMON: The guy - the person who owns the bar doesn't want to hear and now a slow, romantic ballad12 that's a favorite of mine.

LORRE: And we're going to do a little song in 7/4 that's impossible to dance to, but it's very interesting. Yeah, no, they don't want it - they don't want that. "Sweet Home Alabama" will be fine. Thank you. So when I started doing situation comedies in front of a live audience - and that's been, for the most part, all I've done for the last 30 years - there's that obligation to the audience. Now, the obligation is not to cause them to dance but to cause laughter. And once again, it's not a bar owner this time. It's a network. If the audience isn't laughing, you're packing your belongings13 in a cardboard box, and you're going home. But I think the more relevant part is playing music impacted on the way I listen to words. There's rhythm in dialogue. There's pauses like there's rests in music. There's pauses that make comedy possible. Everything plays almost musically but with words.

SIMON: I'm afraid I have to ask you about - as I read about it, it struck me as what might be the low point of your career.

LORRE: There were several. Which one are you talking about?

SIMON: Well, I read that you were fired from the staff of "My Little Pony14."

LORRE: (Laughter) I was drinking coffee when you said that. I almost - you almost got a spit take. Oh...

SIMON: Oh, darn.

LORRE: (Laughter).

SIMON: I live to - do you realize what pleasure it would give me to cause Chuck Lorre to have a spit take?

LORRE: It was close.

SIMON: All right.

LORRE: (Laughter) Yeah, I guess - I remember the CBS president of children's programming said I just don't have the pony's voice.

SIMON: (Laughter) Oh, Twinkle.

LORRE: Yeah. And I've got to tell you, I worked really hard on that. I was kind of devastated15. I was going to take the pony project and bring it up a notch16, you know (laughter)?

SIMON: Well, you've done OK.

LORRE: I've done OK. You know, that which doesn't kill us makes us bitter, right?

SIMON: (Laughter) I hadn't heard that. There's a moment in "The Kominsky Method" where Alan Arkin bursts into Sandy Kominsky's acting class. He just can't stay silent, and he sees a lot of people who are four or five generations younger than him, and he says, you know, to be human is to be hurt. And I saw that scene and found myself thinking this isn't a situation comedy. This is a situation dramedy.

LORRE: One of the great advantages of doing this was I had the freedom to just write and chase the characters where it felt appropriate to go. I guess I've been doing this long enough to where I reached a point where I just - I'm going to trust that this is appropriate and do it and not worry about what category it falls into.

SIMON: Chuck Lorre - his new show, "The Kominsky Method," streaming on Netflix - thanks so much for being with us.

LORRE: It was fun. Thank you very much.

(SOUNDBITE OF JEFF BECK'S "ROSEBUD")


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sitcom 9iMzBQ     
n.情景喜剧,(广播、电视的)系列幽默剧
参考例句:
  • This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
  • I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。
2 idol Z4zyo     
n.偶像,红人,宠儿
参考例句:
  • As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子,他是父母的宠儿。
  • Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。
3 sitcoms e9efe427c2759f3f06d1cd5efe314cd3     
n.情景喜剧( sitcom的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • This is the stuff most stadard TV sitcoms are made of. 这是大多数标注的电视幽默剧所采用的题材。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • In most countries, prime-time Monday night television is dominated by sitcoms. 在大多数国家,周一晚上的电视黄金时段都由连续剧所占据。 来自互联网
4 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
5 widower fe4z2a     
n.鳏夫
参考例句:
  • George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
  • Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后,他终于决定二婚了。
6 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
7 pitfall Muqy1     
n.隐患,易犯的错误;陷阱,圈套
参考例句:
  • The wolf was caught in a pitfall.那只狼是利用陷阱捉到的。
  • The biggest potential pitfall may not be technical but budgetary.最大的潜在陷阱可能不是技术问题,而是预算。
8 imbue 1cIz4     
v.灌输(某种强烈的情感或意见),感染
参考例句:
  • He managed to imbue his employees with team spirit.他成功激发起雇员的团队精神。
  • Kass is trying to imbue physics into simulated worlds.凯斯想要尝试的就是把物理学引入模拟世界。
9 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
10 hilarious xdhz3     
adj.充满笑声的,欢闹的;[反]depressed
参考例句:
  • The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后,派对变得更加热闹起来。
  • We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停,因为那个节目太搞笑了。
11 perspire V3KzD     
vi.出汗,流汗
参考例句:
  • He began to perspire heavily.他开始大量出汗。
  • You perspire a lot when you are eating.你在吃饭的时候流汗很多。
12 ballad zWozz     
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲
参考例句:
  • This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
  • This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。
13 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
14 pony Au5yJ     
adj.小型的;n.小马
参考例句:
  • His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
  • They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。
15 devastated eb3801a3063ef8b9664b1b4d1f6aaada     
v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词);摧毁;毁灭;在感情上(精神上、财务上等)压垮adj.毁坏的;极为震惊的
参考例句:
  • The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
  • His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。
16 notch P58zb     
n.(V字形)槽口,缺口,等级
参考例句:
  • The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
  • He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

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