摘要

随着科学技术的发展，特别是网络技术，互联网为美剧广泛而快速的传播提供了一个很好的平台。而互联网的开放性使得美剧的传播不受任何限制。美剧以其广泛的题材，紧凑的情节和幽默的风格吸引了数以百万计的美剧迷。
    电视剧始终是一国文化的良好载体。它可以反映公众行为，思维方式，审美情趣等因素，也可以传播一个国家和民族的价值观。美剧已经被引进中国将近30年。对美国戏剧爱好者，它不仅是一种娱乐，而且还是一种了解美国文化的途径。一部美剧可能会持续数年。剧中人物的快乐和悲伤与观众的心是紧紧相系的。这些连续不断的情感影响已使美国成为我们日常生活不可或缺的一部分。
    由于美剧吸引了中国很大一部分剧迷粉丝，越来越多的学者都表现出他们在对美剧相关主题方面的研究兴趣。是什么原因使得美国打得这么受欢迎？它为什么能在中国红极一时？为什么会有如此多的观众选择美剧，而不是曾经红极一时韩剧，日剧，台剧？在美剧在中国收到极大追捧的背后到底反映了什么样的文化渗透？ 这些问题不仅是学者们想要研究清楚的问题，也是很多中国电视剧迷的困惑。
    本文旨在寻找这些问题的答案。 《越狱》是一出主要针对男人的剧集，女人在其中只是配角。因此，它吸引了大量的男性观众，特别是年轻一代。它与《欲望都市》和《绝望主妇》这些主要针对女性观众的电视剧不一样。可以说，这两个电视剧是完全不同的，针对的是不同观众群体。既然《越狱》主要针对的受众为男性而“欲望都市”的主要受众是女性。因此，笔者想选择这两部比较有代表性的美剧为例来分析美剧在中国如此受欢迎的文化根源。

关键词：越狱，欲望都市，美剧，流行，文化根源

Abstract:

As the development of science and technology, especially the network technology, the internet has become a good platform for the fast and wide transmission of American drama. The openness of internet has made the American drama transmitted without any restriction. “The U.S. dramas are attracting millions of fans with its wide range of subject, the compact plots and the humorous style.”.
Drama is always a good carrier of national culture. It can reflect public behavior, thinking mode, aesthetic interests, and other factors and also spread the values of a country and nation.
American drama has been introduced in China for almost thirty years. For the U.S. drama fans, it’s not only a kind of entertainment, but also an access to get known of American culture. An U.S. drama may last for several years. The characters’ happiness and sadness in the drama may tightly connect with the hearts of the audience. The constant emotional influence had made the U.S. play an integral part of our daily lives.
Since the U.S. drama has drawn a large part of Chinese fans, more and more scholars are showing their interest in studying on the themes of U.S. dramas. What had made U.S. play so popular? Why can it cause such an U.S. drama hit in China? Why such large a part of audience choose U.S. drama instead of Korean drama, Japanese drama, Taiwan drama which has been so popular before? What cultural infiltration was reflected behind the phenomenon of U.S. drama hit?
This paper is aiming at searching answers of these questions. “Prison break” is a play concentrating on men and women are only a supporting role. So, it has attracted a large number of male audiences, especially the younger generation. It is different from the “sex and the city” and “desperate housewives” which are concentrating on women. We may say, the two dramas are totally different and concentrating on different groups of audience. Since the “prison break” is mainly concentrating on men and the “sex and the city” is mainly concentrating on women. So, the author would like to choose the two dramas as representative examples to analyze the cultural roots of why the U.S. drama so popular in China.

Key words: Prison Break, Sex and the City, U.S. drama, popular, culture roots