Abstract

American TV drama, as a popular cultural product, is contemporary and culturally contagious. Among all age groups in China, especially among the young and the white collars who have more access to the Internet, American TV drama has become an irresistible trend of the time. There are significant reasons behind its popularity. Apart from the entertaining elements in it, the fast upgrading speed which makes it always in fashion and the exotic aura and the typical American-style conversation which is beneficial to English learning and better understanding of western culture for Chinese audience all contribute to the popularity of this TV drama. This essay, taking Grey’s Anatomy as an example, analyzes the cultural differences between China and the U.S. to find out the objective and cultural reasons of its popularity and its future trend of development. Meanwhile, the phenomenon has a great impact on home-made TV dramas. The essay tries to pick out the successful factors through comprehensive analysis to inspire domestic TV dramas so that they can play the role of communication between the East and the West.

Key words：American TV drama，Grey’s Anatomy，reasons and backgrounds，culturally contagious，inspiration

摘 要

“美剧”是中国人对美国电视剧集的简称，作为一种时尚的大众文化产品，具有通俗性、时代性、文化承载性的特点。美剧，在中国各年龄层次的人群中，尤其是接触网络较广泛的青少年和白领间，已经成为一股不可阻挡的潮流和超越美国本土之外一道炫目的流行文化景观。美剧走红的背后，有其深刻的原因和意义。除了其作为电视剧带来的娱乐性及因其更新速率而带来的时代感外，也因其特殊的地域性和全英文的剧情，让观众感受到了真实的语言环境、了解了西方独特的文化氛围，从而有助于英语学习。本文以《实习医生格蕾》为例，从技术发展以及中美意识形态在逻辑思维，价值观念，流行文化等各领域的差异，探究当下美剧热播的客观和文化成因，进而分析其发展趋势。同时，美剧流行的背后，对我国文化有着不容小觑的冲击和影响。本文试图对美剧中所反映的各方面因素的综合分析，剔除其中有悖于我国传统价值观的部分，吸收优质元素，在国产电视剧中加以借鉴，为更好的改善我国国产电视剧提供借鉴和参考，从而提高国产电视剧的质量，也能走向世界发挥其应有的作用，构建东西方文化沟通和交流的桥梁。

关键词：美剧，实习医生格蕾，流行成因，强势文化传播，启示

Chapter One Introduction
1.1    An introduction to the theme
TV drama, an audio-visual art with both artistic and commercial value, is one of the most influential mass media in the modern world. It reflects such factors of a nation as its values, public psychology, thinking modes, aesthetical interests and so on. More than thirty years ago, with China’s opening up to the outside world as well as the development of cultural exchanges between China and other English-speaking countries, the Chinese audience got their first bite of American dramas. In recent years, thanks to free subtitle translation, P2P file sharing and downloads available in cyberspace, American TV drama, as a new cultural trend, received a groundswell of enthusiasm in China. Some networks are even set up for online discussion and translation.