托福阅读：绝不能错过的5部美剧之SATC托福考试(TOEFL)

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2009:08:21 19:49:46
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

　　Sex and the City is an American cable television series. The original run of the show was broadcast on HBO from 1998 until 2004, for a total of six seasons.
　　Set in New York City, the show focused on four women, three in their mid-thirties and one in her forties. The quirky drama/comedy had multiple continuing story lines and tackled socially relevant issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex, and promiscuity. It specifically examined the lives of big-city professional women in the late 1990s and how changing roles and expectations for women affected the characters.
　　The show was primarily filmed at New York City’s Silvercup Studios and on location in and around Manhattan. Since it ended, the show has been aired in syndication on networks such as TBS, WGN, and many other local stations. However, basic cable outlets excise certain explicit show content that was broadcast in the original version.
　　Origins
　　The show was based in part on writer Candace Bushnell’s book of the same name, compiled from her column with the New York Observer. Bushnell has stated in several interviews that the Carrie Bradshaw in her columns is her alter ego. when she wrote the "Sex and the City" essays, she used her own name initially. for privacy reasons, however, she created the character of Carrie Bradshaw, a woman who was also working as a writer and living in New York City. Carrie also has the same initials, which reiterates her connection with Bushnell.[1]
　　Darren Starr, the show’s creator, paid $50,000 to Bushnell for "lock, stock, and barrel" rights to her columns, according to fellow author Toby Young.[2] The show "bears only a passing resemblance to its source material".[2] the columns were "darker and more cynical" than the "gentler" series that Starr produced.[2] According to Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, by Amy Sohn,[3] Starr wanted to create a show that expressed true adult comedy and sex in an up-front way.
　　Plot
　　The narrative of the show focused on Carrie Bradshaw and her three best friends, Miranda Hobbs, Charlotte York and Samantha Jones. The women discussed their sexual desires and fantasies, and their travels in life and love. The show often depicted frank discussions about romance and sexuality, particularly in the context of being a single woman in her mid-thirties. Each episode in season one featured a short montage of interviews of people living in New York City regarding topics discussed in that episode. These continued through season two but were then phased out.
　　Another feature that would eventually be scrapped was Carrie breaking the fourth wall (for example, looking into the camera and speaking to the audience directly in an aside). Bradshaw would question scenarios and ideas, asking the audience for an opinion or insight on different situations. The pilot also had the characters of Miranda and Charlotte as well as a few minor characters speaking directly to the camera/audience. The last such event by Carrie occurs in episode three of the second season, "The Freak Show".
　　The method of expressing inner monologues was shifted exclusively to voiceovers by Carrie in future episodes. Her main narration usually revolved around the premise of that week’s "article", where she summed up her thoughts with, "I couldn’t help but wonder...". As she says that, her computer monitor is shown while she is typing the text of her voiceover.