Winnie:Will 和 Jane在约会时聊天，谈到了"sitcom"， 也就是situation comedy—情景喜剧。

Professor:Hey Winnie, have you ever watched any American sitcoms?

Winnie:我以前看过Friends——“六人行”，这算是个sitcom吧？

Professor:That's right! Now let's see what sitcoms Will and Jane like to watch.

Will:So Jane, I know that you like watching reality TV. But what about sitcoms?

Jane:I used to watch Friends religiously! I cried when it went off the air in 2004.

Will:Oh yeah, Friends was a really popular sitcom. But wasn't it pretty unrealistic? None of the characters worked very often, but they had a huge apartment in New York city.

Jane:Who cares? Sitcoms are supposed to be funny. They're not supposed to be like real life.

Winnie:原来，Jane也是“六人行”的粉丝! 她说得对，sitcom追求的是搞笑、好玩儿，谁会在乎情节的真实性啊! 对了，professor, Jane说她以前 watch Friends “religiously”，这是什么意思呢？

Professor:It means she was very serious about watching the show.

Winnie:哦，我明白了，如果做什么事情是本着“religiously”的态度，就表明你是雷打不动，一直在很认真地做。Jane看“六人行”一定是集集不落! 她还说，2004年这个节目 went off the air--“停播”的时候，她都哭了!

Professor:Exactly! Winnie, the opposite of "off the air" is "on the air". You could say that Friends was so popular that it was able to stay on the air for 10 seasons.

Winnie:哦，off the air的反义词是on the air, 也就是“播出”的意思。

Will:Why did you like Friends so much? Did you think it was really funny?

Jane:Yeah, it was really funny, but it also had a great storyline. All the different episodes were part of the same plot.

Will:That's true. I also thought that the dialogue was really good too.

Jane:Oh yeah, the dialogue was great. I thought everything the characters said to one another was really funny.

Professor:So Winnie, what did Jane like so much about Friends?

Winnie:她说，“六人行”的storyline——“故事情节”特别好。每集的内容相互联系，使整个节目有one plot——个完整的故事埂概。

Professor:That's right! But Will has a different reason for liking the show, right?

Winnie:对，Will喜欢里面的dialogue--对话，觉得这些对话特别好玩儿!

Will:The other thing that made Friends so good was the cast. All the actors were perfect for their characters.

Jane:Oh yeah, the casting was really great. The actor who played Ross did a great job. He was hilarious!

Will:Really? I didn't think he was the funniest. My favorite character was Joey.

Jane:Joey was pretty good, but not as funny as Ross. And the relationship between Ross and Rachel was really romantic too.

Will:It was kind of romantic, but it got old.

Winnie:Will 和Jane都觉得“六人行”的cast——演员阵容选得好。

Professor:That's right. But what does Will say about the relationship between Ross and Rachel on the show?

Winnie:Will说，Ross和Rachel的恋爱的确挺浪漫的，可后来就got old了。Professor, 这是不是说这些情节老演老演，就变得没劲了？

Professor:Right. It means the plot lost its original appeal because it is too long or gets repeated too many times. For example, "When I first heard Craig's joke, I thought it was funny. But after he told it 10 times, it got old."

Jane:What about you, Will? Do you like sitcoms?

Will:Not anymore. Ever since the series finale of Friends, I haven't found any other sitcoms that I really like.

Jane:Really? So what kinds of programs do you watch on TV now?

Will:Lately, I've gotten really into more serious shows, like crime dramas.

Winnie:啊？自从“六人行”的series finale——“大结局”播完后，Will 就再也没找到好看的sitcom?!