Situation Comedy情景喜劇

Friends is a classic American situation comedy （情景喜劇）. Ever since its first episode （集） aired in 1994， it has been one of the most popular sitcoms. What has made the show so popular？

《老友記》是一部經典的美國情景喜劇。第一集于1994年播出，是最受歡迎的情景喜劇之一。究竟是什么讓這個節目如此受歡迎？

Its humor is， of course， the main reason. Sitcoms like Friends are full of lighthearted and funny jokes. According to research done by American TV blogger Talib Visram， the number of jokes in popular US sitcoms ranges from 3.4 to 7.4 per minute. Friends takes a moderate （中等的） pace and has 6 jokes per minute. This pace of humor keeps the audience relaxed， but also fully involved （參與） in the show.

當然，它的幽默是主要原因。像《老友記》這樣的情景喜劇充滿輕松有趣的笑話。據美國電視博主塔利布·維斯蘭的研究，美國熱門情景喜劇中的笑話數量從每分鐘3.4到7.4個不等。《老友記》笑話數量剛剛好，每分鐘有6個笑話，這種幽默的節奏讓觀眾放松，也讓觀眾充分參與進節目中來。

When you laugh at the jokes， you might hear people laughing along with you on the show.This is another special feature （特點） of sitcoms-the laugh track （音軌）. Dating back to the 1940s， the laugh track aims to create a theater experience at home. This makes the show even more interesting-when others laugh， we want to laugh too.

當你被一個笑話逗樂時，你會同時聽到有人在節目中和你一起大笑。這是因為情景喜劇的另一特點——笑軌。追溯到20世紀40年代，笑軌旨在創造一種家庭影院體驗，它能使電視節目更加有趣——當別人笑的時候，我們也想笑。

But sitcoms are not only about jokes and laughs. As American writer Ken Sanes said， sitcoms are often about the trivial （瑣碎的） matters of daily life and every character is as real as we are. They have fears， desires （欲望） and foolish emotions， and also do crazy things. The weaknesses they show help us relate to （與……感同身受） them.

但是情景喜劇不僅僅是關于笑話和笑聲。正如美國作家肯·桑斯所說，情景喜劇通常是關于日常生活中瑣碎的事情，每個角色都和我們一樣真實。他們有恐懼、欲望和愚蠢的情緒，也做瘋狂的事情，他們展示的弱點有助于我們與他們感同身受。