The Slow Rise of 'NCIS' - 重返犯罪現場

我流譯文：

※ 引述《Kati (妳是我最完整的廢墟。)》之銘言：
: The Slow Rise of 'NCIS'
: How the six-season-old 'JAG' spin-off became one of the most watched series
: on television
慢火細燉的「重返犯罪現場」
堂堂邁入第六年的「執法悍將」分店是怎麼成為最多人收視的影集？

: By Dave Lake
: MSN TV
: "NCIS" may not be one of those cool shows that gets tons of press like
: "Gossip Girl" or "Grey's Anatomy." It doesn't have a revolving door of hip
: guest stars like "Ugly Betty" or "30 Rock." But "NCIS" has quietly become one
: of the most popular shows on television, frequently besting "Dancing With the
: Stars," and even managing to get a sizable audience against "American Idol,"
: a show other networks do everything they can to steer clear of.
或許不像「花邊教主」或「實習醫生格雷」這種非常吸引那些筆桿子的炫節目，或
是有大大大大牌客串的「醜女貝蒂」與「我為喜劇狂」，不過「重返犯罪現場」靜
悄悄地成為受到最熱烈歡迎的電視節目，不僅常常打敗「與星共舞」，而且還能夠
與「美國偶像」打對台，大概可以給友台一些借鏡。

（註：個人認為30 Rock的大陸譯名比較貼切）
: The military drama's recent ratings success is particularly unusual for a
: show that has been on the air for six seasons. By this point in a show's life
: its viewership has usually begun to falter, but, year over year, the little
: show that could has seen its ratings increase, climbing from a top-30 show to
: a top-20 show, and this season to a top-five show, averaging around 17
: million weekly viewers.
這部軍事影集的收視率在播出第六季時變得很異常，大部分同齡節目的收視率走勢
大概會開始和陽婆婆走路沒啥兩樣，很少可以從top-30一路爬上top- 5，然後總收
視人口則是在17M上下。

（註：個人懷疑這位作者在影射FOX的某位醫生）
: "This show has always had a really solid core audience," executive producer
: Shane Brennan said during a recent phone interview. "And what we've managed
: to do over the last few years is bring new people to that." Part of bringing
: in that new audience has meant appealing to viewers on the East Coast and
: West Coast, not just Middle America, the part of the country where the show
: performs best. "Every story we follow has some connection to the Marine Corps
: or with the Navy," Brennan said. "But when I took over the show, the sense I
: got was that there was room for more emotion in the show, more character
: development." It's this character development that Brennan said has helped it
: climb in the ratings: "We're taking this group of people who the audience has
: grown to love and we're suddenly giving them more."
「這部片始終有死忠影迷，」執行製作 Shane Brennan在最近的電話訪問是這樣說的
：「我們現在做的就是拉些新朋友進來。」，大部分的新觀眾來自大西洋與太平洋沿
岸，不像以前只有在中西部表現的很不賴。「每個情節不是與海陸連結就是和海軍有
關，」Brennan如是說：「但等我接管以後，就把感情與角色發展放進故事裡面。」這
兩招就是Brennan用來增加收視率的方式：「我們接手的是觀眾越來越喜歡的節目，然
後我們突然給他們更多。」

: Brennan, an Australian, got his start as a writer on Aussie TV, where he
: worked for 20 years before landing a job as a producer on "CSI: Miami" in
: 2003. A few years later, he became co-executive producer of "NCIS," and when
: series creator Don Bellisario stepped down as show-runner at the end of last
: season (reportedly over a feud with star Mark Harmon), Brennan took over.
: Bellisario had long decreed that the show not focus on the emotional heart of
: its characters, but after his departure Brennan was able to move further in
: that direction. He said he got used to writing character development instead
: of action because of the minuscule budgets given to Australian television
: productions. "We had to have a lot of internal scenes that we could shoot
: onstage," he admitted. "We couldn't afford to go out and crash a car or set a
: building on fire."
跟修傑克曼是同一國的Brennan的職業生涯始自替他老家的電視節目編寫了20年的劇
本，然後2003年加入了隔壁棚的何公的節目當製片，幾年以後轉來有老大的劇組，當
DPB在上季結束（且與老大翻臉而）下台後轉職當上劇組的頭目。DPB長時間認定本節
目角色個人心緒不是重點，而Brennan在他離開後才把這條大船轉到現在這個方向，
因為CBS對這位異國製作人很小氣，讓他決定用角色發展來取代動作場面。「我們會
有不少開槍火拼場面。」他評論道：「因為我們負擔不起麥可貝流拍電影方式。」

: Though the cast and crew were understandably apprehensive about the show's
: creator stepping down from day-to-day duties on the series (usually a bad
: sign for a show's creative direction), "NCIS" has been the exception. "When
: Shane came on the scene there was definitely a new approach to the show that
: has been fantastic," said Michael Weatherly, who plays Special Agent Tony
: DiNozzo on the show. "He's very strong with the choices he's making for each
: of our characters. When you change show-runners you never know what's going
: to happen."
製作組與演員對於片子的催生者因為緊迫釘人的製作風格而下台有所憂慮－－這對
影集創作常常不是個好兆頭，不過「重返犯罪現場」倒是個例外。「Shane的上任
讓影集有個很讚的新方向，」飾演東尼．狄諾佐幹員的麥可．威瑟利說道：「他在
替個別角色塑造上表現得很優，當劇組主管換人時，絕對不會想到會發生這檔子事
。」

: One of the many relationships to move into the forefront has been the
: brotherly rapport between DiNozzo and Special Agent Timothy McGee, aka
: Probie, the show's resident computer expert. Sean Murray, who plays McGee,
: said that while he enjoys the action scenes and mystery-solving on the show,
: he has more fun doing the character-driven scenes. "The relationship stuff is
: what's fun to play," he said, particularly the scenes with Weatherly. "For
: all the hazing, there's a lot of love there."
眾多友情中被拉上檯面之一的就是狄諾佐與綽號「阿菜」的常駐電腦專家提摩西．麥
基，扮演這角色的西恩．莫瑞說他很享受在片裡面解決難題的場面，而且在角色推動
情節上感覺不賴。「演繹友情很有意思，」他特別提及與威瑟利的共演場面。「我對
這些戲弄情節都很有愛。」

: The show's other differentiation point is its liberal use of humor. "It's
: always weird when I read about our show and it's a 'somber procedural' or a
: 'sober military drama,'" Weatherly said. "We're about as far away from somber
: and sober as you can get." Also, unlike other procedurals, "NCIS" doesn't go
: as deep into cases as some similar shows. "An audience is used to seeing a
: procedural where you've got a murder or a robbery or a crime being
: committed," Brennan said. "There isn't usually a lot of room for (a) the
: humor, and (b) the characters. It therefore makes 'NCIS,' a very different
: procedural."
本節目的另外一個特點就是活用幽默。「當我讀到我們的節目與『陰森刑案節目』與
『無聊軍事戲碼』連結一起時總覺得很詭異」，威瑟利提及：「我們離這兩個字眼很
遠。」「重返犯罪現場」也不像其他棚的刑案片那樣深究單一案件情節，「觀眾看謀
殺、犯罪、搶劫會膩。」Brennan如是說：「一是幽默、二是角色，這就讓本片與眾
不同。」

: "I think that's why 'The Mentalist' is working really well in the 9 o'clock
: slot," Weatherly said about the show that follows his -- a show that also
: mixes crime with humor. The freshman cop drama starring Simon Baker has
: become one of the season's few new hits.
「我想這就是什麼檔期跟在我們後面的『超感神探』表現很棒的緣故。」威瑟利所說
的正是同樣加了幽默與犯罪當調味的新片，由迷人的西蒙．貝克挑大樑的新劇在本季
將其他新片打爽的。

: But with the success of other crime-based programming comes added competition
: for newsy story lines. "At any one time, there may be several dozen writers
: all searching for a story," Brennan revealed, which often means one show must
: forgo a topic that another show has already begun working on. It's the studio
: executives who have to keep track of it all, he says, and who must ultimately
: break the news to producers during regular story line meetings. There are
: exceptions, of course. "We're doing a fight club episode at the moment,"
: Brennan said. "'CSI' did a fight club, but theirs is very intense and we're
: just touching on it. We tend to be able to spin off slightly and do a more
: comic version of it or a more emotional version."
不過本片的打敗其他犯罪節目也為新的故事撰寫帶來挑戰，「成打的編劇此刻正在搜
尋新的故事」，Brennan所透露的代表一個節目常要放棄其他節目已經動工的主題，而
在攝影棚當家的常常要追蹤這些事情，總在故事撰寫委員會上將風聲透露給製片們，
不過這不是絕對的。「CSI曾做一個跟鬥陣俱樂部相關的題材，我們也有。但他們是深
度挖掘，我們則是淺嘗輒止。我們可以做點小小地異動，製作個更加通俗化或是更有
感情化的版本。」

: What seems like such a simple formula, mashing up the whodunit aspects of a
: crime drama with the character interplay of a nighttime soap, is a mix few
: shows have been able to get right. But for "NCIS," the results have yielded
: the kind of success networks dream about. Though it may be a difficult
: balance to achieve, Brennan said the concept is simple: "Whether you're 18 or
: 80, if you have a story that interests people they're going to watch it."
這看起來像是個很簡單的公式，把犯罪節目的驚悚情節與夜間肥皂劇的角色混動混在
一起，很少節目能成功加以調和。但對「重返犯罪現場」來說，結果顯然是出乎電視
台意料之外的大捷。雖然不容易在兩者中取得平衡，不過Brennan說這概念很簡單：
「不管是18歲還80歲，只要故事好看就能吸引到觀眾。」

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