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Updated: 2004-05-08 01:00

Friends TV climax watched by 51m

《老友记》风雨十年 大结局完美收场

The emotional finale of hit TV comedy Friends was watched by 51.1 million people in the US.

Preliminary ratings showed it was the highest viewing audience since the last episode of Seinfeld in 1998.

NBC had predicted an audience of around 50 million for the last episode of their popular sitcom which was broadcast on May 6.

It was preceded by one-hour retrospective of the series' six characters over the last 10 years.

Viewers now know the outcome of the show's on-off love affair between Ross and Rachel, played by David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston.

The final show commanded advertising rates averaging m for 30 seconds - a record for a sitcom and the kind of figures usually reserved for the Super Bowl.

In New York, the final episode was shown on a big screen in Times Square, watched by 3,000 people from a park overlooking the Hudson River.

Fans also watched bloopers from the series during an official Friends Finale Viewing Party at Universal Citywalk in Los Angeles.

TV network NBC devoted three hours of its schedule to the farewell episode.

The finale received mixed reviews in the US press, with Newsday's Noel Holston calling the episode "sweet and dumb and satisfying".

But the Hartford Courant's Roger Catlin wrote: "Anyone new to Friends who succumbed to the hype to tune in would have been surprised at how laughless the affair could be.

"Nearly every strained gag depends on the sheer stupidity of its characters."

Making its debut in 1994, Friends and its cast of easy-going single people caught on with viewers looking for an escape from the fast-paced 1990s.

(Agencies)

5110万美国人观看了风靡一时的系列情景喜剧《老友记》的情感大结局。

初步统计显示,它创造了自1998年播出的《沈斐德》大结局以来最高的收视率。

此前,美国国家广播公司估计,大约有5千万观众观看了5月6日播出的流行电视连续剧《老友记》的大结局。

在大结局播出之前,有一段一个小时的短片,回顾了剧中6位人物过去十多年的经历。

如今,观众们已经知道了剧中由大卫·修蒙和珍妮弗·安妮思顿扮演的罗丝和雷切尔之间离离合合的爱情结局。

大结局的电视广告报价达到每30秒钟平均2百万美元,创造了电视连续剧广告费的最高纪录,这通常是“超极杯橄榄球总决赛”专有的广告价格。

纽约时代广场的巨大显示屏上也放映了《老友记》大结局,并吸引了3千名观众在俯视哈德逊河的一个公园内观看。

电视迷们还观看了在洛杉矶环球影城商业街正式举行的《老友记》大结局收看聚会中播放的剧中花絮。

美国国家广播公司为此剧的大结局安排了3个小时的播放时间。

美国新闻界对这个大结局的评论褒贬不一,《今日新闻》的诺埃尔·霍尔斯滕称大结局“甜美绝伦、无以言表、令人满意”。

但是,《哈特福德报》的罗杰·卡特林写道:“任何不熟悉《老友记》、只是受到天花乱坠的宣传的影响才收看《老友记》大结局的观众都会惊讶地发现剧中人物的爱情故事是多么无趣。

“几乎每一处矫揉造作的笑料都来自剧中人物愚蠢十足的所作所为。”

《老友记》于1994年首播,它所描绘的一群乐天派单身角色迎合了许多观众逃避20世纪90年代快节奏生活的心态。

finale: 结局
sitcom: situation comedy连续剧
retrospective: 回顾
on-off: 离离合合
blooper: 花絮
succumb to: 屈从于
hype: 大肆宣传
tune in: 收听
strained: 矫揉造作的
gag: 打诨


(中国日报网站译)

 
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