Talk show caller: 1.7 billion were there for his birth. 220 countries tuned in for his first step. The world stood still for that stolen kiss. And as he grew, so did the technology. An entire human life recorded on an infrequent network of hidden cameras and broadcast live and unedited, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to an audience around the globe. Coming to you now from Seahaven, enclosed in the largest studio ever constructed, and along with the Great Wall of China, one of only two man-made structures visible from space, now in its 30th great year, it's The Truman Show!
Mike Michaelson: What a week it’s been! I don’t know about you. I wason pins and needles the entire time. Hello and good evening, I’m your host, Mike Michaelson and Welcome to TruTalk, our forum for issues growing out of the show. For tonight, something very special: a rare exclusive interview with the show's conceiver and creator. So come with us now as we go live to the lunar room on the 221st floor of the Omni-Cam Ecosphere. That’s where we'll find the world's greatest televisionary. The designer and architect of the world within a world that is Seahaven Island: Christof. Before we begin, I’d like to thank you on behalf of our audience for granting this exclusive interview. We know how demanding your schedule is and we all know how jealously you guard your privacy. This, sir, is indeed an honor.
Christof: Don't mention it.
Mike Michaelson: Well, the catalyst for the recent dramatic events on the show has been, of course, Truman's father, Kirk, and his attempts to infiltrate the show. But before we get into that, I think it’s worth noting this is not the first time that someone from the outside has attempted to reach Truman, is it?
Christof: We have had our close calls in the past.
Man: Truman, it’s television! Yes! I did it! I’m on The Truman Show!
Mike Michaelson: But there’s never been anything to compare with this most recent security. The first intruder to be a former cast member.
Christof: A dead one at that.
Mike Michaelson: Got to say, writing Kirk back in, masterstroke.
Christof: Since Kirk started this whole crisis in Truman’s life, I came to the conclusion that he was the only one who could end it.
Kirk: Truman! Truman, no! That's off limits!
Truman: Why? What's over there?
Kirk: Nothing. It’s dangerous, that's all. You’ve got to know your limitations. Truman.
Mike Michaelson: But let's remind viewers of exactly why Dad was written out in the first place.
Christof: As Truman grew up, we were forced to manufacture ways to keep him on the island.
Truman: I’d like to be an explorer like the great Magalia.
Teacher: Oh, you’re too late, there’s really nothing left to explore.
Christof: Finally I came up with the concept of Kirk's drowning.
Mike Michaelson: Most effective, Truman’s been terrified of the water ever since.
Christof: When Kirk read the synopsis for the Death At Sea episode, he was disappointed, to say the least. And I’m sure that's what caused him to break back onto the set.
Mike Michaelson: But how do you intend to explain his 22-year absence?
Christof: Amnesia.
Mike Michaelson: Brilliant. Let's take some those viewer phone calls. Charlotte, North Carolina, you're on with Christof.
Charlotte: Yeah. Hi, Christof. I was just wondering how many cameras you got there in that town?
Christof: Somewherein the vicinity of 5,000.
Charlotte: Vow! That’s a lot of cameras.
Christof: Remember, we started with just one. He was curious from birth. Premature by two weeks, it was almost as if he couldn't wait to get started.
Mike Michaelson: And of course his eagerness to leave the mother’s womb was the very reason he was, the one was selected.
Christof: In competition with five other unwanted pregnancies --the casting of a show determined by an air date, Truman was the one who arrived on cue.
Mike Michaelson: Incidentally I believe Truman is the first child who has been legally adopted by a corporation.
Christof: That's correct.
Mike Michaelson: The show has generated enormous revenues now, equivalent to the GNP of a small country.
Christof: People forget it takes the population of an entire country to keep the show running.
Mike Michaelson: Since the show is on 24 hours a day without commercial interruption, all those staggering revenues are generated by product placement.
Christof: That’s true. Everything on the show is for sale, from the actors’ wardrobe, food products, to the very homes they live in.
妙語佳句，活學(xué)活用
1. tune in
這個短語的意思是“調(diào)整頻率以接收特定頻率的信號或特定的節(jié)目”，這里可以解釋為“調(diào)臺”，比如：Tune in tomorrow, folks, for more up-to-date news. 觀眾們，明天請收聽更多即時新聞。
2. on pins and needles
Pin 是大頭針，needle 是針，坐在大頭針和針上的滋味當(dāng)然不好受，是又緊張又焦慮又擔(dān)心，這個片語可以用中文中的一個短語來形容，就是“如坐針氈”，比如：He was on pins and needles, waiting for the test results. 等待檢驗結(jié)果的時候，他如坐針氈。
