How to talk about series in English

Hi, there. My name is Emma; and in today's video, I'm going to teach you

some great conversation skills. Nowadays, one of the most popular things

to talk about are movies, or TV series, or streaming series. So, I'm going to

teach you how to talk about these things; some of the key vocabulary, and

I'll give you some examples of how we use these words. So, let's get started.

This is a common question nowadays: "So... what are you watching these

days?" What does this mean? When someone asks this question, it means they want

to know what movies or TV series you are watching. So, I'm going to give you a

formula on how to answer this question. We're going to look at it as one first,

and then we're going to break it apart. So, if someone asked me this question:

"What are you watching these days?" I might say something, like: "I'm watching

a series called: 'Kim's Convenience'. It's a comedy. It takes place in

Toronto. It's about a Korean family that owns a convenience store in Toronto, and

their adventures. I don't know who's in it. Most of the actors are not that

famous. I give it a nine out of ten." So, we're going to go through each step,

here. But this is, essentially, how I might answer this question. So, now,

let's look at each part.

Okay. So, when someone asks us what we are watching, after we say the name, we

can talk about the "genre". So, that's this word right here. "Genre" is a fancy

way to say: "type". We use the word: "genre" when we're talking about books,

movies, music; and again, it just means the type. So, we can say: "It's a

__________" and then we say the type of movie or series it is. So, let's look at

some examples. We could say: "It's a fantasy". "Game of Thrones" is an

example of a "fantasy". "Oh, I'm watching a fantasy." Maybe we're

watching a "sitcom". A "sitcom" stands for: "situational comedy". But nobody

says: "situational comedy"; instead, we say: "sitcom". "Friends" is a very

famous "sitcom"; so is "Seinfeld". So, we might say: "Oh, I'm watching a sitcom

right now." We might talk about a "sci-fi". "Sci-fi" means

"science-fiction". We say: "sci-fi" for short. "Star Trek" is an example of a

very famous "sci-fi".

Maybe we're watching a "reality TV show". So, a "reality TV show" is...

it's sort of hard to explain if it's real or not, but it's a show where they

follow people who are supposed to be real people. So, an example of a

"reality TV show" is: "Keeping Up With The Kardashians". If you've ever heard

of Kim Kardashian — she has a "reality TV show". So, maybe you're watching

"Keeping Up With The Kardashians", and you might tell people: "Oh, it's a

reality TV show." You might talk about a "drama". One example of a "drama" is a

show called: "The Affair". You might say... if you're talking about a show

that takes place in the past, you might say: "It's a period drama." An example

of a "period drama" is a show called: "Rome", which takes place in ancient

Rome. Maybe you're watching a "mystery". So, for example: "Miss Marple" is an

example of a "mystery". So, again, for any of these genres, when you're

describing a series, you can say: "It's a __________" and then you just say what

type or what genre it is right here. So, I want you to think of your favourite

show or a series you are watching. "What kind of show is it?" You can say this

out loud: "It's a __________" and then you choose the correct genre. All right.

So, now, let's look at the next thing we might say when we are talking about a

series or a movie.

Okay. So, the next thing you might talk about when someone asks you: "What are

you watching?" you might talk about the setting. "Setting" means when and where.

So, one way we talk about the "setting" is we use this verb: "take", and then we

use the word: "place". "Takes place" means when and where. So, we can say:

"It takes place in __________." And we can say either the time here, or the

date... Or, sorry, I mean the year, or the place. So, let's look at some

examples. "It takes place in ancient Rome." I could say that about the TV

series, "Rome". "It takes place in the 90s in New York." Maybe I'm talking

about "Seinfeld" or "Friends". But notice we have: "It takes place in

__________", so "in" is the preposition we're using. "The 90s" is a decade or a

time period, and "NY" stands for "New York". Here's another example: "It takes

place in Wisconsin" — which is a place — "in the 1970s". This is an example from

"That '70s Show". So, whatever you're watching, when you are describing the

time, as well as the place — you can use the words: "It takes place in". So, I

want you to think about a series you are watching right now. "When does it take

place?" So, you can say this out loud to help you remember it: "It takes place in

__________" and you can write the year, or say the year and say the place. All

right. So, now, let's look at the next thing we might talk about when we are

talking about a series.

Okay. So, the next thing we might talk about when we're talking about movies or

TV series, is we might talk about the story. "What is it about?" So, how will

we talk about the story? Well, to begin with, first I want to teach the word:

"plot". "Plot" is a fancy way of saying: "story". So, when you're talking about

the "plot of a movie", you're talking about the story of a movie. So, you can

just start off by saying: "Oh, the series or the movie is about __________"

and then just say a couple of sentences. One of the problems some people have is

they explain the whole series or the whole movie in a lot of detail. This is

not a good idea when someone asks: "What are you watching?" because usually

people are just trying to make conversation, and they don't want to

hear about the series for the next half an hour. They just want a couple of

sentences to tell them a little bit about it.

So, I'm going to give you some examples of this. So, imagine I'm telling my

friends about "Star Trek". And somebody, for some reason, has no idea what "Star

Trek" is. I might say: "Oh, well, 'Star Trek' is about a captain and his

spaceship, exploring space and different alien civilizations." So, notice, I

didn't talk about the whole series of "Star Trek" and I didn't talk about the

1950's version versus, you know, Voyager, and I didn't go into so much

detail. I just said just one sentence about it. Here's another example. So,

imagine I'm talking about the TV sitcom: "Friends". Okay? If somebody asked me:

"Oh, what's 'Friends' about?" Well, I might say: "Oh, you know, it's about six

friends in their twenties or early thirties, and their dating and work

experiences." I might say a couple more things, you know: "Oh, it's really

funny." But, in general, I'm going to keep my explanation short; unless a

person really wants to know more about the series, and then I might give more

details. Okay. So, now, we're going to find out what other information we might

give when we are talking about movies or TV series.

Okay. So, the next thing you might do when you are talking about movies or TV

series is you might talk about: "Who is in it? Is there anyone famous in it?" Or

maybe there's a famous director. So, how do you talk about actors or actresses

who are famous in a TV series? Well, you just say their name: "__________ is in

it". So, for example, the TV show "Friends" has Jennifer Aniston. We can

say: "The actress, Jennifer Aniston, is in it. Jennifer Aniston is in

'Friends'." If we're talking about "Seinfeld", we could say: "Jerry

Seinfeld is in Seinfeld." If we're talking about Game of Thrones, we might

say: "Emilia Clarke is in Game of Thrones." Another way to say this is you

can use the word: "star". So: "star" can be a verb, and we use it when we're

talking about actors and actresses. "Who is the main actor or actress?" If we're

talking about "Terminator", we could say: "Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in

it." And this just is a reminder: I wrote "famous people", here, to say you

can put different famous people in these sentences.

So, the next thing we might talk about when we talk about movies or TV series

is we might talk about how good it is. "Do we recommend it?" One way to say

this is we can give a movie or a TV series a score out of ten. If it's

amazing, you can say: "I give it a ten out of ten." And notice how we say this

number? We say: "Ten out of ten". And I've written it right there. "I give it

a nine out of ten." Maybe the series is not that great: "I give it a three out

of ten. Don't watch it", you might tell someone. So, here is an adjective we can

use to describe really, really good series — we can say: "It's bingeworthy."

When we "binge" on a TV show, or a series — it means we watch a lot of it

as fast as we can because it's so good. We call these series "bingeworthy". For

me, when I watched Game of Thrones, I watched a lot of Game of Thrones. It was

binge-worthy; I was excited to find out what would happen next. So, if I'm

talking about that show, I'd say: "It's bingeworthy." You can also recommend it.

This is a way to say: "I recommend it" — you can say: "You should check it out. I

recommend it. You should check it out." So, these are the ways we can talk about

movies and TV series; and how we can answer the question: "What are you

watching these days?"

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