摘要：

中美文化的差异体现在各个方面，中美喜剧的差异就是其中一个重要的方面。随着物质生活的日益提高，人们对于精神方面的需求越来越强烈。由此，喜剧成为人们生活中不可缺少的调味剂，而且对文化多元化的发展有着至关重要的意义。本论文把美国情景喜剧《老友记》和中国情景喜剧《爱情公寓》作为研究对象，通过比较和例证的分析方法，阐释这两部喜剧在不同文化背景之下反映出来的文化特色有哪些异同及其形成不同文化差异的原因，从而让人们更加深刻地认识跨文化交流的意义，以便较为成功地进行跨文化交际。

关键词：喜剧；老友记；爱情公寓；中美文化差异

Abstract:

Cultural differences between China and America are reflected in various aspects. Sitcom difference between China and America is one of the main aspects. Along with material life improving day by day, the demand of spiritual world has also increased. Therefore, sitcom as an indispensable spice in people's lives plays a crucial role in the development of cultural diversity. With comparative analysis and case analysis, this paper will elaborate on and analyze the similarities and differences under different cultural contexts and expose the causes giving rise to different cultures’ forming from Friends and Love apartment. Accordingly, we would have a deeper comprehension of cross-cultural communication so as to guarantee much successful communication than before.

Key words: sitcom; Friends; Love apartment; differences of Chinese and American cultures

1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose of the study
The title of this paper is "A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Cultures from Friends and Love apartment", which refers to some Chinese and foreign literatures and makes a research about the differences between Chinese and American cultures from the two countries’ representative sitcoms Friends and Love apartment. 
In Chinese, there is a phrase "One falling leaf is indicative of the coming of autumn". The author studies Friends and Love apartment to learn about Chinese and American cultures, which helps to have a better understanding of different cultural atmosphere and similarities and differences between different cultures. Sitcoms vividly reflect people’s life and their cultures, hence analyzing characters of the two plays can help us shape the outlook of life.