Death is a ubiquitous theme in television dramas and we argued that mediated depictions of end-of-life experiences have the potential to provide glimpses into the ways in which characters experience real-life issues and can serve as conversation starters within family viewers. The study aimed to identify how a popular television drama, This is Us, depicted end-of-life communication. Analysis of season one revealed 54 conversations about end-of-life, two explicit death scenes, and three implied death scenes. Results also illustrate how the storyline within the show clearly depicts the impact end-of-life has on the family system, emphasizing the ongoing interdependence, hierarchy, and boundary (re)negotiation as a result of death. Findings advance understanding of how mediated narratives can illustrate end-of-life scenarios and conversations within the family system and can provide observational opportunities for modeling end-of-life communication behaviors within their families.

死亡是电视剧中无处不在的主题，我们认为，对临终经历的中介描述有可能让人们了解角色经历现实生活问题的方式，并可以作为家庭观众之间的对话开始。该研究旨在确定热门电视剧《我们这一天》如何描述临终交流。对第一季的分析揭示了 54 个有关临终的对话、两个明确的死亡场景和三个隐含的死亡场景。结果还说明了剧中的故事情节如何清楚地描述了生命终结对家庭系统的影响，强调了死亡导致的持续的相互依赖、等级制度和边界（重新）谈判。研究结果促进了人们对媒介叙事如何说明临终场景和家庭系统内对话的理解，并为模拟家庭内的临终沟通行为提供了观察机会。