any good TV series recently?

[imron]

15 hours ago, 艾墨本 said:

Something similar to this would be great.

Have a look at this thread 

[hejmeddig]

Haven't seen anyone mention it yet, but there is a pretty good action drama with good humor that came out recently. 

 

It is called 余罪 and I highly recommend it. The vocabulary is pretty simple and I think the main actor， 张一山, is really good!

[xinhuar]

I second Wurstmann's recommendation of 最好的我们. I finished it earlier this year and it really gave me a feel for what high school is like in China with all the pressure of passing the 高考. I also recently finished watching a hospital drama called 外科风云 and was able to pick up lots of medical terms. The story is pretty good and I liked 靳东's acting.

 

Anyone else watching 欢乐颂2？

[艾墨本]

3 hours ago, xinhuar said:

Anyone else watching 欢乐颂2？

I watched the first two episodes and was so disappointed I just stopped. I loved the first season but the second season seems reduced to a romantic drama. I loved how the women in the first season weren't defined by their romantic interests. That has changed.

[JerryG11]

奇葩说 is pretty good.. or 吐嘈大会

 

A generic crime movie that's decent is "Drug War" it's on Netflix. Not sure what the Chinese name of it is though

[Wurstmann]

深夜食堂 started yesterday, I loved the Japanese and Korean versions, so hopefully this one will be good too.

[iekkim]

14 hours ago, Wurstmann said:

深夜食堂 started yesterday, I loved the Japanese and Korean versions, so hopefully this one will be good too

 Oh! I've seen the Japanese one on Netflix and I have been wanting to watch it. Glad you mentioned that there was a Korean one as well!

 

特工皇妃 just started this month and I like the plot, I haven't gotten around to watching it because I really hate to wait but if any of you have seen it, how is it? I'm currently trying to finish 择天记 and watching some old Taiwanese romcoms.

[Luxi]

Viki's Learn Mode Chinese now has 31 titles from PRC and Taiwan

https://www.viki.com/collections/316981l-learn-the-basics-chinese

The titles are not exactly to my taste, but a useful resource anyway.

Here is how to use the Learn Mode:

https://support.viki.com/hc/en-us/articles/231829048-How-to-use-Learn-Mode-

[dnevets]

Anyone watching 我的前半生? I'm nearly halfway - episode 20 (of 42).

It's well-acted, decent story, not too difficult to understand, sensible number of characters/plots to follow, and (most importantly) the main female character has a delightfully annoying mother. Pretty rare that something holds my attention for this many episodes, so it's a thumbs-up from me.

[Angelina]

I haven't found anything interesting yet. All the Chinese people watch foreign TV. Things get labelled like, oh, this is popular in China, but why do so many Chinese people watch good English-language content? 

 

The last thing I saw with a Chinese friend was Fargo. 

 

Can we have a separate topic on what is popular in China in general? Friends used to popular, then The Big Bang Theory. It can be Chinese, but not decent enough for the Chinese market, something people really like instead. 

 

(Also, for those interested in studying in China, something like what schools and programs are popular among Chinese students, not necessarily public education in China)

 

[imron]

22 minutes ago, Angelina said:

Can we have a separate topic on what is popular in China in general?

If you want a new topic about something, then start one!  It costs nothing and anyone can do it..... yourself included.

[zander1]

I'm currently watching '我的前半生' (the first half of my life) at the moment and quite enjoying it. I know for sure that it's going to drag out too long and eventually get boring though. Why does every chinese-drama have to be 40+ episodes? It's just excessive!

[AaronUK]

@zander1 I think you have just cost me 40 hours of my life! I’m on episode 2 now 

[TheBigZaboon]

Count me in, too.

 

@dnevets I am glad someone  else thinks the mother is good, too. I have seen just shy of the first ten episodes, and I found her so realistically irritating that I tried halfheartedly  to find out her real name so I could see what else she has done. I wasn't  able to figure it out, though.

[happy_hyaena]

I binge watched 漂亮的李慧珍 during the winter holidays. An easy tv show with a cheezy romantic plotline starring 迪丽热巴 and 盛一伦. 迪丽热巴 and the supporting actor 张彬彬 star together in some other tv series. It's a remake of a Korean tv series. I have a sweet spot for these kinds of stupid romance dramas, and considering how easy it was to understand I finished watching the 40 something 40 min long episodes a period of about 5-6 days.

 

Now I'm watching 丑女无敌, the Chinese version of Ugly Betty, mentioned in the TV series and recommendation thread; as well as 如果蜗牛有爱情, which was mentioned by Imiekki on the previous thread。丑女无敌 is funny because of how incredibly exaggerated it is, but it's also a little too stupid for me to watch a whole season of, let alone the four or five(?) that were made.

 

如果我怒有爱情 is a completely different story. It must be one of the best Chinese tv series I've seen so far. The cinematography is incredibly beautiful, it stars the two very talented 王凯 and 王子文 and the plot is also very good. 王子文's role is that of a scrawny but genious psychologist who is an expert at profiling criminals, giving me Sherlock-vibes. It's slightly more difficult to understand but I make do. Can strongly recommend so far, 5 episodes in.

[imron]

4 hours ago, happy_hyaena said:

如果我怒有爱情

Hilarious misspelling there.

[Angelina]

10 hours ago, happy_hyaena said:

It must be one of the best Chinese tv series I've seen so far.

 

Is it the best TV series you have seen, though? 

 

It would be interesting to make a list of the best TV shows popular in China, where even Star Wars can flop. Considering the size of the market, it is worth doing the research. 

 

Homeland seems popular among my Chinese friends. What else? What are the best Chinese subtitles for the best TV shows if the show happens to be made outside of China? 

[imron]

26 minutes ago, Angelina said:

where even Star Wars can flop

To be fair, the latest Star Wars didn't do that well domestically either compared to other recent Star Wars films, where despite similar takings on opening weekend, ended up only taking in ~60% of what The Force Awakens did.

[Angelina]

In China it went really bad, really bad. It is the first time that a Star Wars film goes bad, as in, not only making less than previous instalments in the US, but making very little money (when considering the budget) and then getting pulled from cinemas. 

 

Isn't it better to try to learn what good TV content is popular in China? Then maybe focus on the subtitles if we are interested in the language. It is a billion-dollar market, so ... 

[zander1]

30 minutes ago, Angelina said:

Isn't it better to try to learn what good TV content is popular in China? Then maybe focus on the subtitles if we are interested in the language. It is a billion-dollar market, so ... 

 

No, not really. As I imagine most people here are watching Chinese TV shows in order to improve their Mandarin. To be honest what English language shows are popular in China really doesn't interest me. Not to mention, if it's not in Chinese (even if it has been dubbed / subtitled) you've already cut out a very significant part of that market share.