My favourite Chinese tv shows
Have you ever watched a Chinese tv channel? Chinese television is not exactly famous for its high quality. If you turn the tv on and start zapping, this is probably what you will see: singing contests, dramas (normally historical dramas, with stories set in either some dynasty or the Anti Japanese war) and reality shows where famous people do stupid things. Rinse and repeat ad aeternum.
My reaction when I see any of these is:
- Singing contests: Really? Does anyone still watch these? Signing contests started being popular like 15 years ago, right?
- Historical dramas: Where do they get these actors? They are always so bad! They think acting consists of opening their eyes a lot and looking like their stomach is killing them!
- Reality shows with famous people: Who are these people? Are they supposed to be famous? Why are they running all the time?
Luckily, internet tv has come to the rescue with some shows that not only help me improve my Chinese (slang, in particular), but that also keep me from falling asleep while watching! These are my favourite 3 (and all of them happen to fall into the comedy category):
屌丝男士
The English official name is Diors Man, but I think a better translation would be Losers. There are currently 4 seasons. Each episode lasts about 15 minutes and contains several short sketches that happen during a date with a girl, in a massage parlour, in the hospital… There are many puns and stupid situations. One of my favourite sketches is this one, in which two friends literally fight to pay the bill in a restaurant (starts at 1:08 and has several parts during the episode):
There is also a sketch that happens in the massage parlour and is a very recurrent theme. There is always this chubby guy, with a mischievous look, who wants to have some “special services” delivered by female masseuses, but he always ends up getting something weird!
The creator of this show is that guy with glasses that always appears. His name is Da Peng and last year he even released a movie, Jian Bing Man, which I mentioned in my post about the Chinese movies I watched last year.
万万没想到
I’m not sure this one has an official English name. It can be translated as “unexpected”. All the episodes start with the sentence 我叫王大锤 (my name is Wang Dachui, dachui also means hammer) and the protagonist is always the same actor, but the stories are different. Sometimes he is a normal guy in the present time, sometimes he is a student of martial arts and the story is set in the past, sometimes he is part of the story from Journey to the West, other times the story is about how the production crew could not come up with an episode! This show sometimes includes many references to Chinese legends and stories, which are often lost on me, and they usually speak super fast and I miss some bits, but I laugh at the bad jokes that I can understand.
I found an episode with subtitles in English for those of you who don’t understand Chinese! It’s not my favourite episode but you get an idea.
暴走大事件
English name: Big news event. This show is different from the other two. It reviews the latest news in a funny way, and also shows stupid clips from the internet and makes fake interviews. One of the most famous fake interviews was with a woman who used a face mask and her face started glowing in the dark; there are also a series of fake interviews with a quality control worker from Foxconn called 张全蛋 who is famous for his English and for his laugh (he appears in the video below at 10:35). They also have a section where they telephone scams pretending to be a dumb customer who is going to fall for their tricks (there are so many scams in China that they have enough material to do this many, many times). The host of the show is unknown, he always wears a big white head that looks like a steamed bun and goes by the name 王尼玛 (Wang Nima; Nima sounds like “your mother”, which is used as an interjection in Chinese).
If you have a good level of Chinese you can watch these shows to improve your listening, your bad words, and learn the latest internet-created slang! If these are too advanced for you, try watching cartoons! When I had just arrived to Beijing, my favourite tv show was Sponge Bob (the Chinese dubbing was quite good!). There are also cartoons made in China, like 喜洋洋 and 熊出没, that are more appropriate for beginners.
Do you think watching tv is a good way to reinforce your foreign language learning? What are your favourite tv shows?
I’ll have to check these out when I can turn on the computer sound! When I am at the gym, I notice a lot of Japanese and Chinese members watching American cartoons.Clearly your older language learning method is universal. :)
Really? Which cartoons do they watch? I learnt a lot in my teenage years with South Park, hahaha.
Sponge Bob! Just like you. :)
Whatever are we going to do if not for internet contents? If all the shows we watch are TV approved crap, I’m pretty sure the suicide rate would be way higher than it is.
So 屌丝 means loser. Now I know. I was trying to look for a stream for Jian Bing Man, but all I came across were trailers and The Making Ofs and interview clips. Almost every clip has this rooftop scene where the girl tells the guy: 要继续当屌丝 还是当煎饼侠 你自己想想. I thought it meant nerd or playboy or something…
Oh, diaosi also contains an element of nerdyness, haha. So this word is only used in mainland China then? It started being very popular here a few years ago.
Tv shows are certainly a great way to improve the language skills. I got never into Chinese tv shows…only watched some years ago ipartment season 1and 2, nothing more. Oh an baba qu nar
Argh, I watched a couple of episodes of ipartment and I couldn’t keep watching haha. Hated all the actors…
Baba qu nar I have never watched but it is very famous. I read that the government wanted to stop celebrities and their children appearing in reality shows so not sure it is still showing.
No idea either. We started season 3 last year but never managed past episode 2 or so as it is just repetition in baba qu nar. It was amassing for the first two seasons but that’s it :)
These are too funny. Historical dramas are perhaps the silliest thing I have seen on Chinese TV. I can watch these and understand and learn but my Chinese is not good enough to watch the three you recommend (yet). I do watch ‘If you are the one’. It’s a dating show. I wonder if you know it. I actually watch it here in Australia. The girls are brutal with the poor guy who goes into the show to find a date/wife. I love it though. It has English subtitles too.
I know it but I’m not sure if I have ever watched a complete episode! One of my colleagues has been in several dating shows in China haha.
LOL. Thanks for sharing these. I wouldn’t have known any of them without your recommendation! Have you ever watched their reality shows like 爸爸去哪兒 or 最强大脑? I’ve seen 最强大脑, very talented people. And my parents and my wife love the dating shows. :D
I haven’t watched 爸爸去哪兒 but I know which show it is. I’m not sure about 最强大脑, is it that one where teams from different countries compete in knowledge questions? If so, I watched the ones with the Spanish and the Japanese teams.
I think the one compete from different countries is just one of the episodes. yeah, the Chinese government is banning 爸爸去哪兒.
I’m also a big fan of Diors Man!
Haha it’s hilarious, right? I’m looking forward to the 5th season, it should have started already! I hope they did not stop doing it!
Diors Man looks promising! Thanks Marta, I have new media to practice my Chinese with….
HAHAHA! I laughed so hard at Diors Man omg. That maidan scene is hilarious… and then they do it again in the hospital…!!
Hahaha I’m glad you liked it!! Watch all the 4 seasons and also the movie Jian Bing Man!! :D
I guess the good thing about Chinese TV being horrible is that I don’t watch much TV any more. I really dislike Chinese cartoon, especially the two bears and the lumberjack show. Even the Power Rangers blows that show out of the water. I also get creeped out by the little kid talent shows. Not as bad as toddlers with tiaras (check it out on youtube if you want to see the scariest Americans of all time. Those kids should be put in foster care) but they still make me say dirty words about the parenting on display.
I actually like the singing shows because the girls are pretty and I walk around my housing singing the songs (and changing all of the words to make fun of whatever is on my mind). But that doesn’t really speak to the quality of the shows (low), just to my insanity and ability to entertain myself.
I googled image toddlers and tiaras. Now I will have nightmares. Thanks a lot.
I grew up watching Thai soaps and movies. I didn’t understand what they were saying, but so much can be conveyed by the acting, music, laugh track, etc. I actually enjoy watching things I don’t understand, esp Thai, but of course, as my Thai improved I was able to pick out more things. I will say Thai TV has made big leaps (gotten better), but has a looongg way to go!
When I was 13-14 I liked to watch a couple of German music channels. I didn’t understand a word of what the hosts were saying but it was fun haha.
Thanks for this post Marta! I am always trying to find good Chinese TV shows to help me with my Chinese (I recently came across Diors Man on YouTube now I will have to track down Jian Bing Man and check out the other shows you recommended). Thanks again :-)
Hope you like them! :D
Pingback: Alternative Chinese bands | Marta lives in China
Pingback: Interracial couples in China | Marta lives in China
Pingback: Chinese movies (2016 list) | Marta lives in China