I always try to watch as much Chinese TV, firstly to practice my listening and comprehension of Chinese, and secondly to try and get into the psyche of the regular Chinese viewer - what they like to watch and what's currently trending in society. Unfortunately, for me it's hard to watch a Chinese television station for more than 5 minutes without either falling asleep, rolling my eyes, or throwing something at the screen. 
i used to think commercial tv in australia was crap, but Chinese TV really takes the cake. Regardless of what you're watching, whether it be the news, talk shows, dramas, game shows, or even ads, the people and the world depicted on the screen seems to be something out of your most wonderful fantasy. Yes, television is always stylized, dramatized and wonderfully beautiful in any country, but in mainland Chinese TV productions it's like some utopian heaven. And of course once you step out your door into real Chinese society, you can see that disconnect is much larger than the one you see between TV and real life in the West.The heros are super heroic, the villains are super villanous, and the damsels are clearly distressed. The world is full of glamorous, thin and immaculately styled rich people. It's rather fitting for the types of dramas that are commonly shown, which are either those set in ancient China, or modern dramas depicting either the war of resistance against the Japanese in WWII, or the civil war between the Communists and Republicans. Beacause when it comes to depicting the Communist party, Mao and their struggle, it's all black and white and clear cut...Recently an extreme type of Resistance against the Japanese dramas have cropped up, which basically depicts the Chinese protagonists pulling off some superhuman feats to kill off hoards of Japanese baddies. Like throwing a hand grenade into the air to take down a fighter plane, or a single fighter taking out a whole squadron of enemy soldiers, with a bow and arrow. The storylines and acion scenes are so ridiculous that it's now the butt of a lot of jokes amongst the locals, but still they remain highly popular, perhaps becuase people just watch it for a laugh or enjoy seeing japanese soldiers being killed in all sorts of gruesome ways.
http://www.chinasmack.com/2013/videos/sino-japanese-war-tv-dramas-becoming-increasingly-ridiculous.html
After watching half an hour of Chinese television you really feel like your intelligence is being insulted. Thankfully, you'll be happy to know that most people (especially the youth), don't watch much chinese television. They're all internet savvy enough to browse for content with a little more substance online, and they realize how cheesy chinese tv is. CCTV here is jokingly known as CCAV, with the AV standing for ''adult video'', a pseudonym for entertainment/fantasy. And locals are always commenting how it would be wonderful to live in the world of CCTV, where everything is wonderful and blissful every day.
The one saving grace of Chinese TV is something that they don't have much of - reality TV shows. Though, the dating shows that each and every province has their own version of is somewhat like a reality TV show - filled with contestants who just want to become famous and not being very real or natural. Because lets face it, you're not going to size up a life long partner for yourself in 10 minutes based on answers to a few questions. I'm not sure if reality TV shows just haven't taken off yet in China, or if the government are banning such productions. I can imagine they don't want viewers to see the personal struggles of ordinary citizens as it could be an indirect critique of their own governance.
Finally, you'll notice a lot of tears shed on Chinese TV. Whenever I switch on, i'm guaranteed to see at least two or three people, celebrities or common people, letting it all hang out. I use to think Chinese people never cry or get emotional, but on TV it's a whole diffrent story. Those TV hosts know what buttons to press when they're interviewing those guests!
