The Grand First Episode Project. . .

[fanglu]

婚姻保卫战, a marriage-themed series featuring 陆涛 and 夏琳 from 奋斗.

I've been watching this. It's silly, but fun. The language is pretty easy, easier than 我的青春谁做主 (I've never watched 奋斗 although I gather its pretty much the same).

It also features a character （张谨 played by Taiwanese actress 孟广美） with a pretty over the top Taiwan accent.

I downloaded the whole series from a torrent, which was much easier than searching around for individual files. However, gougou seems to be blocking searches for new TV series. You can use http://www.zhongguosou.com/bit_torrent_search_engine.html and its 'google search' option to find them I think.

[jbradfor]

I'm thinking of dipping a toe or two into this project in my non-existent spare time, and I'm wondering what peoples' opinions / practices are in terms of learning via these.

How much do you watch for learning, as opposed to fun / cultural experience?

What level program do you pick relative to your comprehension level? One you can mostly follow, or one that is more challenging? Or just whatever meets your fancy?

Do you try to understand (almost) every sentence, e.g. pause, read the subtitles, rewind, etc? Or do you just mostly play it, stopping only occasionally to review?

How do you use the word lists that are provided for some?

Thanks!

[renzhe]

Actually, different people get different things out of it. It's just a resource, which you can use in any way you like.

I've done all the things you mentioned, with different shows, at different times, for different reasons. They were all useful.

In any case, you should give it a go, cause it's fun. If you need specific recommendations, just ask.

[feihong]

Regarding 婚姻保卫战:

I've been watching this. It's silly, but fun. The language is pretty easy, easier than 我的青春谁做主 (I've never watched 奋斗 although I gather its pretty much the same).

It's not very hard to understand what's basically going on, but when they started slinging chengyu and idioms around I wasn't able to quite follow what they were saying. I also have never seen 奋斗, so I don't know how it compares, but there are other Chinese shows that are easier to understand than this one, for example 媳妇儿的美好时代.

[Gleaves]

jbradfor - I'd say jump right in. I picked about ten first episodes a while back and gave 'em a watch. I was surprised by which shows I ended up liking and which I didin't. I found that I naturally gravitated towards shows that I both enjoyed and could reasonably understand.

I used to watch shows very slowly - rewinding, pausing, lookign up vocab, SRSing, etc. It was a good way to learn, but it became a bit too much work. So now I watch shows mostly in real time. I learn less per episode, but I also watch more episodes.

I have a bunch of shows lined up at one time, so I can either dedicate myself to one show if I'm really into it, or I can alternate between a bunch of different shows if I'm in the mood to switch it up. I split my time pretty evenly between dramas and cartoons.

[imron]

I agree with everything Renzhe said in #323.

The great thing is, there's now such a huge number of series listed, pick a few first episodes to watch, and if you find one you like at a level you find appropriate then keep watching it all the way through.

[WakkaakkaW]

I just finished 婚姻保卫战. Good show

[renzhe]

Here is a shortlist of things I'm looking for, but could not find so far:

婚姻保卫战 -- romantic comedy (I think) with 陆涛 and 夏琳 from 奋斗

龙虎山客栈 -- light historic comedy loosely based on 水浒转, written and directed by 宁财神 of 武林外传 fame

爱情公寓2 -- second season of the popular sitcom, with three new characters. Showing in China right now

I've mentioned two of these before, but they are showing now, and I can't find them anywhere. I guess that they are clamping down on internet streaming of new shows. Nobody dares show 爱情公寓2, for example, not even PPStream. VeryCD doesn't offer recent shows anymore either.

I've had a look at a couple of others which I thought would be promising but turned out not to be, including 健康快车 and 卫生队的故事, so I didn't write them up. I'm checking out 婆婆来了 at the moment (one of the most popular shows in China right now), and I'll write it up when I find the time. Still undecided about it. Could be fun, could be another 双面胶 .

I'm planning to check out 七种武器之孔雀翎 soon too. Wuxia based on Gu Long instead of Jin Yong for a change. One of the main actors has decent kung fu, so it might be worth watching (it made the terrible 醉侠张三 worth watching).

There is also a new version of 水浒转 coming out, but I will definitely skip that one because I plan to read the book and don't want it spoiled.

I'm still looking for something to grab my attention. Preferably modern.

[Sarevok]

I've mentioned two of these before, but they are showing now, and I can't find them anywhere. I guess that they are clamping down on internet streaming of new shows. Nobody dares show 爱情公寓2, for example, not even PPStream. VeryCD doesn't offer recent shows anymore either.

I find this really worrying, VeryCD has been like that for the past few months. If it really becomes impossible to download new shows, then I better start stockpiling - this time I will probably end up buying A LOT of DVDs before going back home (watching streamed videos is nearly impossible in my country, as Tudou, Youku and other sites like that are really slow)

There is also a new version of 水浒转 coming out, but I will definitely skip that one because I plan to read the book and don't want it spoiled.

I also want to read this at some point, I might even end up joining your big 2011 project once things settle down a little bit. The critiques doesn't seem all that positive about this new version and I myself didn't like it much (I only watched the first episode and I'll probably pass on the others...)

I'm still looking for something to grab my attention. Preferably modern.

Probably not "modern", but there is one show which successfully grabbed my attention lately. It's a spy flick called 《黎明之前》 and I really enjoyed all the six or so episodes I watched so far. The overall atmosphere is similar to 《潜伏》

I am also waiting for 《极致情感》, this one is modern and it's gonna be "legendary" Probably only for me though - I had a small role in it, and I can't wait how it all comes out in the end (hope I won't regret ever writing this post )

[renzhe]

So you're the only white guy in the show?

...writes a note...

But seriously, that is cool. I've always wanted to play a baddy in a Chinese TV show. I could probably do better than most of the exchange students they get in there

[rob07]

I've mentioned two of these before, but they are showing now, and I can't find them anywhere. I guess that they are clamping down on internet streaming of new shows. Nobody dares show 爱情公寓2, for example, not even PPStream. VeryCD doesn't offer recent shows anymore either.

婚姻保卫战 seems to be on Youtube. New release movies seem to show up on Youtube very fast too and the quality is generally very good. Not sure if Youtube is slipping through the cracks or whether they are happy to promote Mainland China TV and movies on a site only available outside of China. Anyone know more?

手机, based on a famous movie. The movie was quite funny, don't know about the series.

Have you tried this yet?

I am also waiting for 《极致情感》, this one is modern and it's gonna be "legendary" Probably only for me though - I had a small role in it, and I can't wait how it all comes out in the end (hope I won't regret ever writing this post )

Great work!

[feihong]

I find this really worrying, VeryCD has been like that for the past few months. If it really becomes impossible to download new shows, then I better start stockpiling - this time I will probably end up buying A LOT of DVDs before going back home (watching streamed videos is nearly impossible in my country, as Tudou, Youku and other sites like that are really slow)

One trick I've used lately is to just get the shows from Sohu, Tudou, Youku, etc by playing the videos in my browser and redirecting the video files to a chosen directory using a Firefox add-on called Mason. Then watch the entire, downloaded episode in VLC. This trick works best with a site like Sohu, which automatically redirects you to the next episode when the current episode finishes playing.

[renzhe]

Holy moly rob07, you're right. Both 婚姻保卫战 and 手机 are on youtube!

That's a very interesting turn of events. Now Chinese sites are protecting copyright, and youtube is spiting them.

婆婆来了 was not too interesting. I'll write it up, but I'll give these two shows a shot, as they're modern.

[rob07]

Not only that but a month or so ago 赵氏孤儿 was a promoted video on the front page of Youtube - this was on a computer on which I had never before used Youtube so this didn't even seem to have been based on my personal history (although they could have been profiling me based on google search). It may be possible that the owners of these shows are happy for them to be available for free outside of China in order to build audiences that wouldn't otherwise watch them.

[renzhe]

BTW, Sarevok, if you start a thread on 《黎明之前》, I promise to have a look at it when I find the time.

I've started watching 婚姻保卫战 now. I might write 婆婆来了 these days, but I won't put too much effort into it -- I didn't think much of it, and it's not likely many people will watch it.

I don't want to start too many threads all of a sudden. If 婚姻保卫战 is good, I'll stick with it for a while. So far, it looks like a somewhat more boring 奋斗.

[Sarevok]

So you're the only white guy in the show?

...writes a note...

But seriously, that is cool. I've always wanted to play a baddy in a Chinese TV show. I could probably do better than most of the exchange students they get in there

Not the only one, but the one with most lines in some dialogs, occasionally in English but mostly in Chinese. I will make appearance in the last four episodes (the total number of episodes being 25). I am not an actor and some of those scenes might end up looking really daft - partly because I haven't been told much of the story and character development in the previous episodes, partly because my acting skills (or lack thereof ) and partly because certain parts of the script were just plain daft. But overall it was an interesting experience, learning about how the 电视剧 industry works, getting to know some Chinese actors and most importantly - practicing my Chinese during the course of it all...

BTW, Sarevok, if you start a thread on 《黎明之前》, I promise to have a look at it when I find the time.

I'll definitely try to find some time to do this (shouldn't be that hard once I finish my current translation project).

[imron]

getting to know some Chinese actors

Just don't forget that Renzhe is expecting an introduction (or at least an email address) to 姚晨 if/when you eventually meet her

[renzhe]

OK, I'm going to start dishing out red minuses if this goes on <_<

It would be funny to meet somebody you watched in a TV series, though. Like 姚晨. Or similar.

[imron]

Nobody dares show 爱情公寓2,

It's available on tv.sohu.com

The opening scene of this is bizarre, but I laughed.

Edit: Just finished watching the first episode now, and it has quite a few laughs. Not a bad watch if you've got a spare 45 mins.

[roddy]

Wow, parts of that made it look like they actually have a budget. Doubt it'll last.

Watched about 15 minutes of it - don't have the time for any more at the moment, but good to see they've retained at least some of the cast (no 陈美嘉 though. 呜呜呜). I'm generally skeptical about second seasons of Chinese shows, but I have enough affection for this I may well give it a shot. I do have the theme tune as my ring tone, after all . . .

Renzhe and 姚晨 up a tree . .

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