In a recent interview, the venerable Mr. Xu lamented how the Korean Drama obsession is hurting China’s “cultural self-esteem.” In an interesting twist, Guangzhou’s Time Weekly reported how the show is challenging traditional gender roles in China: “The handsome male characters have also encouraged Chinese women to demand their men take more care with their appearance. By contrast, the archetype of a male character in Chinese dramas is someone who is careless and nagging but generally a good person. Korean dramas, on the other hand, like their male leads to be Prince Charming characters.” ... This nationwide love for Korean dramas such as My Love From the Star, as well as the hit American show, House of Cards, has left people like Xu wondering: Where is the love for Chinese TV? But, Xu is no dummy: He acknowledged in the interview that most Chinese television shows are “poorly written and lack creativity.” Even The China Daily acknowledges the overall shittiness of Chinese television, saying: “Chinese TV screens are flooded by knock-off and/or poorly made soap operas. Most of the Chinese TV dramas either distort the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, which is a distortion of history, or blindly copy foreign programs. The lack of good stories has of late resulted in loads of TV series on time travel or fights in the harems of Qing Dynasty emperors. These, in short, are the bane of Chinese TV productions.” So, in short, it’s no surprise to anyone involved that Chinese TV clearly needs to step its game up.