A dissenting opinion:

Maggie and Echo offer good suggestions for women, but our poster appears to be male. Amir, here's my take on Chinese TV.

TV is bad everywhere. Chinese TV is slightly worse. If you like TV in general, you'll be able to find a Chinese television show that suits you. If you don't like TV, you'll have a hard time, unless you find a sympathetic Chinese person to watch with--a wife, for instance. If you actually live in China, learning to enjoy TV with Chinese characteristics is somewhat easier.

From your post I assume you're looking for a dramatic series. It's worth noting, however, that there are other kinds of TV shows, all of which can help with your Chinese. Shows like: Kids cartoons; News; Documentaries; Reality TV.

Cartoons: Yep, children's cartoons. When I first came to China, I watched 喜羊羊与灰太狼 on youku.com. This was partly because I could follow the plotlines even with poor Chinese; I learned a lot of vocab this way. Mostly, though, it was because Chinese serials were unbelievably bad.

News: If you're wondering how good your Chinese still isn't, watch the news. A truly humbling experience.

Documentaries: If you like documentaries, this is the obvious choice. Nature documentaries, history documentaries... Narrators speak clear, standard Chinese at a medium pace. Always subtitled and rife with new vocabulary.

Chinese Reality TV: Quality-wise, the same as American reality TV. 中国达人秀 (a copy of "Britain's Got Talent") and 非诚勿扰 (a elimination-style dating show) are the two big ones. If you actually live in China, scan the dials... lower quality shows (true crime, family scandals, etc.) are out there, too.

But your post appears to refer to dramas. I have two pieces of advice. The first is for you to stay far, far away, because (as you've already discovered) Chinese serial dramas are awful. What does it mean that the first two posters, Maggie and Echo, recommended dubbed Chinese programming from Korea?

I've watched several episodes of Chinese dramas. They were bearable only because of my wonderfully patient wife who puts up with my cynical asides. The first 《还珠格格》 is set in ancient China and features a band of people returning some woman plus a love triangle and a laowai musician and a woman who constantly cries about being blind. The second series《后宫甄嬛传》is set in ancient China and features 孙俪 plus a swarm of concubines vying for the love of the Emperor. A lot of them die.

These shows would never be bearable alone. If you have a sympathetic friend to watch with ("Wait, she's dead? How did she die? She only lightly bounced her head off that brick wall.") then it can be quite fun.

Most Chinese dramas fall into the following categories:

(1) Anti-Japanese war dramas set in China in WWII; (2) young Chinese couples trying to get rich; (3) modern soaps; and (4) fantasy dramas set in ancient China. Of these four types of shows, I've only had the stomach for (4). Watch (3) if you dare; you're in for endless medium close-up shots and a case of blue balls lasting 50 episodes or more.

The best piece of advice I could give you is this:

Search Chinese-forums' "Grand First Episode Project" for a drama that's suitable for you. The project works like this: Twice a week, Chinese learners watch the first episode of a TV show. They comment about it online. If they like the show they keep watching; if not, they wait a few days and watch the next one. It's a great place for recommendations, at least.

Introduction to the project:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/16784-the-grand-first-episode-project/

Recommendations and shows covered so far:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/24097-tv-series-recommendations-and-index-thread/

In any case, good luck! Let us know what you decide----you may even find something for us worth watching.