irish:

I have only seen Signal from that list. So I  have no idea if I wouid agree with you on the others.

All I can do in response is give you a list of some tv shows from around the world which I found to be excellent or at least very  good.

Some of these are old, But you don't sat if you are just looking for new shows.

Denmark

The Killing

Borgen

Sweden/Denmark

The Bridge

Sweden.

Midnight sun

Blue eyes

Norway

Occupied.

The Saboteurs

Finland.

Raid

France 

The Churchmen

Spiral.

Braquo

The Returned

Japan.

Soredemo Ikite Yuku (the only one I would class a masterpiece)

Change

Britain

Prime suspect

United States.

True Detective (season 1)

Germany 

Deutschland 83

generation war

NSU-German history X

Italy

La Piovra (octopus)

Soviet union 

17 moments of spring.

I think that's enough.

gonna have to disagree with you about german shows. I spent a ton of time watching german soap opera's and dramas while I was in Germany trying to learn the language.... and my god most of the shows they make are pretty bad lol. 

 usablefiber:

 Before we continue this bickering, we need to all agree that these are subjective viewpoints and none of us will agree on what is the best or worst drama. It's very personal for which there is no good criteria to judge. 

The bickering is definitely not about subjectivity vs objectivity, but you bring up a good point. We don't want to assume that drama is 100% subjective though because then there would be no reason to discuss it, no reason to have a rating system, etc. There are many instances where everyone can agree x drama is better than y drama. Things get muddled when dramas are closer in quality.

There won't really be an answer to this philosophical question anytime soon, but one thing that we can agree on, and the topic of much of this bickering, is that you cannot formulate a proper opinion on something that you don't enough knowledge of it. If someone who only watches kdrama claims that kdrama is the best, how credible is that opinion?

 DancingGoat:

There is no doubt that Korea makes some of the best and most high quality dramas in the world.

There is no way that for example America could make a drama like "Its Okay thats Love",  or "Signal". The quality is just different. Korea is playing in a different league, a superior league . Japanese dramas don't stand a chance either.

This is no bash against other countries's dramas, but I think we all can agree that Korea makes some mindblowing stuff.

Why does Korea make the best dramas on this planet? How come they can be so good and be on a so different level from all other countries? 

me too think so

I guess i understand no long quote, what if we made it so that each comment had the option of a "reply" button, that upon clicking, would create a comment horizontal to the original comment, next to it. so that replies to comments could be seen like that, for multiple comments, they would stack, a little off each one, so that the bottom corners of the stacked comments would form a subtle staircase.
aye! would u look at that! i reached the end of the thread finally!
@kookiejamz does this @ even work. ayyeeee HK unite!
I think this thread is an amzazing oportunity to promote STUDY ABROAD TO CHINA. yoyoyoyo. Go if you have not been, but know that what you see vs living there for several years is different.
As someone who is Chinese in the blood (don't connect me to the gov)(btw all my fam is HK), I gotta say I aint no weeb. (this is a disclaimer)
Ok, here we gooooo, so if you see all that stuff online, let it be known that what other people see about other countries is usually only the extremes. You are more likely to see either the good some people want to share, or the bad people want to share. There's a lot more to be seen that you have to live there to see. As someone who lived in Shanghai 7 years, I gotta say it's fun as heck, there are other developing cities etc, those poo incidents are typically due to people from rural areas not as regulated by the government, which means sanitary standards etc may not be up to par. But they gettin there.
Korea also has strict standards (the regulating agency or whatnot). As people have said, what gets seen by international communities is only a sliver of it all, mainly because China, HK, etc sees no point in catering to the masses.
Personally, I think Chinese dramas could be a way to spread their culture.
After all this, I think China should not fund Korean dramas anymore, they should pull out, and invest in their up and coming new classes of actors/actresses, and focus on their own development. Personally the Hallyu ban brought great joy to me, as we saw more new faces rise due to new opportunities left in the midst of the ban.

Cdrama fans sure are up in arms about this. From the dramas mentioned, there doesn't seem to be anything of interest and they seem very vanilla? Not that the Kdramas listed are any better. That was fun, if not mildly painful to read.

High quality does not equal best. It is all very subjective. 

Besides, I'm slightly surprised in how ''The West'' is mostly portrayed as The United States only in this thread. Comparing the typical Korean dramas (for the young audience) out there, I honestly think Norway's Skam, Spain's Merli or the UK's Skins is on a different level. Then again, that's just my personal opinion as well. 

Kdramas are not deep. Some of Cdramas are deep. For example Battle of Changsha, Tribes and Empires etc. And Kdramas can't be compared USA and UK dramas, Considering Gme of Thrones, Narcos, Fringe, The Tudors, Stranger Things, The Crown and Danish series 1864 etc. These are hgh quality and deep shows. Kdramas are just fan favorite, enjoyable. For example i don't watch most of K dramas.

In my opinion, the best of America is still way better than the best of Korea. 

 greenmilk:

Cdrama fans sure are up in arms about this. From the dramas mentioned, there doesn't seem to be anything of interest and they seem very vanilla? Not that the Kdramas listed are any better. That was fun, it not mildly painful to read.

lol yeah, there are a lot more c-dramas out there not put here. Btw ppl 

十里桃花后传, get excited yo. (it translates as 10 Miles of Peach Blossom's later legend

 bojinator:
After all this, I think China should not fund Korean dramas anymore, they should pull out, and invest in their up and coming new classes of actors/actresses, and focus on their own development.

I agree.  The whole reason people segue out of kdramas in the first place is because they're looking for something different.  Unfortunately, increasingly Cdramas - esp contemporary romcoms - strike me as attempted copy-pasteas of the kdrama aesthetic that relies on flawless idol actors, flashy photography, and cheesy directoral tricks.  Then again, what's available is hardly representative of cdramas as a whole.  Personally, I'd like to see more emphasis on compelling stories featuring regular people with whom we can actually relate and are more tonally organic - Battle of Changsha, The Way We Were, To Be a Better Man, Soredemo, Ikite Yuku, Alone in Love, Beautiful Life, etc. etc.  Probably explains why I like a lot of 90s Jdramas.

That said, this thread is obviously successful bait.  Anyone who allows their artistic assessments to be soiled by short-term personal experiences shouldn't be taken seriously.  And I'm still waiting, since the onus should be on the OP, for the reasons why Goblin and It's Okay, That's Love are hurr durr 'best TV shows in the world, with which no other can compare' LOL.  But since asked, I'll name a few that grind both of those into the dust:  Upstairs, Downstairs, Poldark (the original), Lonesome Dove, Roots, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Smiley's People, House of Cards, I Claudius, Pride and Prejudice, North and South, Mash, The Forsyte Saga, Brideshead Revisited......sigh.


I agree that drama preference is subjective. I myself enjoy dramas from all over the world depending on what I'm in the mood for. However, I think when your talking about production "quality" and variety not so much. Production quality in China has improved and is still improving. It might be something many people haven't recognized because of limited available in certain foreign markets. The point is that it does exist but you might have to look for it and make some concessions to see them (such as raw without subtitles or dubbed in other languages ) I've watched so many movies and series in my life that were first class production and boring AF. On the flip side there are many low quality films that are creative and beyond entertaining. I think it's 100% accurate to say that you can't honestly gauge variety and quality if you are relying on streaming services like Viki/Dramafever for reference material. 

Being from the US it reminds me of the best Anime debates if you're an 80's early 90's kid. Because unless you had someone hooking you up what you got here was definitely not representative to what was available. That cocky, center of the universe, American attitude ha ha the internet humbled me pretty damn quick! Because apparently watching Golden Harvest films and "American" broadcast anime didn't make me as much of an expert on "Asian" media as I believed! *facepalm* Live and hopefully learn.

"gonna have to disagree with you about german shows. I spent a ton of time watching german soap opera's and dramas while I was in Germany trying to learn the language.... and my god most of the shows they make are pretty bad lol."

But have you seen any of the ones I mentioned?. 

As I said, I'm just giving examples of what I consider quality dramas from around the world. 

 

 DancingGoat:
There is no doubt that Korea makes some of the best and most high quality dramas in the world.

There is no doubt that Japan make some of the best and most high quality dramas in the world,

There is no doubt that  france make some of the best and most high quality dramas in the world,

There is no doubt that  the united states make some of the best and most high quality dramas in the world,

There is no doubt that Denmark make some of the best and most high quality dramas in the world

and so on,

 plasticineman:
korean dramas are quite delightful and i enjoy them just as much as i enjoy and appreciate japanese, syrian and lebanese dramas. 

Hmm, I haven't seen any syrian or lebanese dramas. I should try and put that right. That's if  I can find any with eng subs.

 Major:
Personally, I'd like to see more emphasis on compelling stories featuring regular people with whom we can actually relate and are more tonally organic - Battle of Changsha, The Way We Were, To Be a Better Man, Soredemo, Ikite Yuku, Alone in Love, Beautiful Life, etc. etc.  Probably explains why I like a lot of 90s Jdramas.

I must check out some of them, as I consider Soredemo to be a masterpiece.