Chinese TV plays are an unparalleled resource for studying Chinese language and culture. Not only can you improve your grasp of modern Chinese but you can delve into the foundations of the language via the many available costume dramas and gain a real perspective on the way the language has developed.
Chinese TV plays almost always have the dialog written at the bottom of the screen in Chinese characters. This enables you to work out what the actors are saying even if your aural comprehension is not good. Just watch the DVDs on a computer and run wenlin or similar software in the background and you can stop at any point and rewind the video stream and look up new vocabulary.