Popular TV show not so funny business

"In such a situation, we need to bring to light the duty of institutions like CCTV. They've made people more indifferent to discrimination by presenting it as something to laugh at."

The New Year gala and Chinese television shows in general have long relied on making fun of physical disability and the disadvantaged for laughs.

The stereotypical image of people from Southern China being snobbish businessmen was also reinforced in the gala, which featured characters speaking with noticeable Southern accents. Some even find the annual gala stating that eating dumplings is the most important New Year tradition is discriminatory, because at least half of China (the South) do not eat dumplings on New Year Eve.

"It's normal to see prejudice in everyday life. But as a major platform, what CCTV chooses to recreate and spread will be strengthened in people's minds," says Lyu.

However, critic Qin Ning writing in the Beijing Times, argues that an artistic image doesn't speak for the value orientation of a whole program, let alone that of the whole gala. He believes the mocking of disadvantaged social groups in the gala was purely for fun and meant no harm.

"If people who discriminate against women exist in life, then art that reflects this should be tolerated," Qin writes.

Critic Cheng Zhenwei however believes there is no way CCTV is oblivious to "gender discrimination" and its choice of such programs is decided by its target audience. In a commentary he wrote on Wuhan-based cnhubei.com, he states that considering it's massive reach, the gala has to consider how its humor will work for less educated audiences.