The trend towards mature and dark subject matter on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida continues with ‘Bridges of Love’. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)
Tonight’s premiere of ‘Bridges of Love’ on ABS-CBN has From the Tube wondering: Why is GMA not responding to the increasingly ‘daring’ route of Primetime Bida?
Mature and dark relationship-oriented themes have virtually become a norm on Primetime Bida’s 9:15 p.m. slot. Last year, ‘The Legal Wife’ became a rousing success due to the seemingly shocking portrayal of jealousy and infidelity involving the love triangle of characters portrayed by Jericho Rosales, Maja Salvador and Angel Locsin.
And just recently, viewers were treated to a similar display of deception and envy in the adaptation of the Koreanovela ‘Two Wives’. Like ‘The Legal Wife’, the series involved a love triangle, this time between the characters portrayed by Jason Abalos, Kaye Abad and Erich Gonzales.
Although ABS-CBN has trended in the right direction with the more mature-oriented teleseryes, it all began, however, with one bold move from its rival in Timog: ‘My Husband’s Lover’.
The 2013 GMA drama starring Carla Abellana, Tom Rodriguez and Dennis Trillo made the same-sex relationship a must-see during its run. Running from June to October 2013, ‘My Husband’s Lover’ briefly provided a boost to the sagging ratings of Telebabad.
Unfortunately, the Kapuso network failed to create a successful follow-up to ‘My Husband’s Lover’. The teleseryes that followed MHL (‘Akin Pa Rin ang Bukas’, ‘Rhodora X’, ‘Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real’, ‘Hiram na Alaala’, ‘Second Chances’) didn’t feel up to the task of elevating the dark and moody themes to a new level.
As a result, the 9:15 slot of Telebabad returned to its old sinking ways, while Primetime Bida continued to increase its gap. Worse for the Kapuso network, ‘The Legal Wife’ and later ‘daring’ Kapamilya dramas became a local and international social media sensation.
That said, GMA’s regression back to more wholesome and ‘tweener’ stories in the latter part of Telebabad became its undoing. And it only gets worse.
Next on ABS-CBN’s ‘daring’ list is ‘Bridges of Love’. Like ‘The Legal Wife’ and ‘Two Wives’, a love triangle will be involved in the series, only this time, it’s between two men fighting for the love of one woman.
‘Bridges of Love’ will be led by Maja Salvador, Jericho Rosales and Paulo Avelino. The story will feature two brothers (Echo and Paulo) who were separated by guilt and hatred, but were bridged together by love through one woman (portrayed by Maja).
The upcoming Kapamilya series should pose a big threat to its Kapuso counterpart ‘Second Chances’. The latter series failed to keep up with the success of ‘Two Wives’ during its first two months, and it won’t be a surprise if its new opponent makes a similar impact.
Now GMA should start revisiting the very theme that made ‘My Husband’s Lover’ a success. A new strategy should be in store for Telebabad if they still want to keep in step with Primetime Bida, otherwise there will be more trouble for the embattled block.
From the Tube 
Best of luck for GMA Telebabad, especially for Second Chances. I think na magiging hit ang Bridges of Love on ratings, as well as in social media.
i agree, i notice na parang di na ganun kagaling ang mga writers ng GMA. or maybe because of lack of talents too? parang wala kasing artist sa kanila na kayang magdala ng ganun na show. Love Poe and Jennylyn Mercado can do daring roles but they doesn’t have a huge following. GMA needs to breed real talents that can compete with ABS artist.
Mismanaged talaga ang GMA Artist Center and they can’t even breed real talents in order to compete against ABS-CBN’s. GMA is now suffering lots of problems, from both 7 and 11 to their entertainment division.
And their reluctance to create more daring dramas is another problem. Yung Second Chances nga parang family-friendly drama na ituring based on its ‘inspiring’ theme. They could have reserved Jen for more daring dramas, or better yet more villainous roles similar to Rhodora X, pero takot na sila dahil single mother na siya in real life, unlike sila Maja, Angel and the other Kapamilya actresses na dating status pa rin at this point.
The more mature dramas on ABS are attracting a mostly younger audience, kaya humahatak sa ratings. That’s not the case for GMA Telebabad, because of their reluctance to do so.
GMA is trying something daring next: Marian Rivera in a teleserye about lesbian relationships.
Marian’s new teleserye should be a potential replacement Second Chances, which is expected to end in April. In any event, the real change of pace for GMA begins. Let’s just hope GMA doesn’t screw the schedules up.
yes, and so far si Marian lang ang artist nila that can compete against Kapamilya star, yet natatalo pa din ang Queen nila. it will be a problem to them now that she is married. also they don’t have younger generation stars that can compete against ABS teen talents. mukhang wala pang papalit kay Marian.
Problema kasi ng GMA is that they rely too much on older stars without regard for the younger ones. Takot pa rin silang makipagsabayan sa mga Daniel Padillas and Kathryn Bernardos of the world. Kung hindi naging maganda ang kalalabasan ng mga katulad nila Nino Tanfelix at Bianca Umali, chances are babalik uli sila sa mga older talents. And that also stems from the ill working conditions of their Artist Center. The Paulo Avelinos, the Cristine Reyeses, they were Kapusos initially, pero they chose the Kapamilya path just for the sake of getting better treatment and training.
This was also the reason why they’re not taking the ‘daring’ route seriously. Yung sila Andrea Torres pwede na sa mga ‘daring’ based on her FHM pictorial and her recently-concluded Annasandra, pero they still feel na hindi pa siya handa for primetime. Kaya sobrang reluctant ang GMA sa mga bagay na ito.
yes, it will be really harder for them in the future. they focus too much on Maria Rivera. the problem with ABS is that they too much artist. yung iba walang project.
They should have given Marian a longer break since kakagaling lang sa kasal with Dingdong Dantes. Pero mukhang sabik mag-trabaho si Marian kaysa sa magsimula ng pamilya, so she and Dingdong were given projects immediately after they married.
Halatang career suicide itong move nila, IMO. Imbes na magsimula ng pamilya, trabaho kaagad. Kaya unfair sa mga younger talents ng GMA ang muling pagsabak kay Marian.
honestly, none of their artist are bankable enough to compete against ABS. Marian and Dingdong are their most famous talents but not compare to other ABS star. they can’t really prove their ‘royal’ status.
medyo bata pa sina Bianca Umali and Miguel Tanfelix to do prrimetime tapos katapat pa ng Forevermore. they also trying to build up Janine Gutierrez and Elmo Magalona pero mukhang wala pa din.
Exactly. The loss of promising talents on the Kapuso camp is very devastating for GMA. For example, Kathryn Bernardo played a young version of Marian Rivera in one GMA teleserye, tapos lumipat sa ABS at doon na siya sumikat. Even Liza Soberano didn’t stay long with GMA. Kung nag-hang on at binigyan ng proper training ang mga ganoong artista, they would have become bankable Kapuso stars in our current time. Eh hindi e, because they chose the Kapamilya way, which has better training and character development.
If they just hung on to, for example Ellen Adarna, they would have answered ABS’ call for a ‘daring’ nightly teleserye. Kaso, Ellen joined the Kapamilya camp dahil daw sa mas magandang training. The Kapuso’s loss is Kapamilya’s gain, and it’s clear na nababawasan na masyado ang mga bankable na artista sa GMA.
I think ABS-CBN has already adapted the primetime strategy of Brazilian giant Rede Globo, in which the most daring, more complex and most watched telenovelas are placed on 8:30 (since 2010, 9:00) PM slot.
On GMA’s part; well, the light at the end of the tunnel is quite too far; hence, the woes and court scheming drama continued on Timog Ave.
*adopted
Usually the younger kids are either asleep or are preparing for bedtime, that is why ABS decided to make the 9-9:15 slot more mature for older teens and young adults. Add to that the addition of SPG in the MTRCB catalog, which made it possible for ABS to place more mature dramas.
Let’s not forget Max Collins. FHM cover girl nga like Andrea but too raw for primetime.
They could have been used more by GMA. Pero talagang boneheaded itong Artist Center, kaya hindi nadedevelop.
Oh well. the sad state of the teleseryes in PH TV. downgraded. sana may pagbabago.
Wishing for once-a-week teleseryes to arrive para naman may time ang mga production staff to create new ideas for the series. Kaso, sobrang impatient lang ang mga viewers.
TV5 used to air once-a-week teleseryes like Positive and Obsessed. Both didn’t click, sadly. ABS had Pamilya Zaragoza on Sundays way back.
As we said, problema kasi ang expectations ng viewers. Gusto tapos kaagad, kaya napapagod ang mga production staff na magkaroon ng ideas in such a short amount of time.
yes, i think that’s a good idea. parang Korean dramas lang, twice a week ang drama and hanggang 3-4 months lang kaya lahat may project. it will be better pag ganun. hopefully ABS will do something like that sayang naman kasi ang mga artist nila na walang project.
yes, i think that’s a good idea. parang Korean dramas lang, twice a week ang drama and hanggang 3-4 months lang kaya lahat may project. it will be better pag ganun. hopefully ABS will do something like that sayang naman kasi ang mga artist nila na walang project.
We hope to see that coming. Maximize the talent pool they have with more shows. Now if they can make it cost-efficient, the better.
And besides, some viewers are impatient as far as teleseryes are concerned.
True that. Parang may short-term memory sila, lalo na sa mga masa.
Don’t forget Pasion de Amor’s Philippine adaptation airing April/May in primetime.
Iinit lalo ang teleserye scene sa Dos with Pasion de Amor.
That will be the launching teleserye of Coleen Garcia. With her looks, bagay siya roon. Her cover for Cosmo is just the tip of the iceberg.
Indeed. As I said, things will get a little hotter with this telenovela remake. Now the question is, saan ilalagay? We’ll have to wait and see.
The Philippine remake of “Pasión de Gavilanes/Las Aguas Mansas” will be definitely placed on the 21:00 (9:00 PM) slot,and I assure it.
But we’ll have to wait for Bridges of Love to end. As it stands, matagal-tagal pa ang Bridges, so it’s likely na mababago rin ang schedule ng Pasion de Amor, possibly on Kapamilya Gold.
Oh my. From light to dark na ang state ng teleseryes ngayon. 😦
May mga family-friendly pa rin early on. But with the SPG system making its presence felt, may leeway na talaga ang mga networks for such dark teleseryes.
I won’t be surprised if Marian Rivera’s new teleserye with GMA will also be rated SPG. It has a dark theme — lesbian relationships. Glaiza de Castro will be paired with Marian.
It will, to say the least.
I agree. Today’s generation are getting weirder to say the least.