‘Baker King’ premieres on TV5 this Monday. The said series is a rare example of a remake that aired on a different station from the original. (Photo credit: PEP.ph)
Not all remakes of drama series ended up airing on the same station as the original.
Such was the case for three telenovelas starring Thalia: ‘MariMar’, ‘Maria la del Barrio’ and ‘Rosalinda’. The first two originally aired on RPN-9 in the mid-90s, briefly giving the struggling station a ratings boost.
GMA then re-aired ‘MariMar’ in the late 2000s, while creating two local remakes of it: one starring Marian Rivera in 2007, and another still under pre-production this year. ABS-CBN never re-aired the original ‘Maria la del Barrio’, but was able to produce a remake in 2011 starring Erich Gonzales.
The Kapamilya network also aired ‘Maria Mercedes’ and ‘Rosalinda’ later in the 90s. But while they managed to create a local version of the former with Jessy Mendiola two years ago, the latter wound up in the hands of the Kapuso network, not only re-airing the original, but also producing a remake starring Carla Abellana in 2009.
This phenomenon is not restricted to telenovelas alone. It also happens to local dramas as well.
For instance, GMA aired the original ‘Anna Liza’ starring Julie Vega in the early 80s. Then over two decades later, ABS-CBN remade the series (retitled ‘Annaliza’) with Andrea Brillantes, running for nearly a year.
Another example was ‘Dyesebel’, which was remade into a GMA teleserye in 2009, only to be rehashed again by ABS-CBN last year. The former starred Marian Rivera while the latter starred Anne Curtis.
Now TV5 is doing something unprecedented, as a remake of the popular GMA Koreanovela ‘The Baker King’ is expected to premiere on the network starting this Monday. That said, even Asianovelas are not safe in the said phenomenon.
The original version of ‘The Baker King’ aired on the Kapuso network in 2011, and starred Yoon Shi-yoon, Eugene and Joo Won. The series earned decently good ratings for GMA that year.
Despite the success, GMA chose not to hold on to ‘The Baker King’, let alone create a local version of it. Instead, TV5 acquired the rights for the possible remake last year.
The remake of ‘The Baker King’ will star Mark Neumann, Shaira Mae and Akihiro Blanco, and will air on weeknights starting May 18 after the ‘Wattpad Presents’ series.
It is rare for a drama series to have a remake air on a different station. Whether it is due to lack of revenue, loss of desire or motivation, or declining ratings, keeping the rights to a particular drama is a something TV stations cannot avoid at times.
That said, it is one station’s loss and another’s gain when these things fall into place. Regardless of the result, these stations should be proud to have tried their hand at remaking these classics.
After all, Philippine television is always a cautionary tale for a station’s decisions.
From the Tube 
Elsewhere in the world, same-country TV series remakes not by the respective networks of the originals are rare too. For example: The 1960’s US TV drama ‘The Fugitive’ was aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). In 2000 it was remade for CBS.
Meanwhile…
The Baker King is the first K-drama to have its Filipino remake produced for TV5. The names of the characters (but Takgu) to be used in this remake are different from those used in GMA’s dub (similar case: GMA’s dub of ‘It Started With A Kiss” used first names of the characters that are completely different from ABS-CBN’s earlier dub).
Interesting.
Pangit kasi ang mga Korean dramas na pinatulan ng TV5, lol. (“First Wives’ Club” is a cracktastic soap opera, but quality-wise… well.)
GMA would have wanted a Filipino remake of The Baker King. Instead, kahit mataas ang ratings nito, binenta na lang nila sa TV5. For all intents and purposes GMA got rid of The Baker King because of financial problems na ayaw pa rin nilang aminin. Worse, they have stopped producing remakes of their popular Koreanovelas; the last such remake was Temptation of Wife two years ago.
Mas maganda kung magreremake ng korean series ang Entertainment Industry, huwag nilang ipalabas iyong original. Aminin natin na hindi magandang gumawa ng remake ang mga Pilipino. Ang daming O.A na scene, daming drama, may dinagdag na hindi naman mahalaga. Imbes na napahanga ka sa original sa remake maiinis ka. I remember Nasaan ka Elisa? iyon ang magandang remake na napanood ko, naintriga ako at nagandahan. Sana gawin nila iyong ginagawa ng Korea, may remake sila pero hindi ipinalalabas iyong original para hindi ka maiinis .
Indeed. Mas maganda ang idea na unahin ang remake bago ang original, para naman mas interesting ang dating. Nasaan Ka Elisa was a good example of that; ipinalabas muna ito sa Channel 2 bago ipalabas ang original version nito sa Studio 23.
This only applies to foreign dramas though. Kung local naman, wala kang magagawa.
Speaking of the MariMar remake, I read in one tabloid that Cristine Reyes is rumored to be going back to GMA to audition for that remake.
We’ll wait and see what happens next.