‘MariMar officially concludes tomorrow, but its replacement ‘That’s My Amboy’ will not be seen until January 25. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)
GMA is taking a ‘less is more’ approach on Telebabad. at least for the next two weeks.
Tomorrow night marks the final episode of ‘MariMar’, the second Filipino remake of the classic Mexican telenovela. The series, starring Megan Young as the titular character, will officially end with a total of 100 episodes.
High expectations awaited this version of ‘MariMar’ when it first premiered on August 24, 2015. After all, the original starring Thalia and the first remake starring Marian Rivera were each big hits when they were aired here.
Unfortunately for GMA, the new ‘MariMar’ failed to make an impact in the ratings. The series lost regularly to both ‘Nathaniel’ and ‘Ang Probinsyano’, forcing GMA to consider moving ‘MariMar’ to a later timeslot, only to renege on that promise.
Looking back, it is clear that this ‘MariMar’ was a letdown for the Kapuso network. The series was supposed to be a hit, bar none, but with viewers already used to the story, not to mention a shorter wait between remakes and tougher competition from Primetime Bida, it lost its appeal.
In the end, it was a mistake that GMA would like to forget. For Megan Young, the comeback trail following her victory at the Miss World pageant was a rough one to begin with.
So what’s next for GMA after ‘MariMar’? GMA has already confirmed that ‘That’s My Amboy’, the follow-up project of ‘The Half-Sisters’ stars Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras, will replace ‘MariMar’, but the series will not begin until January 25.
This means that for the next two weeks, GMA Telebabad will only have five programs on the menu, with two teleseryes highlighting the lineup. The schedule is as follows:
5:45 p.m. – The Producers
6:30 p.m. – 24 Oras
7:45 p.m. – Little Nanay
8:30 p.m. – Because of You
9:15 p.m. – Kapuso Primetime Cinema
With only two local dramas starting this Monday, GMA Telebabad is at a clear disadvantage against Primetime Bida’s five teleseryes. Both ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘Because of You’ will now face ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’; an obvious mismatch ratings-wise.
That said, the next two weeks will be a difficult one for Telebabad. While waiting for ‘That’s My Amboy’ (‘The Half-Sisters’ ends January 15, hence the delayed premiere), viewers will need to endure watching only two teleseryes on GMA’s primetime lineup.
From the Tube 
Two teleseryes on GMA Telebabad after 24 Oras? More like the worst primetime lineup ever by GMA Network since Kapuso Primetime Cinema two years ago immediately after 24 Oras.
GMA is on a total disadvantage at wala silang chance against their ABS-CBN counterparts na panalo naman sa ratings, mapa-Coco Martin man, KathNiel o JaDine. Sa totoo lang, I doubt na matutuloy pa rin ang Encantadia remake. Kung matutuloy yan, aabangan na lang natin kung magpapaalam ba ang GMA Cebu, GMA Davao o GMA Dagupan sa ere.
As for Megan Young’s comeback after Miss World, this one belongs to the ones to forget, much like the Starstruck revival na naging season to forget dahil sa mismatch against Pasion de Amor.
They had no choice but to air just two teleseryes for two weeks dahil January 25 pa ang premiere ng That’s My Amboy. Kung ieere na nila ito this Monday, magiging conflict ito sa The Half-Sisters na matatapos ng January 15, since Barbie and Andre are still part of the latter.
GMA did not want to overexpose Barbie and Andre by starring in two ongoing teleseryes. Kaya ganoon ang nangyari. Either way, though, parang naputulan ng paa ang nangyari sa GMA with this move.
To add it up, Megan Young is still a Star Magic Artist. She is just fulfilling her reign as Miss World 2013 which includes a contract with GMA. But I doubt Megan will stay there for long especially during her homecoming 2 years ago when she said ABS-CBN is like her second home.
Considering that GMA has a poor reputation of nurturing talent, it’s possible that as soon as MariMar ends, Megan can just say ‘thank you GMA, now I can move on to a different path’ and go back to being a Kapamilya.
Megan and Tom Rodriguez had no chemistry. Being a former Miss World, Megan should have not accepted this bad remake.
Even worse was that her last acting role was four years ago with TV5’s Misibis Bay. It appears that Megan is back to being an acting rookie after years of training to be a beauty queen.
New year, but same old habits for GMA.
If you follow the naïve logic, you would say that they have no reasonable assurance that Megan and Tom will be a successful couple in the coming years unlike Marian and Dingdong’s eight years ago.
Honestly, Tom was better off when paired with Carla Abellana. I really don’t understand what GMA’s doing by breaking up some love teams for different projects. They did this before with Marian and Dingdong, now this. No longevity whatsoever.
Indeed, Ralph. Mas maganda pa ang dati kung saan ginampanan nina Marian at Dingdong sina Marimar at Sergio….
That MariMar had chemistry written all over it. Wala talaga ang current version with Megan and Tom.
Temptation, a Korean Drama starring Stairway To Heaven’s lead actors will air next week after Because of You. I assume that when it’s January 25, That’s My Amboy will air after BOY and before Temptation.
According to this, though, Temptation will air starting this Monday.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/gma/articles/2016-01-06/20767/Abangan-ang-pagbabalik-tambalan-nina-Choi-Ji-Woo-at-Kwon-Sang-Woo-sa-Temptation
With ABS no longer willing to import Korean dramas, it looks like GMA will eat up the entirety of the Koreanovela catalog this year. At least the boring KPC is now put into pasture, much to the delight of Saksi viewers who have to wait much longer thanks to them.
This is not new. With ABS getting more and more focused on local content, GMA and PTV 4 will remain forever alone on Koreanovelas.
Ika nga, Koreanovela King na ang GMA.
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