Long-awaited, short-lived.
Turns out ‘The Promise of Forever’ wore out its welcome as soon as it began. The ABS-CBN drama series had been in the production pipeline for months prior to its premiere, but once it got underway, the series underachieved and only managed a measly 55 episodes once it wraps up this Friday.
First aired on September 11, ‘The Promise of Forever’ marked the Kapamilya debut of former TV5 discovery Ritz Azul, who was paired alongside Paulo Avelino. This series was supposed to be a breath of fresh air for viewers who were fed up with the network’s overreliance on ‘kabitseryes’.
Instead, ‘The Promise of Forever’ failed to make the grade. More often than not, it was rival GMA afternoon drama ‘Haplos’ that came out on top, and the former’s seemingly high expectations went up in smoke.
Not since ‘Walang Iwanan’ has an ABS-CBN afternoon series run for such a short period of time. Despite the fact that it took months for ABS-CBN to convince that ‘The Promise of Forever’ is ready to air, they only managed to produce 55 episodes during that span, an underwhelming total by Kapamilya standards.
The struggles of ‘The Promise of Forever’ gave even further indication that Kapamilya Gold is on a decline. It was clear that viewers are frustrated over the direction of Kapamilya Gold, and the performance of said block in recent months is something that ABS-CBN must urgently address.
It also didn’t help that Ritz Azul appear overwhelmed by the limelight. The series’ long wait, not to mention her first acting experience in a full-on drama series in years, made Ritz look rusty and unprepared at times.
Overall, while ‘The Promise of Forever’ was not bad, its performance leaves a lot to be desired. That said, with such a long wait and low episode turnout, ABS-CBN should realize that ‘cautious optimism’ does not work on Philippine television these days, especially when it comes to short-lived dramas such as ‘The Promise of Forever’.
This week will be the last chance for ‘The Promise of Forever’ to impress. As ABS-CBN ponders its next move, one must wonder what might have been had the network air ‘The Promise of Forever’ much earlier and not suffer the low ratings that it did today.
From the Tube 
As far as I know, canned lahat ng episodes nila kaya limited run lng sila according to http://www.pep.ph/guide/tv/26659/heres-why-ritz-and-paulos-emthe-promise-of-foreverem-is-considered-as-the-most-expensive-teleserye pero then again, most of the time lagi clang talo sa timeslot nila.
The long wait prior to its premiere also took its toll. Still, I don’t think it’s that expensive considering they only spend some on travel and special effects. GMA’s fantaseryes are much worse spending-wise.
I remember the ABS-CBN fanboy pages hyping this series a lot when it was starting. They were even praising Rita Azul. Tapos nagtaka nalang ako kung bakit pagkalipas ng ilang linggo biglang di na nila pinag-uusapan. I wasn’t even aware the show ended until I discovered this blog last month. How ironic that a show called “The Promise of Forever” ended up having a short run. Even if it was apparently canned, I can imagine that poor ratings were the final nail in the coffin.
It was also delayed numerous times before it finally aired. No wonder few paid attention to it.
I wonder if TPOF would have done better if it was a Primetime Bida show. Somehow it felt like it didn’t really belong on KGold due to its darker tone.
TPOF could have premiered much earlier had ABS opened a slot for it instead of, for example, My Dear Heart or A Love to Last. The long wait really affected the show’s ratings. But even if it aired on Primetime Bida it still would have not impressed viewers since the series did not have the benefit of either KathNiel or LizQuen which are top-rating love teams.