Seven have arrived, and seven have failed.
For nearly three years, GMA found no answers on how to solve ‘Ang Probinsyano’. Whether it is a remake of a telenovela (‘MariMar’), a pair of light-hearted dramas (‘Poor Señorita’, ‘Little Nanay’) or a series of fantasy and action programs (‘Encantadia’, ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’, Alyas Robin Hood’, ‘Super Ma’am’), all of them were helpless to stop Cardo (Coco Martin) and his gang from total domination.
Now here comes an eighth entry in GMA’s plan to overcome ‘Ang Probinsyano’. ‘Sherlock Jr.’, the newest primetime series of the network, is a vastly different animal compared to the previous seven series, thanks in part to a pair of rising young stars in Gabbi Garcia and Ruru Madrid.
In ‘Sherlock Jr.’, Ruru is Jack, a clever investigative reporter who does not back down from solving mysteries. Gabbi, on the other hand, is Lily, a jolly and bubbly veterinarian assistant who loves to join anything to make her famous.
Playing a special role in the series is Janine Gutierrez as Irene, Jack’s girlfriend and lifestyle reporter. A golden retriever named Serena will also join in as Irene’s companion and later on Jack’s partner.
‘Sherlock Jr.”s story will revolve around Jack and Irene’s relationship, which then took a new turn once Lily got involved. From then on, the series will take a look at how Lily became friends with Irene one night and then fell in love with Jack in the midst of the investigation surrounding them.
Also part of the ‘Sherlock Jr.’ cast are Ai-Ai delas Alas, Tonton Gutierrez, Andre Paras, Roi Vinzon, Sharmaine Arnaiz, Rochelle Barrameda, Matt Evans, Kate Valdez, Alyana Asistio, and Sofia Pablo. It will be directed by Rechie del Carmen.
Despite a younger lead cast in Janine Gutierrez and the GabRu love team, ‘Sherlock Jr.’ still has a long shot to overcome ‘Ang Probinsyano’. That said, it will take an epic miracle to at least come close to ‘Ang Probinsyano”s near-40% ratings, which as proven by the previous seven opponents it has had, is a daunting task indeed.
There is also a minor controversy surrounding the series’ title that was reminiscent of the ‘Alyas Robin Hood’-‘Arrow’ issue. But regardless of these odds and distractions, GMA should hope that ‘Sherlock Jr.’ will make its viewers happy and help advance the careers of Gabbi, Ruru and Janine.
‘Sherlock Jr.’ airs weeknights after ’24 Oras’ on GMA Telebabad.
From the Tube 
According to Dan Dela Vega, he said that there are nine teleseryes that pitted against FPJAP (in chronological order) before Sherlock Jr.: Marimar, Little Nanay, Poor Senorita, Let The Love Begin, That’s My Amboy, Encantadia, Mulawin Vs Ravena, Alyas Robin Hood Book 2 and Super Maam.
Neither That’s My Amboy nor Let the Love Begin faced Ang Probinsyano. The two shows were up against Pangako Sa ‘Yo the KathNiel remake, while they also faced two teleseryes starring LizQuen: That’s My Amboy faced Dolce Amore while Let the Love Begin took on Forevermore. Add the fact that GMA teleseryes air a lot later than ABS-CBN’s (24 Oras usually ends five or 10 minutes later than TV Patrol). Dan was wrong in his assessment.
Too bad, “Ika-Anim na Utos” will end in March; it could have a strong potential to compete with “Ang Probinsyano”.
Goodluck to “Sherlock, Jr.”, by the way
Well, IANU was more appropriate for the afternoon slot given its more ‘mature’ storyline. Besides, we’ve seen some afternoon dramas last at least a year, like The Half-Sisters and even Doble Kara.
Extended na naman pala Probinsyano due to strong ratings. Sa La Luna ipapalit yung Bagani ng LizQuen. Ang eh kung mag-aaway ba ang serye nina Jericho at Piolo para sa 3rd slot.
Mukhang hindi magandang balita ito para sa GMA dahil naka-pitong kalaban na ito sa Ang Probinsyano at wala ni isa man ay nanalo. Regarding LLS’ potential replacement, antay-antay na lang tayo kung kailan ito magsisimula. And for the 3rd slot? Wag muna tayong magpakasiguro dahil hindi pa tapos ang The Good Son na iilan buwan pa lang sa ere.
I think The Good Son was supposed to end in January but also got extended. I remember seeing last 3 week plug then a week later it was back to normal promo.
Not sure for how long. It just that Jericho and Piolo are both veterans that’s unlikely to be put on the KGold slot.
Considering its good ratings, it deserves an extension. Still, yung mga ‘nalalapit na pagtatapos’ na teasers na yan, that’s what continues to bother me. Remember The Half-Sisters? Na-pull out rin ang ganitong teaser once they announced an extension.
ABS and GMA should know all too well na ‘it ain’t over till they say it’s over’. Dapat mag-announce na lang sila ng ‘last two weeks’ na teasers para sigurado na, otherwise lalong maguguluhan ang mga viewers.
As for Jericho and Piolo, ABS has plenty of time to plan for their next dramas. Waiting game na lang muna sila for now.
Wala bang planong mag-guest sa Probinsyano yan si Roy Vinzon? Halos yata ng action star maliban kay Robin lumabas na diyan ah.
He’s still exclusively under contract to GMA. Since My Husband’s Lover pa siya naka-kontrata sa Kapuso.
Bilib ako sa Sana Dalawa ang Puso, 2nd day pa lang pero naka 20 agad sa timeslot tinalo pa ang 3rd slot sa Primetime.
Hugot yan ng Jodi-Richard tandem.
Pero next time, huwag ka maglagay ng comment na hindi related sa article. Sherlock Jr. at Ang Probinsyano ang topic rito, hindi Sana Dalawa ang Puso. Kung ginamit mo sana yung search section malamang hindi ito hahantong sa ganito. Next time, ok?
Kung sakali “Ang Probinsyano” ay malapit ng matapos, dapat may early plan ang ABS-CBN sa pagbuo ng isang show para itapat sa Sherlock Jr.; Mahirap lang talaga pagpalit ng isang show nga consistent ang trending sa lahat ng social media kagaya ng “Ang Probinsyano”
Don’t worry, they’ll brace for the inevitable. May mga drama divisions naman sila like Dreamscape for that. They’ll have plenty of time to concoct something new, so ipaubaya na lang natin sa kanila ang mga ito.
sa totoo lang ah, d lang pala ratings ang CANCER pati na pala si cardo palala ng palala.. habang tumatagal, mas lalong nauumay ang ilan sa kanya.. CANCER is CANCER… anyare, Endrinal??
Emphasize the word ‘ilan’ dahil marami pa rin ang nanonood ng AP. But to air this series for nearly three years ay parang sobra na. It seems like ABS wants this series to air longer than the original Mara Clara. Yun siguro ang aim nila after its most recent extension.
As much as we clamor for AP to end already, antayin na lang natin ang go-signal ng ABS pagdating sa ganitong bagay, kahit sabihin pa nating ‘cancer’ ang naturang teleserye.
…and Sherlock Jr. lost badly to Ang Probinsyano on Kantar (40.2% FPJAP vs 19.4% SJ). Even as a long-time Kapamilya myself, GMA doing so poorly on Primetime nationwide is embarrassing and kind of disappoints me. Parang Eat Bulaga at Afternoon Prime nalang ang bumubuhay sa kanila ngayon.
EB is also losing very badly to It’s Showtime ever since Tawag ng Tanghalan arrived to counter Kalyeserye. And Afternoon Prime is also inconsistent of late ever since Asintado premiered.
But primetime they’re much worse. They’re spending too much money for such dramas yet the rewards of success were not there. It also didn’t help that GMA is not promoting its dramas seriously and its overall coverage area is much smaller than ABS particularly in the regions. Sa totoo lang, yung paggastos nila sa mga mamahaling fantaserye like Encantadia ang lalong nagpalubog sa kanila.
I think another problem with GMA is that they tend to milk their cows until their dry, or sometimes even after that. They did that with Marimar, any of Marian’s other shows at her peak, My Husband’s Lover (back when that was pretty much their only strong-performing drama), and they did it with AlDub (where I guess the milking backfired hard). Unlike ABS who at least tends to rotate attention between their shows and stars, GMA seems to want to squeeze out whatever hype they can still get from their popular properties. Like nung peak ng AlDub, they were everywhere (from Unang Hirit to Saksi), and even KJMS. I don’t remember KathNiel or any of the other ABS-CBN loveteams getting the same treatment (correct me if I’m wrong). Kahit nung palaos na ang AlDub, parang pinilit pa rin nilang gamitin sila kahit halatang nasawa na ang mga tao sa kanila.
Bakit ganun ang GMA? They kept promoting over and over the same shows and the same artists? ABS and even TV5 were never like that.
Maybe they’re desperate to win, that’s all. That’s the nature of their business: promote their older stars more and their younger stars less. The disparity in talent quality is so obvious. They don’t have the other stars capable of matching the popularity of their Kapamilya counterparts because GMA does not take them seriously.
Also, Johnny Manahan of Star Magic has made a difference on why Kapamilya stars succeed. GMA does not have that luxury of a talent manager who can elevate stars immediately.
And GMA basically ignored everything we said and relied even more on their older stars. At one point, GMA relied way too much on the AlDub hype and basically ignoring their young artists. ABS has better flexibility on handling their stars, whether they’re veterans or younger talents.
And Sherlock Jr. might not last long as the previous seven. Kung aabot ng siyam o sampung attempts ang GMA na talunin si Cardo, kahit nakaka-cancer sa ilan, pero marami pa rin ang tumatangkilik, I’m sure that the upcoming ninth attempt to beat Cardo (once Sherlock Jr. ends) will not last long.
GMA can only hope for AP to end, tapos malamang magkakaroon ng magarbong party sa Timog kung sakaling magtapos na ang istorya ni Cardo.
FPJAP was reportedly extended until June, so GMA will have to fight on until at least then.
Like I said, I won’t be surprised if GMA holds a huge party outside their headquarters in the event that AP airs its final episode. Cause for ‘mock’ celebration indeed.
If all else fail, well, either call Willie Revillame or even Armando Quiroga 😉 😉
I doubt Willie though due to his past controversial history on primetime. Something tells me that GMA should give that timeslot up in favor of Kapuso Movie Primetime as long as AP is running.
If AP does finally end soon and GMA holds a huge party, it will just be temporary euphoria for the Kapusos. Isn’t it Batang Quiapo has already been announced as the next teleserye of Coco? Alam mo naman si Coco, ayaw magpahinga niyan ng matagal at ayaw bitawan ng Dreamscape ang first slot sa Primetime Bida.
In case you’re not aware, we have a new policy here in which future replacements are withheld until one of the current teleseryes announces its final weeks of airing. In short, hintay muna tayo hanggang sa mga huling linggo nito. Why? Because some programs that were introduced during trade fairs might be delayed or canceled altogether. Huwag muna tayong magpakasiguro hanggang sa maging sigurado ito.
As long as AP is still around, we’ll wait. Also, Batang Quiapo might not even succeed AP considering yung factor ng overexposure. So like I said, hintay muna tayo.
Looks like they killed off Gabbi Garcia’s character. Sherlock Jr. must be really struggling hard if they had to resort to that.
Indeed they are. And it won’t be long before they decided to quicken the story and end the series in a few months. If you read the PEP article about GMA’s approach to teleseryes, you know what I’m talking about.
>If you read the PEP article about GMA’s approach to teleseryes, you know what I’m talking about.
Can you explain further? I don’t read PEP much anymore.
Also, I wonder what GMA must be thinking if they make a teleserye featuring a loveteam, only to kill off one part of it just a few months into the show’s run.
Here’s the link:
https://www.pep.ph/guide/tv/27713/anatomy-of-a-teleserye-how-do-abs-cbn-and-gma-7-produce-their-teleseryes-part-1
Honestly, GMA isn’t really treating their loveteams all that well. They’re essentially considering them as ‘second-rate’ since their popularity levels have yet to equal those of KathNiel, LizQuen and JaDine of the other network. What they’re doing is clear indication that they still depend on older talents to make their teleseryes work.
Seems according to the article, GMA relies primarily on ratings, unlike ABS which focuses on multiple metrics (not just ratings). No wonder GMA likes to boast about ratings so much: they think ratings are everything, unlike ABS.
I also find it interesting that GMA claims that they develop the story before the cast… and yet they tend to get veterans for leads instead of either newer actors, or a mix of old and new actors.
GMA continues to do it the old-fashioned way, which is not a good recipe for success. This is 2018, not 2005. Everything is bound for a change, yet GMA sticks to something too archaic. No wonder they have fallen way behind the pecking order.
I know you don’t like discussing rumors, and I know these are just rumors so these should be taken with a grain of salt, but Sherlock Jr. must be doing really bad in the ratings and other metrics if the talk on the internet is that it’s already getting canned and won’t get an extension. Seems killing off Gabbi’s character wasn’t enough to save the show if that’s the case.
And speaking of Gabbi, there were rumors floating around recently that she was considering transferring to ABS due to a tweet she said using the number “2”, but perhaps people were just overreacting, and in any case I doubt it will happen considering Ruru’s relative unpopularity and ABS being a bit overcrowded anyway (she’s since denied it anyway).
Let’s face it, GMA is becoming very desperate because of AP. It’s over three years now and yet they still can’t solve this series. Like they said in the PEP article, if one of their teleseryes struggle in the ratings, they just quicken the pace and end it ASAP. That is perhaps what they’re doing now with Sherlock Jr.
Patapos na pala ang Sherlock Jr (according to the PHTV Group). Di pala kinaya ng aso ang baril ni Cardo.
Another victim indeed.