“No one can beat ‘Ang Probinsyano’!”, Kapamilya fans said.
Nearly three years and over 500 episodes since it began, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ continues to be the king of primetime teleseryes. On most nights, the ABS-CBN action series scored at least 40% in the ratings, and has made mincemeat of eight different GMA teleseryes that tried to topple it.
Now comes a ninth different GMA series that will take on Cardo Dalisay (Coco Martin) every Monday to Friday starting tonight. And in typical GMA fashion, it will be led by two Kapuso veterans in Jennylyn Mercado and Tom Rodriguez.
The story of ‘The Cure’ involves an experimental drug that kills cancer cells, but the side effect of it is that a highly dangerous and contagious virus called Monkey Virus Disease (MVD) will mutate and cause seizures and violent outbreaks to infected people. The disease quickly spreads throughout the country and will only continue to do so unless a cure can be found.
Married couple Charity (Jennylyn), a former registered nurse, and Gregory (Tom), a clinical research associate in a pharmaceutical company, are living a happy life with their daughter Hope (Leanne Bautista), until Greg’s mother Agnes (Irma Adlawan) is diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Agnes is given an experimental drug, but her health got worse as she is infected with MVD.
That drug, in turn, was discovered by Dr. Evangeline Lazaro (Jaclyn Jose), who works in the same company as Greg. With MVD continuing to wreak havoc across the country, it is up to Charity and Greg to find the necessary cure and prevent the inevitable.
‘The Cure’ also stars Mark Herras, LJ Reyes, Jay Manalo, Ronnie Henares, Glenda Garcia, Diva Montelaba and Arra San Agustin, with a special participation from Ken Chan. It will be directed by Mark Reyes.
It can be recalled that ‘The Cure’ was originally announced as one of GMA’s upcoming projects for 2013, and it was supposed to be led by Alden Richards and Louise delos Reyes. However, the project was shelved and it took five years before GMA decided to revisit the series.
Looking ahead, ‘The Cure’ is either going to be an intriguing series or a recipe for disaster. Having to face ‘Ang Probinsyano’ will entail a lot of hard work for ‘The Cure’, considering its predecessor ‘Sherlock Jr.’ failed miserably.
That said, GMA should go all-out in making ‘The Cure’ a worthier opponent for ‘Ang Probinsyano’. If this series goes around 25% in the ratings then it should boost its confidence, but if it goes below that then the ‘Curse of Cardo Dalisay’ is all too real for the network.
‘The Cure’ airs weeknights after ’24 Oras’ on GMA Telebabad.
From the Tube 
I think what worries me about the show is that, according to some sources, the CG gorilla and special effects costs as much if not more than the talent fees of the artists. Might be a sign of “different” priorities for GMA, but might also be a bad omen for the shows if that was true.
GMA has been infamous for their poor spending habits so if The Cure doesn’t pan out then pin the blame on that one, among other financial issues.
The Cure is a rip-off of not only TWD but also Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Zombieland and Dawn of the Dead.
Walking Dead ang peg haha! And my God ung visual effects ang pangit based on watching the trailer. I feel like this series would just become a laughing stock.
I feel bad for GMA now. If I were them, I will go back to doing sitcoms, anthology series or even a little bit of undubbed American TV shows ala QTV 11 or Citynet 27. Too bad they can’t because they are in financial dire straits now.
>they are in financial dire straits now
Are they? Ang alam ko profitable naman sila at kaunti lang ang utang nila kumpara sa ABS, yun nga lang mahilig sila sa cost-cutting. And cost-cutting doesn’t necessarily mean low cash reserves.
She meant by saying na walang backup business interests ang GMA compared to ABS. That’s why their revenues are generally lower and it only got worse by their unnecessary spending.
Dapat sana Kapuso Movie Night na lang ang nilagay pantapat ng AP. Alam naman nila na ilalampaso sila ni Cardo so bakit pa rin sila lumalaban kung alam nila na wala silang chance na manalo?
Kung tutuusin Kambal Karibal daw ang malakas na palabas nila, ayon sa kanila, bakit di nalang kaya yun ang itapat nila sa FPJAP? Kung totoo ngang malakas ang KK, baka nga yun pa ang pwedeng panlaban nila eh.
Even KK won’t stand a chance against Cardo, kahit sabihin nilang malakas ito. Mas logical lang talaga ang movie block. Hintayin na lang nila matapos ang AP and then they can start over.
The series already is a laughing stock thanks to the CG gorilla and graphics that have been compared to Counter Strike.
Poor GMA. Five years in the making and yet The Cure gets a bad rep right into episode 1. I won’t be surprised if this ends at 60 episodes.
Don’t underestimate The Cure Kapamilyas.
Remember KAMBAL, KARIBAL? NALAMPASO na ang LA LUNA SANGRE at BAGANI sa NUTAM RATINGS.
Ewan ko ba ANG PANGIT ng STORY ng ANG PROBINSYANO sa una lang maganda. The time that they extend the series for 2 years, the series became very very very boring already.
The Cure is first in Philippine TV. So it will click 100%.
Goodluck GMA ❤ !
You’re trusting the wrong firm, dude. Punta ka kaya sa iba’t-ibang probinsya ng Luzon, Visayas at Mindanao, at pansin mo na mas marami ang nanonood ng ABS kaysa sa GMA. Yung KK nga, contrary to what you said, laging tinatambakan nila KathNiel at LizQuen. No offense pero hindi reliable ang NUTAM at kahit anong AGB ratings figures na sinu-subscribe niyo.
Sorry na lang pero hindi rin tatagal ang The Cure. As long as nakaka-40 ang AP, walang chance ang The Cure.
Even if we do say that KK beat LLS and Bagani on NUTAM, even then it was by very small margins (less than 1%), and it only happened a handful of times. Otherwise, Bagani still wins far more often (notice how Suzette suddenly went quiet about KK’s ratings recently?) At best, KK and Bagani are statistically tied, and at worst (which is actually far closer to reality), Bagani still consistently beats KK. Even AGB admitted that Bagani is the #2 Primetime show for March 2018.
And that’s AGB. In Kantar, Bagani, despite its ups-and-downs in the ratings, still beats KK consistently, and the margins are so big it’s laughable.
No doubt. Those fantards have no idea what they’re looking at.
Nielsen’s NUTAM is no longer trusted. Remember the Nielsen ratings controversy back in the 2000s?
NUTAM only focuses on urban areas and nothing else. Fantards are just there trying desperately to defend their favorite network despite all of these criticisms. And worse, they see this blog as a pro-Kapamilya blog, despite repetitive stances from the blogger himself that he is just a TV critic and nothing else.
Another reason why friendly competition no longer exists in this country. Sad.
Denial exists in the fantards’ minds. That’s all I want to say.
More so likely, this is a rip off of korean epidemic movies deranged, flu, train to busan among others
To be fair, the series was planned as early as 2013, long before Train to Busan was released. Still the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Taga Zamboanga Sibugay, Mindanao Ako …….
All my friends, cousins, and relatives from different homes are consistently watching GMA especially Kambal, Karibal.
Kaya huwag ninyong sabihin na ABS-CBN LANG ang MALAKAS sa MINDANAO!
That’s just friends, cousins and relatives of yours. Hindi pa kasama ang buong Mindanao diyan. Try to spot a stranger if I were you.
Saw a lot from being a ripoff of a popular American TV series to poor CGI to another case of misunderstanding to fantards trying to defend their program, especially the one above saying that person and his family is one of the few in Mindanao who are loyal to GMA, a market where ABS-CBN dominated left and right.
Basically, I am waiting to see their tenth attempt real soon once The Cure fails to impress. It might have a good premise, but GMA still sticks to their veterans no matter what.
Those fantards are missing the whole point of this blog. This blog is neither pro-Kapamilya or pro-Kapuso. The blogger is a TV critic. May mga pagkakamali ang mga TV network ngayon eh, and no one is exempted. Kung gusto nila ng ganyan na comment, bahala silang magkalat elsewhere, not on this blog.
Fantards are always the denial type, period. A majority of fantards on this blog are here to defend GMA instead of accepting its shortcomings. Yan kasi ang nature nila; ayaw tanggapin ang katotohanan at mas sinisisi pa ang mga kritiko dahil paninira diumano ang ginagawa ng mga ito.
That said, they can embrace the hate all they want but the truth will not change one bit.
Di ko maintindihan kung bakit ganito ang mga GMA fantard. Mas malala pa sila kaysa sa mga ABS fantard. Yung mga ABS fantard kasi bihira lang gumawa ng excuse kung bakit talo sila, more of deflection (katulad ng ads/concerts/streaming/sales/etc.) ang mga excuse nila. Pero ang mga GMA fantard, iba eh, parang hilaw.
Denial mode lagi ang GMA fantard. Whereas ABS fantards can get away with failure since mostly successful ang mga Kapamilya, yung mga Kapuso fantard ayaw tanggapin na laging talo at kulang sila sa mga nagawa ng mga Kapamilya. That’s why they insist on saying their network is ‘successful’ when in fact they’re not.
The Cure is off to a bad start on both Kantar and AGB: On the nationwide ratings FPJAP got 41.2% Nationwide/44.7% Rural vs. The Cure’s 16.4% Nationwide/15.6% Rural. On AGB NUTAM The Cure only got 10.9% vs. FPJAP’s 14.6%. Yikes.
I knew this would happen. Shame on GMA for continuing to fight a losing battle. My fearless forecast: The Cure will only air 60 episodes and then GMA will regroup anew.
17.9 on series premiere and just 16.4 last night for The Cure is already a well-known standard for Ang Probinsyano counterpart which is already doomed to fail.
Ano kaya ang magiging tenth attempt ng GMA para talunin si Cardo? Moving Kambal Karibal to the dreaded 7:40pm slot? A movie block? Another big-budget fantaserye na magpapalugi sa GMA? Home shopping? GMA should give up on facing Cardo already. Raise the white flag.
I feel that Kambal Karibal might be their last hope. It’s their only show right now that’s putting up a fight, with 20+ ratings which is okay for its timeslot. Maybe they can switch The Cure and Kambal Karibal so that KK can *ahem* cure the rest of Telebabad. It would be a Hail Mary pass and I don’t think they will succeed, but at the very least, an attempt for KK to go against FPJAP could be a sensible last resort without resorting to Kapuso Primetime Cinema.
Not even KK will help. Even if they are ‘doing well’, they’ll be easy fodder for AP and ratings might drop if they were to be moved much earlier in the timeslot.
Such an underachieving timeslot deserves a movie block, period. GMA would be better off airing Tagalized movies until Cardo’s run ends, and after that, they can start over again.
And yet the funny thing is that the fantards are dismissing it as “fake news” or even making up ratings where The Cure beat FPJAP. I guess GMA is so desperate that even the fantards are becoming desperate to claim victory.
Well, it’s in their nature to deny and make excuses. Truth will always hurt.
No doubt. Another flop of a show in the making for GMA. Like I said, don’t be surprised if The Cure doesn’t make it past the 60th episode. GMA is simply shooting themselves in the butt.
Talo pa rin si The Cure sa Day 2 according to Kantar… mukhang wala na talagang lunas ang paghihingalo ng GMA Telebabad ngayon.
So much for hype. Can’t wait for episode 60 when GMA finally decides to blow it all up.
At the rate things are going, it might not even make it to 60 episodes.
Worst case scenario: 50 episodes.
Panalo pa rin daw ang GMA?! http://www.manilastandard.net/mobile/article/264826
Nielsen is very misleading. Their stats only account for urban areas, Luzon and Mega Manila, not the whole Philippines. GMA may claim victory, kaso their impact isn’t that profound. Their shows don’t even trend on social media most days, they lack the infrastructure to match ABS-CBN in other parts of the country, and they lack an on-demand service like iWant TV to further expose their shows.
No offense, but Nielsen’s figures doesn’t reflect the overall performance of GMA’s programs. Shame on them for subscribing to a flawed outfit even as they claim to have more subscribers than Kantar.
When people say The Cure, they would always think of the popular new wave rock band.
Mostly, pero sa masa hindi naman nila alam na may ganitong banda na sikat. Anyway, titles can be repeated in any medium. Wala namang restrictions ika nga.
Manila Standard, the paper that gives favorable light to the Marcoses. No wonder they hate ABS-CBN.
I thought that was Manila Times? The Manila Times feels like the Philippine equivalent of Fox News or Breitbart these days.
Pwede rin.
Halimbawa lang kung sakaling manalo ang GMA sa National Ratings ng Kantar kahit ilang buwan lang, matatanggap mo ba?
Siyempre. Kailangan lang talaga nila ng malawak na improvement in all of their areas. Ang dami pang kulang sa GMA kaya madalas silang tambak sa Kantar. Many of the most talked-about shows in social media belong to ABS-CBN, and it’s no secret why do so well in Kantar.
I remember reading old PinoyExchange posts from about 10 years ago and back then, on Kantar (then known as TNS) ABS was losing even on primetime. I think this was around the time of Marimar and earlier so yeah. So Kantar isn’t biased. And the funny thing is that Kapuso fantards either forget or deliberately ignore that GMA shows do regularly win on Kantar (usually the dead timeslots or movie slots, but a win is still a win). So Kapuso fantards claiming that Kantar is biased is inaccurate to say the least.
Then again, they focus their ire on the core timeslots (afternoon and evening) which for them are the most profitable ratings-wise. They don’t care about ‘dead’ timeslots which is usually the morning slots.
To ABS’ credit they turned things around thanks to social media and other aggressive strategies in promoting their shows and making the most out of their talents. These are the things that GMA still lack at this point.
Forgot to mention: back then, on Kantar/TNS, ABS’ ratings were so low that Kapamilya fantards were spewing negative comments at them. It seems both network fantards are unable to accept when they’re losing, although these days it seems that Kapuso fantards seem more hollow and more vitriolic when it comes to losing compared to Kapamilya fantards.
At the time, ABS stuck with traditional teleseryes whereas GMA lavishly spent their money on fantaseryes. The latter strategy worked for a brief period until ABS figured out a way to make their teleseryes popular again, and that is through social media, up-and-coming stars and the production divisions such as Dreamscape. It is now GMA that needs to catch up to ABS’ recent standards.
Naku! Kung sakaling manalo pa sila sa Kantar, todo-yabang na sila magpatalastas sa TV at sa mga balita at muling magsasalita si Gozon na No.1 na sila sa Kantar.
Kapag ganoon malamang mawawalan muli sila ng tiwala ng mga manonood. Ang pagiging mayabang hindi makakatulong sa kanila. Kahit yung ABS nga nananatiling humble habang nananalo sila. Dapat ganoon din ang ginagawa ng GMA. Kaso anong ginagawa nila? Laging pinagyayabang ang ratings sa TV, pati anniversary nila kahit na hindi sila ang pinakanaunang TV station sa bansa, tapos yung taunan nilang New Year’s party sa MOA na hindi naman kailangan for the sake of finances. Yan ang problema sa GMA ngayon: ayaw magpakumbaba.
Nakapagtataka pa rin talaga kung bakit wala pa ring mailabas na ratings ang AGB (yung mga kumakalat na AGB NUTAM ratings ay unconfirmed palang daw). Tapos yung mga nailabas na, two months ago pa. Takot ba nilang ipalabas na talo ang The Cure? Mas may credibilidad sana ang AGB kung mabilis sila magrelease; pati yung mga ibang GMA fan na hindi fantard nagtataka na rin sila.
No wonder AGB is a flawed system. Kahit magpalabas lang ng ratings may delay na. That’s why they’re no longer trusted.
They’re no longer trusted, yan ang sabi mo, pero mas marami pa ring Subscribers ang AGB compare to Kantar.
Marami ngang subscriber pero late naman magpalabas at hindi malawak ang coverage area nila. Ano sila, mga duwag?
Pwedeng ayaw na nilang ilabas sa social media dahil kahit magpost pa sila ng resulta, aatakahin lang sila ng mga Kapamilya fans.
Ibig sabihin duwag lang sila na ayaw harapin ang realidad. Kaya hindi na siya nagiging reliable.
To be frank, much of the flak was caused by AGB themselves. If only AGB was more consistent in both releasing data and the kind of data they released, and had more accurate methodologies, then maybe the flak they’d receive would be much less. It would still exist, but it would mostly be Kapamilya fantards grasping straws instead of the legitimate criticisms that even neutrals make.
It is their responsibility to release these figures to the general public on a timely, accurate and consistent basis. However, with all the flaws and delays they’re having, sooner or later their subscribers (GMA included) may cut ties with them and switch to Kantar instead.
>GMA
>switching to Kantar
That will never happen as long as they have that “we always win” mindset. I can see TV5 and everyone else migrating though (in fact, back in the day there were rumors that would actually happen).
They might eventually. Yes they still boast those ‘victories’ every now and then but once the pressure and expectations consume them it may be the time for them to leave a flawed outfit and admit their inferiority.
Then by that logic, eh di dapat hindi rin maglabas ng ratings ang Kantar kasi aatakihin sila ng mga Kapuso.
Siguro, tanging GMA na lang ang nakakaalam ng TV Ratings at hindi na nila kailangan pa ipakita sa Internet. Eto pa ang nakakagulat, bigla-bigla silang magpapakita na No. 1 sila pero sa may mga piling araw, minsan ganito sila magrelease: July 17- August 23, 2011 parang magulo sila.
Yun nga ang problema ng AGB; napaka-inconsistent magrelease ng ratings. Hindi lang yung hindi araw-araw ng pagpapalabas pero pati yung uri ng ratings (NUTAM, Urban, People’s, etc.). Kung anu-ano nalang. Bakit di nalang stick to one?
Whatever the reason it is obvious na takot ma-bash ang GMA at ma-upstage ng ABS kaya itinatago nila ang mga ratings sa madla. Ito ang characteristic ng pagiging mayabang at duwag at the same time.
Eto pa ang yabang nila noong 2009, binalita pa nila kahit hindi sila subscriber doon.
The Cure must be in serious trouble if this early there are already rumors that The Cure’s time’s gonna be limited and if PEP (which has known links to GMA) had an article that The Cure needs curing, while also explaining the problems it’s facing.
They really have something to prove if they want to avoid becoming a second coming of Sherlock Jr. Otherwise, don’t be surprised if this show is cancelled before it is finished.
Kita talaga na cost-cutting na ang GMA ngayon. Di katulad ng ABS na lahat ng shows may sariling fanpage at minsan kahit sariling website, ang GMA maliban sa mga big shows nila, wala nang sariling fanpage ang kanilang mga palabas (GMADrama account lang). Di katulad dati na lahat ng mga palabas nila may sariling official fanpage. Anong nangyari?
Maybe they’re doing this to avoid redundancy, because if one show ends, sino naman ang magpopost ng bagong content kung tapos na ito?
MAHIYA Kayo! WHO ARE THE ARROGANTS NOW?
BINASH nang LIZQUEN FANS ang POST ni MARVIN AGUSTIN dahil nanalo ang KAMBAL, KARIBAL!
PAAWA EFFECT MOTHER IGNACIA…….
PUNTA KAYO SA DAVAO CITY, PAGADIAN CITY, CDO CITY, OZAMIZ CITY, DIPOLOG CITY, ZAMBOANGA CITY all the URBAN AREAS in MINDANAO. TALUNAN LAGI ANG inyong MOTHER IGNACIA. NO OFFENSE!
Lahat ng urban areas PERO hindi pa kasama buong Mindanao. Kaya may right yang mga LizQuen fans na i-bash si Marvin Agustin dahil porket nanalo na Kambal Karibal hindi ibig sabihin No. 1 na automatically ito sa Pilipinas. AGB nga kokonti lang ang coverage area kaya walang sense ang mga ratings nito.
As far as pagiging mayabang goes, ang GMA talaga ang pinakamalala, as if mas superior sila sa Dos pero sa totoo lang hindi naman. Minsan rin magyabang ang ABS pero to a lesser extent.
One thing that’s proven here is that isa kang ganap na FANTARD!!! YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY BANNED FROM THIS BLOG!!! We don’t tolerate such acts of fantardism here. At worse, nilipat mo na ang usapan sa Kambal Karibal when in fact The Cure ang pinaguusapan rito. Naka-dalawang violations ka, at dahil sa pagiging fantard mo, wala kang right na mang-hasik ng lagim sa blog ito. Kung ako sa ‘yo magkalat ka na lang sa ibang blog o forum, huwag lang dito.
May mga rural areas din ang Mindanao. I lived on one of the urban areas in the island na hindi niya na-mention just north of General Santos City and I can tell most Mindanao viewers tune in to ABS-CBN. May mga viewers din naman ang GMA at TV5 sa Mindanao, but neither made as much impact as ABS did in Mindanao. Most ABS artists are invited on various events in Mindanao, including festivals, and I can tell they’re sellouts. Kapuso Mall Shows are also aplenty in Mindanao, but they tend to focus on more urban areas like Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos. Even on local news, ABS dominates Mindanao left and right with various TVP versions in Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Davao, Cotabato and Gensan, with GMA’s sole regional news program One Mindanao na nakabase naman sa Davao.
These fantards can’t even get the real issue. ABS artists and programs are more popular in Mindanao. I can even tell it on my own. May Kapuso event one time sa current hometown ko na dinumog naman, pero walang nangyaring succeeding Kapuso events since then. We were once served by RGMA pero umalis din during mid-2000s since my place is a small major market. I have no hard feelings towards GMA myself, but the truth is already there. ABS is more well-known and popular.
I’m not even a fantard myself. I’m just telling the truth.
Si NVD talaga ang dapat mahiya sa sarili niya. Ayaw kasi aminin kung anong pagkukulang ng Siyete. It’s obvious how much of a fantard he really is because hindi niya talaga matanggap ang totoong issue kung bakit hindi sikat ang GMA beyond Luzon and urban areas.
The thing is, if it was on Kantar where Kambal Karibal won, and on a regular basis, then the Kapusos would actually have a point and it would be the Kapamilyas who would look stupid. But alas, GMA can only “win” when the goalposts are changed to fit their needs.
Only way GMA can compete is if they can improve their regional networks which are weak compared to ABS. That’s why they can’t win nationally. Social media promotion is also in the ‘needs improvement’ category as well; pretty much the talk of Twitter are the ABS shows and not GMA’s.
Patanong lang because of the thread above: if it was a Kapamilya fantard making similar comments, mababan din ba sila?
Fantards of any kind would be banned, even Kapamilyas. Kahit sila may prone rin sa bias.
Nagcomment si Tom Rodriguez, sabi daw niya marami raw ngayon bashers ang The Cure kasi “insecure sila na tumataas na ang ratings ng The Cure”. Does he have a point? Are the ratings actually rising now?
That doesn’t make sense. Unfortunately, I won’t answer that since it’s so convoluted.
I mean kung may point si Tom na tumataas na raw ang ratings ng The Cure. Because he’s claiming that The Cure’s “rising ratings” are causing people to bash the show.
Like I said, I can’t answer that because it’s so convoluted. Perhaps you should answer the question yourself.
Wala na, finish na.
65 episodes in all.
Well your prediction wasn’t far off, but the show seemed to have been a disappointment from start to finish, in spite of GMA’s claims.
I would’ve liked The Cure to be cancelled after just 30 episodes. 65 may not be bad but it’s still way short.
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