‘Bagani’ now has a ‘little’ problem, literally.
The ongoing ABS-CBN teleserye will face a new challenger starting Monday, but this is not an ordinary drama series. Instead, GMA’s ‘Onanay’ will be led by an actress who may be physically short as an adult but is big in potential.
The actress in question is Jo Berry, who suffers from dwarfism which causes her to remain short in height as an adult. In ‘Onanay’, Jo is Onay, a mother of two born with Achondroplasia which is a bone growth disorder that impeded her growth.
Her two daughters Maila (Mikee Quintos) and Natalie (Kate Valdez) has contrasting personalities. While Maila is cheerful, obedient and respectful of her mother, Natalie is spoiled, arrogant and ashamed of her mother’s condition.
The series will also feature a special appearance from Ms. Nora Aunor, who will portray Onay’s mother Nelia. In addition, Ms. Cherie Gil will play Helena, Onay’s mother-in-law and a wealthy owner of a fashion magazine, who is determined to give Onay and Nelia’s life a living hell.
‘Onanay”s other cast members include Gardo Versoza, Wendell Ramos, Rochelle Pangilinan, Vaness del Moral, Enrico Cuenca, and Adrian Alandy. The series will be directed by Gina Alajar.
Talk about starting small and dreaming big. For someone as little as Jo Berry, getting into show business takes a little luck and determination, but GMA did not find her short stature as a detriment to conquering the entertainment world.
However, ‘Onanay’ should have a lot to worry about moving forward. While it has the potential to become a critically inspiring drama, it will only depend on how viewers will be able to relate to this series.
And considering that ‘Bagani’ is still dominant in its timeslot, ‘Onanay’ may have a hard time keeping up with the duo of Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil. Regardless, not all are LizQuen fans, and ‘Onanay’ can only hope that they can turn these doubters into believers.
It will be interesting to see how a midget can rise to the occasion and become a bonafide star. This is what ‘Onanay’ will look forward to as they get underway.
‘Onanay’ airs weeknights after ‘Victor Magtanggol’ on GMA Telebabad.
From the Tube 
Well I think I can see why Bagani is considered by many to be a disappointment or at the very least an underpeformer: on Onanay’s premiere date, Bagani only got a Kantar rating of 29.2%. Which, to be fair is still far higher than 17.7%. This could mean two things: both Bagani and GMA are underperforming.
It’s kind of sad come to think of it. GMA’s competition, while still beating them hard, has shown signs of weakness or vulnerability. But now that KK is gone, it appears that they are unable to capitalize on it. Hindi naman 100% ang problema ay mahina ang GMA nationwide kasi kahit sa Kantar marami namang palabas na panalo ang GMA (for example, KMJS has been on a winning streak on Kantar as of late).
And speaking of Onanay’s premiere, it seems it wasn’t good: Kambal Karibal’s ending was something like 21% on Kantar, so with Onanay at about 17%, that’s a drop of four points. So is 17% for Onanay a bad sign for ABS, or a bad sign for GMA, or even both?
We’re not sure since it’s just the first week. And with Bagani down to only a few episodes left, there’s little time for Onanay to prove against LizQuen especially with JoshLia’s new drama looming.
Not exactly marami, just a few, lalo na paulit-ulit na anime sa umaga which is seen during weak viewing hours.
Anyway, Bagani’s unimpressive performance may have stemmed from complacency, because ABS is all too confident that a popular love team like LizQuen will be enough to carry Bagani. They were wrong. And viewers were turning away because it’s oversaturated and repetitive. They might rather watch Netflix than this, which consequently affects GMA teleseryes as well.
Parang di naman pang-masa ang Netflix kung makikita mo ang presyo at line-up. IwanTV pa siguro, pwede pa.
It doesn’t matter. Some viewers are just apathetic. Besides, dumarami rin ang Netflix consumers.
Panalo raw ang Onanay sa NUTAM pero panalo naman ang Bagani sa Kantar. Ang hirap namang malaman kung sino talaga ang nananalo.
Wala na akong masasabi diyan. So much for two firms and their figures.
Ang weird pag tiningnan mo ang ratings. Sa Mega Manila, medyo may laban ang Onanay, minsan natatalo pa niya ang NAK. Pero paglabas mo ng MM, mapa Kantar o AGB NUTAM talo si Onanay. Sa Kantar Nationwide nga, hindi lang talo si Onanay, ang laki pa ng agwat.
Mahina lang kasi ang hatak ng GMA past MM. Their regional reach has long been poor, especially sa VisMin. Kaya madalas talo sa primetime ang mga teleserye nila, kahit na yung mga seemingly mahina na teleserye ng Dos hindi nila mapataob.
Kaya siguro yung mga fantard laging sinasabi “But Urban Luzon has the majority of TV viewers” kasi alam nila mahina sila outside Luzon.
Pero di ko rin sure, baka may problema rin talaga ang Telebabad kaya di sila pumapatok. Considering ang GMA kaya nilang lumaban sa weekend (for example, parati nang talo ang Rated K pati sa Kantar), at minsan lumalaban din naman sila sa Hapon, mahirap makita kung ano ba talagang problema nila. Masyado lang bang malakas ang NAK?
JoshLia is also not a hit with audiences either pero maswerte sila since Onanay isn’t drawing as well as NAK. Let’s just say GMA isn’t that good at promoting entertainment shows, both in traditional and in digital ways. Yung Twitter pa lang mostly Kapamilya shows ang name-mention; madalang lang ang sa Kapuso shows. And such lack of competence is hurting GMA’s ratings, in addition to the well-documented lack of reach in the VisMin regions. Kulang lang sa hype perhaps.
Patapos na raw ang Onanay. So much for being GMA’s best-performing primetime show.
I can’t blame them though since may limitations pa sa pag-arte si Jo Berry. Perhaps cutting the series short would be better for her para mas mahasa niya ang pag-arte.