A familiar series with a new twist.
On Monday, August 20, ABS-CBN will bring the Chinese remake of ‘Meteor Garden’ to Filipino audiences. But the question is: can it equal if not surpass the success of the original?
The new version of ‘Meteor Garden’ will star Darren Cheng, Dylan Wang, Connor Leong, and Caesar Wu as F4. Darren, Dylan, Connor and Caesar will play Hua Ze Lei (originally by Vic Zhou), Dao Ming Si (originally by Jerry Yan), Mei Zuo (originally by Vanness Wu), and Xi Men (originally by Ken Chu) respectively.
Shan Cai, a character popularized by Barbie Shu in the original ‘Meteor Garden’, will now be played by Shen Yue. According to series producer Angie Chai, the cast were selected based on their personalities that were similar to the original F4.
‘Meteor Garden’ began airing in China last month, and so far the series has performed well in its home country. ‘Meteor Garden’ currently ranks in the top 10 of the most-watched Chinese television programs.
The original ‘Meteor Garden’ was first aired in the Philippines back in 2003 and became a smashing success. It helped turn F4 (or JVKV for copyright purposes) into superstars and at the height of the show’s popularity, the group even held a concert in Manila in front of their adoring fans.
ABS-CBN has since re-aired the original series multiple times, most recently in 2014. But while ABS-CBN will forever be the network associated with ‘Meteor Garden’ in the Philippines, archrival GMA Network also aired the said Asianovela in 2007, albeit in a different dub and with mixed success.
Looking ahead, one must wonder how can this new version of ‘Meteor Garden’ be able to permeate the Filipino viewing public the same way the original did. Considering the lofty heights that came with the 2003 version of ‘Meteor Garden’, it will not be easy for the new series to make an impact with both loyal and new viewers.
Not only that, a few alterations to the original story could affect its performance. That said, ABS-CBN should keep expectations low and hope that somewhere down the road viewers will appreciate this new take on ‘Meteor Garden’ with gusto.
‘Meteor Garden’ airs weeknights before ‘TV Patrol’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.
From the Tube 
Didi (Dylan Wang) who’s playing the role of Dao Ming Si is quite the loveable guy so I think fans would love him (and maybe convert detractors along the way).
Well, let’s see how this series fare in out country.
Good thing that the main characters’ names weren’t altered like what they’ve been doing all the time for so long when airing any Asianovela or any non-American or non-Latin American TV shows. Though I’m still not convinced because I haven’t heard the supporting characters’ names yet. I still hope that ABS-CBN will still retain their original Chinese names evem if it is not a historical drama. Sometimes ABS-CBN spare those kind of genre. I don’t know with other TV networks/stations either. I also wish that any monetary value/s mentioned in the series will be kept as is rather than converting it to US Dollar. I’m so sorry for making opinions like this again.
PS: I still missed those Traditional Chinese (not the simplified one) subtitles appearing below the screen. Meteor Garden 1 and 2 have those.
Sorry for my bad English again.
ABS thinks those subtitles are distracting, so they edited it for broadcast. Anyway, we’ll just hope they made minor alterations to the dubbing for fans to enjoy.
I noticed na kapag Hana Yori Dango-based ang story, di naman pinapalitan yung original names ng most characters (except with one female character yata sa original na Meteor Garden, and another sa Boys Over Flowers (si Gail kasi Ga-eul yung original name niya)) sa Filipino dubs. Siguro naman di rin papalitan masyado yung sa incarnation na ‘to.
That said, ang magiging concern natin ngayon ay mga alterations sa story which is normal for remakes. So watch out for them.
Premiered to disappointing ratings after all “hype”. Now 2nd episode is on a downward trend ratings-wise. Of the 3 new shows that premiered, Meteor Garden was the one which premiered below expectations. Didn’t even matched Blood Sister’s finale ratings.
ABS-CBN claimed that Meteor Garden 2018 had strong ratings but does 21 and 19% on its timeslot look all that impressive? I don’t think so. Even the replay of the original four years ago had better ratings than the new one.
Magkano kaya nagastos ng ABS para dito? Pati kasi streaming rights nakuha nila. Worth it kaya? Wala na talagang lugar ang mga foreign shows maliban as fillers.
Only problem is that the streaming rights are for iWant TV only. Hindi kasama ang TFC for OFWs since MG’s rights are with NetFlix.
Base sa karanasan ko, may mga kaklase akong nanonood ng Meteor Garden sa cellphone (yung may original na audio na may English subtitle) imbis na sa TV mismo. Ung sinabi ko kanina, ung mga episodes nito ay galing sa mga illegal or pirated streaming apps sa Android o websites.
Yung bago ba?
Opo.
I won’t be surprised kung ita-track down ito ng ABS. They did this before on those foreign websites na nag-upload at nag-stream ng mga shows nila.