Let’s state the obvious to begin with.
On Monday, September 10, GMA will introduce a new drama called ‘Ika-5 Utos’. And the series will air from Monday to, not Friday, but Saturday afternoons after ‘Eat Bulaga’.
‘Ika-5 Utos” main plot centers around three families whose bonds will be destroyed by a series of incidents. The series, in particular, will take a look at the issue of hazing in college fraternities.
The cast of ‘Ika-5 Utos’ includes Jean Garcia, Gelli de Belen, Valerie Concepcion, Jake Vargas, Kiko Estrada, Inah de Belen, Tonton Gutierrez, Antonio Aquitania, Jeric Gonzales, Migo Adecer and Klea Pineda. The series, like its sister program ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, will be directed by Laurice Guillen.
So another teleserye that will air six times a week? It seems like GMA is obsessed with this new habit.
And since they do not have any further ideas to fill in on a Saturday afternoon (they do not even bother producing a program to match ABS-CBN’s ‘Pareng Partners’), they are stuck with using a teleserye as a desperate ploy to boost ratings. But as seen in the ill-fated tale that is ‘Contessa’, it was a flawed strategy to begin with.
The approach initially worked on ‘Ika-6 na Utos’ due to ‘insistent public demand’ (its finale earned around 20% despite airing on a Saturday). But when ‘Contessa’ took over viewers were soon fed up by GMA’s over-saturation tactics, and instead opted to watch either Vice Ganda running his mouth on national television or Netflix shows online.
As a result, ‘Contessa’ underachieved and GMA’s strategy backfired. With that in mind, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ is now stuck in the crossroads that will either appease its audience to watch the series or force GMA to finally admit the problems in its approach.
It will be interesting to see how this latest maneuver plays out. Can ‘Ika-5 Utos’ deliver on a six-a-week basis, or will GMA ever regret making this risky move?
From the Tube 
I think the main concern I have is the title: there are already concerns that the show might be trying to ride on the tails of its far more succesful predecessor Ika-6 na Utos. It’s as if GMA is running out of ideas. I’m not sure if it’s necessary since at least at NUTAM they do come out with the occasional win.
Perhaps GMA is trying to establish a new franchise out of this: the so-called ‘Sampung Utos-serye’. That’s what I thought of when they made this series.
I think this is better; though the Ten Commandments are an existing concept, at least the writers can tailor stories which can be considered original. Unlike using a plot from a foreign land and connecting a story to it while there’s another franchise using the same plot; and they will say that the plot or character is a public domain or not owned by some franchise.
Ang medyo masama lang siguro sa ILU is meron na naman siyang kabit-serye element.
Hindi talaga mawala-wala ang kabit-serye ngayon. Pang-mahirap kasi eh. Pero the concept is ok.
To add pala, I remember IANU Saturday flashbacks are from the Monday episode up to the Friday, which is a good thing, for the working (and studying) viewers to be at par with what’s happening (I even remember their first Saturday ep na yung flashback is from episode 1 talaga). Since yung same team naman ang gumagawa ng ILU, siguro naman gagawin nila ito. Ito kasi, for me, is isang pagkukulang ng Contessa, if I’m not mistaken, they only do Saturday flashbacks of the Friday episodes.
You mean hindi talaga new episode tuwing Sabado ang IANU at Contessa kundi ‘recap’ lang? Seriously, ang gulo talaga ng sinabi mo. Kung ‘recap’ lang talaga malamang hindi magiging impactful sa ratings.
Hahaha sorry. Ibig kong sabihin, yung “Nakaraan” na pinapakita nila, pag sa IANU, pinapasadahan nila buong weekday episodes nila, unlike sa Contessa noon na yung Friday lang binabalikan nila. Sorry ulit hehe.
All teleseryes may iba’t ibang diskarte sa pag-recap nila. Minsan from the previous episode, minsan from the previous few episodes. Sariling approach nila yun. Saka yung mga teasers din important yan to establish what will come next.
Kaso kasi, it would be better if Contessa did the same way as IANU pag nagpapakita ng “Nakaraan” on their Saturday episodes para sana nakakahabol sa kwento (or what happened during the week) yung mga Saturday lang nakakapanood. Baka nakahatak pa sila ng Saturday viewers nun.
Maybe, but that won’t make a difference kasi struggling na yung Contessa sa ratings mula noong unang episode pa lang. Anyway, move on na tayo diyan at tingnan na lang natin kung anong approach ang gagawin ng ILU pagsapit ng Sabado.