Revenge of the Morning Romantic Comedy: ABS-CBN Premieres Sana Dalawa ang Puso

The ‘kilig’ is back on ABS-CBN’s late-morning slot.

This Monday, the Kapamilya network will launch its latest weekday morning romantic comedy series. ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’ will mark the reunion of ‘Be Careful with My Heart”s Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap, but now they are joined by Robin Padilla who will be the third banana in this light-hearted saga.

Jodi will play two different roles in ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’: Lisa, the hardworking and strict boss of the Laureano Group of Companies, and Mona, a collector of bets in cockfights. According to Jodi, playing two characters will not be an easy task but it will also be an exciting one and added that this will be one of her more challenging roles in her career.

In ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’, Lisa is forced by her father Juancho (Christopher de Leon) to marry their rival’s son Martin (Richard), and in order to run away from this responsibility, she decides to hide and live with Leo (Robin), one of the company’s workers. Meanwhile, Mona struggles to save his own father from peril after he was involved in a networking scam.

Along the way, Mona and Lisa cross paths and seek to solve each other’s problems. But it remains to be seen if they are able to sort all kinds of issues.

After going the more serious route with ‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’, ABS-CBN realized that the late-morning slot is better off with light-hearted series in order to give the audience something to laugh and love. After all, the network already has too many dark, mature and tear-jerking dramas that overloading these could burn out viewers.

And what better way to reboot than the Jodi-Richard tandem, whose prior success in the slot should bode well for ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’. Still, it remains to be seen if the series will be just as successful as ‘Be Careful with My Heart’, but if the addition of Robin Padilla is of any indication, it should do just fine.

‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’ airs weekdays before ‘It’s Showtime’ on ABS-CBN’s PrimeTanghali.

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Kimerald’s Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin Relegated to Late Mornings

Seems like the reunited Kimerald will have to pay their dues in the late mornings.

Once a successful duo on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida, the tandem of Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson will now take their act to the 11:30 a.m. slot with a new series that centers around the world of triathlon. This new series is called ‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’.

Starring alongside another tandem in Jake Cuenca and Coleen Garcia, ‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’ centers around childhood friends Bianca (Kim) and Gabriel (Gerald), both of whom aspire to become successful triathletes in order to support their families.

Along the way, the duo encounter some obstacles that will test their love for each other. ‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’ will feature the following storylines:

• Bianca distances herself from Gabriel in hopes of saving her father’s life
• After a long period of separation, Bianca and Gabriel met anew in a triathlon event headlined by Carlos (Jake), a top triathlete in the country
• Carlos hires Bianca as an endorser of Tigershark, then falls in love with her to the dismay of his ex-girlfriend Isabelle (Coleen)
• Carlos and Gabriel become archrivals in both triathlon and in Bianca’s heart, but some secrets from the past soon threaten their lives

‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’ will also star Gina Pareño, Bing Loyzaga, Ayen Munji-Laurel, Michael De Mesa, Daniel Fernando, Dante Rivero, Nicco Manalo, Ivan Carapiet, Andrea Brillantes, and Grae Fernandez. The series will be directed by Dan Villegas and Onat Diaz.

Unlike previous romantic late-morning series in ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ and ‘Be My Lady’, ‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’ will have a more serious tone that is uncharacteristic for the slot. The storyline would have been a perfect fit for primetime, but with no slots available at the moment, ABS-CBN has no choice but to place this series before noontime.

Still, considering the past success of the Kapamilya network at the said slot, ratings should not be a problem for ‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin’. That said, the network only hope to see the viewers fall in love with this pensive drama.

‘Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin airs weekdays before ‘It’s Showtime’ on ABS-CBN’s PrimeTanghali.

Langit Lupa Premieres Today

The kids are back on ABS-CBN’s Primetanghali.

Starting today, up-and-coming child stars Yesha Camile and Xia Vigor topbill the Kapamilya network’s newest daytime series ‘Langit Lupa’. The program will focus on Yesha and Xia as two best friends with contrasting origins.

In ‘Langit Lupa’, the wealthy young girl Princess (Yesha) befriended a simple but loving lass Esang (Xia). Their friendship grew stronger as time goes by, but along the way, their mothers’ forgotten past was revealed.

Princess’ mother Lala (Yam Concepcion) and Esang’s mother Dey (Alessandra de Rossi) were once the best of friends and business partners. However, when Dey fell ill, Lala and her husband Ian (Patrick Garcia) failed to give Dey’s husband Joey (Jason Abalos) money for medication, leading to Dey’s death and some ill will against Lala and Ian.

‘Langit Lupa’ will also star Ellen Adarna, Tommy Esguerra, Miho Nishida, Jairus Aquino, Sharlene San Pedro, Buboy Garovillo, Viveika Ravanes, and Kitkat. It will be directed by Carlo Po Artillaga and Myla Ajero-Gaite.

For Yesha and Xia, ‘Langit Lupa’ represents their first big break as child stars. Yesha emerged as the grand winner of the Promil-Pre School i-Shine Talent Camp, while Xia came to prominence as the grand winner of ‘It’s Showtime”s Mini Me competition.

While the two have played supporting roles in several ABS-CBN dramas, playing the lead role will be a tremendous challenge. Then again, considering the success that ABS-CBN has had in introducing new child stars, the pressure should not be a problem for Yesha and Xia.

 

Speaking of success, it will also be interesting to see if ‘Langit Lupa’ can continue the momentum generated by ABS-CBN late-morning dramas. With each previous drama having won the hearts of viewers, the onus is on ‘Langit Lupa’ to keep it going.

That said, the first week of ‘Langit Lupa’ will be crucial in establishing its own footprint on Kapamilya lore. For Yesha and Xia, this initial test begins now, as they hope to raise their profiles among Kapamilya network’s child stars of legend.

‘Langit Lupa’ airs weekdays at 11:30 a.m. on ABS-CBN’s Primetanghali.