Farewell, Dolce Amore

ABS-CBN is calling tomorrow’s episode of ‘Dolce Amore’ ‘ The Most Beautiful Finale’.

And why not? After all, for over seven months, viewers were enthralled by the long-distance love story surrounding Tenten (Enrique Gil) and Serena (Liza Soberano). Their relationship may have some highs and lows as the story wore on, but come this Friday, all of that ‘kilig’ will finally pay off for good.

‘Dolce Amore’ first burst into the scene on February 15, replacing another hit drama in ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’. The series, which was taped in Italy early in its run, became an immediate hit, and in the process, dispelled the notion that LizQuen were a ‘one-hit wonder’ on television.

Along the way, ‘Dolce Amore’ prevailed against GMA’s own love teams in AnBie (Andre Paras and Barbie Forteza of ‘That’s My Amboy’) and AlNine (Aljur Abrenica and Janine Gutierrez of ‘Once Again’). As a result of ‘Dolce Amore”s thorough domination, GMA gave up the fight and placed the Koreanovela ‘Descendants of the Sun’ as a last resort.

Overall, ‘Dolce Amore’ lasted 137 episodes, which is ten episodes more than the combined total of rivals ‘That’s My Amboy’ (68 episodes) and ‘Once Again’ (59 episodes).  This was a testament to the success and enduring popularity of the LizQuen tandem, not to mention the storytelling magic of Cathy Garcia-Molina.

As ‘Dolce Amore’ enters its finale tomorrow night, one thing is certain. For the last time in the series, the magic of LizQuen will be on display, and viewers hope that this will be a memorable and unforgettable ending.

While tomorrow will be the end of the love story between Serena and Tenten, the story of LizQuen will go on. An upcoming film starring the love team is in the works, and is expected to be released later this year.

Coming up next on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida will be ‘Till I Met You’, starring another popular love team in JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre). More on that tomorrow.

That’s My Amboy Down to Final Week

‘That’s My Amboy’ will end this Friday, and few noticed it since GMA ceased its production of episode teasers at the start of April. (Photo and logo credit: GMA Network)

Little is said about the impending conclusion of ‘That’s My Amboy’.

After all, the AnBie-starred series, like all other current GMA teleseryes, has seen minimal promotion since the beginning of April. As a result, only a few knew the fact that ‘That’s My Amboy’ is about to end.

‘That’s My Amboy’ premiered on January 25, 2016, and marked the primetime debut of the love team of Andre Paras and Barbie Forteza. Coming off a successful 1+ year run on ‘The Half-Sisters’, the up-and-coming tandem came into this project with considerable expectations as they step into the evening spotlight.

But in a primetime landscape that is extremely competitive, ratings were hard to come by for ‘That’s My Amboy’. And it didn’t help that the series went up against KathNiel’s ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ and LizQuen’s ‘Dolce Amore’, both of which contributed to ABS-CBN’s ongoing dominance.

To make matters worse, GMA further exacerbated the decline of ‘That’s My Amboy’ by not showing any of the show’s episode teasers starting in April. That turned out to be the final straw, and once they realize that ‘That’s My Amboy’ can no longer overcome their Kapamilya rivals, they finally decided to pull the plug.

With just four months and 68 episodes under its belt, it is clear that ‘That’s My Amboy’ failed to live up to expectations. The series overall was not entertaining to begin with, and it felt like a rushed effort, since Andre and Barbie did not enjoy any break following the conclusion of ‘The Half-Sisters’.

That said, the AnBie duo has a lot more work to do if they were to rise to the level of a Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, or a Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil. But they need to take it one step at a time, and enjoy as much rest as possible so as not to overexert themselves.

Thanks to GMA’s lack of effort in promoting the final week of ‘That’s My Amboy’, expect the series finale to make little noise this Friday. Admit it, this is GMA’s way of giving up on this series, and for Kapuso viewers, it’s humiliating to see what they have done.

That’s My Amboy Premieres Tonight

The AnBie love team takes its act to primetime.

Fresh from a successful run on ‘The Half-Sisters’, Andre Paras and Barbie Forteza now gear themselves up for their first lead role in a primetime series. The duo star in ‘That’s My Amboy’, a light-hearted series that airs starting tonight.

‘That’s My Amboy’ tells the story of Maru (Barbie), a young but determined girl, and Bryan (Andre), a rising actor. Their story began when Bryan was blamed for the accident that involved Maru’s stepfather, and in order to pay for the damages, Maru was hired as his personal assistant.

At first, Maru and Bryan’s relationship was tense and jittery. But an incident that affected Bryan soon brought the two together, and the once distant relationship turned into a friendly, and eventually, lovely one.

Also starring in the series are Tonton Gutierrez, John Arcilla, Donita Rose, Kiko Estrada, Jazz Ocampo, Matet de Leon, Meryll Soriano, Maritoni Fernandez, Jerald Napoles, Pam Prinster, Jan Manual, Philip Lazaro, Pauline Mendoza, Kryshee Grengia, and Rob Walcher. It will be directed by Bb. Joyce Bernal, with the help of Dominic Zapata.

‘That’s My Amboy’ was slated to replace ‘MariMar’ in the network’s Telebabad block (the latter ended January 8). However, the series premiere was delayed for two weeks due to a conflict of interest, since ‘The Half-Sisters’ was still ongoing at the time.

That led to a rather unusual programming lineup on Telebabad, where the block only had two teleseryes, a movie block, and a two Koreanovelas. This week, Telebabad will go back to its usual lineup of three teleseryes and two Koreanovelas, and thus, changes in schedule will be utilized.

‘That’s My Amboy’ will be placed opposite ABS-CBN’s ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, which means that the KathNiel-starred series will have faced all three ongoing Telebabad dramas in a three-week span. Although ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ will only have two more weeks in its run, it remains an imposing challenge to ‘That’s My Amboy’, considering the series has beaten ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘Because of You’ in those three weeks.

That said, the AnBie love team will have its work cut out for them. Although they’ve been successful in the afternoon, primetime is a very different animal, which only adds pressure to the duo.

‘That’s My Amboy’ premieres later tonight after ‘Little Nanay’ on GMA Telebabad.