The Greatest Love’s Last Week, Plus D’Originals’ Premiere Week

For one week only, it will be ‘The Greatest Love’ versus ‘D’Originals’.

This week will mark the last for ‘The Greatest Love’, the top-rating afternoon drama that starred Sylvia Sanchez as a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The series first premiered on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold block on September 5, 2016, and will finish its 163-episode run this Friday afternoon.

‘The Greatest Love’, which also starred Dimples Romana, Andi Eigenmann, Matt Evans, Arron Villaflor, Ellen Adarna and Nonie Buencamino among others, was also a constant trending topic on social media. Its inspiring and tear-jerking storyline gripped the nation and the world, giving them greater awareness to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

On the other side of the spectrum, GMA’s Public Affairs team will once again try to salvage whatever shortcomings the Entertainment team has had of late. Their latest project is a sexy comedy drama series, ‘D’Originals’, which will premiere today.

‘D’Originals’ (click its synopsis here) will be the network’s replacement to the short-lived ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’, whose brief 53-episode run concluded last Holy Wednesday. ‘D’Originals’ will also be LJ Reyes’ second project in a row on the afternoon slot after starring as Angeli in ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’.

Also part of ‘D’Originals’ cast are Ms. Jaclyn Jose, Kim Domingo, Katrina Halili, Jestoni Alarcon, Mark Herras, Meg Imperial, Archie Alemania, Lovely Abella, Mikoy Morales, Arny Ross, Elyson De Dios, and Chlaui Malayao. The director of the series is Adolf Alix Jr.

If ‘The Greatest Love”s impressive ratings are of any indication, then ‘D’Originals’ is in for a rude awakening. Recent GMAPA-produced entertainment shows (see ‘Dangwa’, ‘To the Top’, ‘#Like’) have failed to make a desirable impact, thus putting tremendous pressure on ‘D’Originals’ to defy all expectations.

With the dominance of ABS-CBN in the afternoon slot (save for the surprisingly popular ‘Ika-6 na Utos’), this is one battle that ‘D’Originals’ must win. Saving the reputation of both GMA Entertainment and GMA Public Affairs is a must for the series, otherwise the blame game should continue for both departments.

It’s either win or give up for ‘D’Originals’ and GMA Public Affairs. Good luck.

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New Teleserye Alert: The Greatest Love and Someone to Watch Over Me

Two new teleseryes premiere today on ABS-CBN and GMA respectively.

On the former’s Kapamilya Gold, ‘The Greatest Love’ will finally make its long-awaited debut. The series will star veteran actress Sylvia Sanchez in what is perhaps her most definitive starring role yet.

In ‘The Greatest Love’, Sylvia will play the role of Gloria, a mother of four who is determined to have a happy and lovely family. But a terrible secret soon broke the bond between Gloria and her children, and what remained of her are memories of her problematic past.

As the story goes on, Gloria begins to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a crippling disorder that could erase her memories. As a result, she must find a way to reunite with her children before her condition proves too much to overcome.

Gloria’s children will be portrayed by Dimples Romana (as Amanda), Matt Evans (as Andrei), Arron Villaflor (as Paeng), and Andi Eigenmann (as Lizelle). The supporting cast of ‘The Greatest Love’ will consist of Joshua Garcia, Nonie Buencamino, Rommel Padilla, Tonton Gutierrez, Ejay Falcon, Ellen Adarna, Junjun Quintana, Aleck Bovick, Luis Alandy, Bobby Andrews, Alex Medina, Mercedes Cabral, and Guji Lorenzana.

It will be interesting to see how ‘The Greatest Love’ fares on its first week. But as far as ABS-CBN is concerned, the recent streak of good fortune on Kapamilya Gold should be more than enough to ease the pressure on the newcomer.

Directed by Jeffrey Jeturian, Mervyn Brondial, and Dado Lomibao, ‘The Greatest Love’ airs weekdays after ‘Doble Kara’ on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold.

Over on GMA’s Telebabad block, ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ will mark the full return of more serious dramas on primetime. The series will be headlined by Lovi Poe, Tom Rodriguez and Max Collins.

Like ‘The Greatest Love’, ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ will explore the harsh effects of Alzheimer’s disease. In the upcoming series, TJ (Tom) is an office worker who is married to his wife Joanna (Lovi), but after TJ begins to suffer from early onset Alzheimer’s disease, Joanna decides to take care of her ailing husband.

Soon after, Irene (Max), TJ’s ex-girlfriend, is allowed by Joanna to enter their home. After that, things begin to change as TJ loses memory of Joanna and instead recognizes Irene as his true love.

‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ will also include Edu Manzano, Jackie Lou Blanco, Isay Alvarez, Ronnie Lazaro, Boy 2 Quizon, Ralph Noriega, and Frances Makil. The series will be directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes.

It will be interesting to see how this upcoming GMA drama will fare against ‘Born for You’. With the latter series on a roll, and with GMA’s talent problems already well-documented, this is going to be a difficult journey for Lovi, Tom, Max and company.

‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ airs weeknights after ‘Descendants of the Sun’.

 

Kambal Sirena, Dyesebel Won’t Begin Simultaneously

GMA’s Kambal Sirena begins its run a week ahead of ABS-CBN’s Dyesebel. (Photo courtesy of Bida Kapamilya)

The so-called ‘Sirena Wars’ on Philippine television will have to wait for another two weeks, as both GMA and ABS-CBN set their final episode dates for ‘Adarna’ and ‘Honesto’.

‘Adarna’, the fantaserye starring Kylie Padilla, airs its final episode tomorrow. Airing since November 18, 2013, ‘Adarna’ was supposed to revive GMA’s tried and tested fantaserye genre that has worked for them in the mid-2000s. Unfortunately, the show failed to surpass expectations, due to the fact that a rival teleserye is superbly dominant in its timeslot.

That teleserye happened to be ‘Honesto’, which has been consistently atop the primetime ratings since its debut. Its superior ratings also translated into high trending figures in social media, with hashtags related to the show leading Twitter’s trending topics. The Raikko Mateo-starred series first aired on October 28, and will air its final episode on March 14.

The two series will be replaced by ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Dyesebel’ respectively. The former, an original concept of the Kapuso network, will star Louise delos Reyes, while the latter, acquired by the Kapamilya network from Mars Ravelo’s estate, will star Anne Curtis.

Hype between the two series began last December, as both networks revealed the initial teasers for their respective mermaids. But while GMA began to heavily promote ‘Kambal Sirena’ during the months of January and February, ABS-CBN was slow to promote ‘Dyesebel’ as it continued to focus on its highly-rated programs ‘Honesto’ and ‘Got to Believe’. Nevertheless, viewers were salivating at the prospect of two mermaid-based series facing each other on primetime.

Both ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Dyesebel’ will feature an equally stellar supporting cast. In ‘Kambal Sirena’, Aljur Abrenica will star as the leading man, while Wynwyn Marquez serves as the main villain. The series will also star Mickey Ferriols, Angelika dela Cruz, Gladys Reyes, Tessie Tomas, Mike Tan, Pancho Magno, Polo Ravales, Lotlot de Leon, Rich Asuncion, and Chanda Romero.

In ‘Dyesebel’, Sam Milby and Gerald Anderson will play the leading men, while Andi Eigenmann takes on a villainous role. Portraying supporting roles in the series will be Dawn Zulueta, Eula Valdes, Gabby Concepcion, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Bangs Garcia, David Chua, Ai Ai delas Alas, Neil Coleta, Young JV and Ogie Diaz.

While ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Dyesebel’ won’t begin at the same time, the rivalry between the two mermaid-based series will be something to look forward to. And it should add spice to what has been an already heated rivalry between the two major networks.

Last Sunday Night on Philippine TV, and Upcoming Teleseryes

It was an eventful Sunday night on Philippine TV. ABS-CBN’s ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ finally crowned a winner, as Mitoy Yonting won the final showdown over Klarisse de Guzman. The final showdown of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ proved to be a ratings and social media hit. Over at TV5, ‘The Mega and the Songwriter’ also trended on Twitter, in large part to the performance of the Singing Elevator Girl Cheridel Alejandrino. And both GMA networks experienced an abrupt on-air interruption after a fire broke out at the basement of its headquarters in Quezon City, which was later put under control without any reported injuries.

Meanwhile, contrary to my prediction in a previous article, the new ABS-CBN teleserye ‘Galema: Anak ni Zuma’ will actually have its series debut on the Kapamilya Gold afternoon slot, replacing ‘Dugong Buhay’. The series will make its debut today, and will star Andi Eigenmann in her afternoon soap debut.

Over at primetime, the Kapamilya network’s highly rated teleserye ‘Muling Buksan ang Puso’ will finish its run this week, with its series finale scheduled for Friday, October 4. The remake of ‘Maria Mercedes’ will replace the former beginning October 7, and will mark the return of Jessy Mendiola to the primetime slot. ‘Maria Mercedes’ will be the fourth local adaptation of a Thalia-starred series, after GMA’s ‘MariMar‘, ‘Rosalinda’, and ABS-CBN’s ‘Maria la del Barrio‘.

Switching over to the Kapuso side, GMA will likewise debut a new afternoon series entitled ‘Magkano Ba ang Pag-Ibig’, which will mark the acting return of Heart Evangelista. The new series will replace the Bianca King-starred ‘Maghihintay Pa Rin’ beginning today, September 30.

And finally the Kapuso network also announced that the highly rated and controversial teleserye ‘My Husband’s Lover’ will conclude on October 11, as seen on the network teasers. The teasers also announce a new replacement for MHL, entitled ‘Genesis’, and will officially mark the return of Dingdong Dantes to primetime. However, Dantes will not be paired with his usual off-screen partner Marian Rivera; instead he will be paired by another returning Kapuso star in Rhian Ramos. Barring any hitches, the series debut of ‘Genesis’ will be on October 14.

Kapamilya Blockbusters, FPJ Return to ABS-CBN; Other Notes

Last Monday, ABS-CBN revamped its ‘Kapamilya Gold’ afternoon lineup by reintroducing the movie block ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’. The said program has been aired in both the morning and afternoon slots primarily to fill in programming slots on a temporary basis. ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ replaced the recently concluded ‘Juan de la Cruz‘ spinoff ‘My Little Juan’ in its timeslot, and airs after ‘Showtime’ and before ‘Dugong Buhay’.

The first film aired on the weekday return of ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ is ‘The Adventures of Pureza: Queen of the Riles‘, starring Melai Cantiveros. The program will focus more on Star Cinema‘s recent film releases, with occasional foreign films added for good measure. While ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ will only be used as a temporary fill-in while an upcoming afternoon teleserye is being planned, it will give viewers an opportunity to watch films they’ve never seen before in cinemas.

Before ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ moved back to its weekday slot, it aired during Sunday mornings, with its timeslot only preempted by ‘Pinoy Pride’ boxing matches and NBA games. However, with the expected return of ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ to the weekday slot, ABS-CBN announced that ‘FPJ: Da King on ABS-CBN’ will make its return. As the name suggests, it features classic films from Fernando Poe, Jr.‘s library of archives, which the Kapamilya network has exclusive rights. In addition, ‘FPJ: Da King’ will also air on Studio 23, Cinema One and Jeepney TV.

The ‘FPJ: Da King’ block will also be a fill-in program, after which it will again be replaced by NBA games and Pinoy Pride matches on ABS-CBN soon. However, don’t expect the FPJ films to be axed soon, as there will be a possibility of moving the program to another timeslot once the NBA season begins.

On another note, the hit teleserye ‘Muling Buksan ang Puso’, starring Julia Montes and Enrique Gil, will officially conclude in three weeks. The teleserye has enjoyed consistently high viewership numbers despite pitting against equally strong GMA teleseryes ‘Mundo Mo’y Akin’ and ‘My Husband’s Lover’. The series finale is expected to air on October 4. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN started to air teasers for the upcoming teleserye ‘Galema: Anak ni Zuma’, starring Andi Eigenmann, which is expected to replace ‘Muling Buksan ang Puso’ in its timeslot.