Staying Light: Playhouse to Premiere Monday on ABS-CBN

ABS-CBN is keeping things light and loose every weekday mornings.

While GMA took on a more serious route with ‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’, ABS-CBN continues its tradition of romantic comedies and child-oriented dramas to the 11:15 a.m. slot. And their newest series ‘Playhouse’ is no exception.

‘Playhouse’ will star Angelica Panganiban and Zanjoe Marudo as Patty and Marlon, two college lovers who will eventually get married only to split up after a series of struggles. The rest of the main plot are as follows.

Via ABS-CBN PR:

After of a long time living separately, the two meet again as Patty files for an annulment to formally separate with Marlon. But just when they think everything is over between them, an unfortunate tragedy will change their lives forever.

Their friends Emily and Brad will get into an accident, leaving their child Robin (Justin James Quilantang) behind. As the kid’s legal guardians, Patty and Marlon will be forced to stay together under one roof to take care of Robin and make sure he gets the love he needs. This gives Marlon the opportunity to patch things up with Patty, despite her constant disapproval.

Will Robin be the key to giving Patty and Marlon a second chance?

Also part of ‘Playhouse’ will be up-and-coming teen stars Donny Pangilinan and Kisses Delavin, who will play enemies-turned-lovers Zeke and Shiela. The rest of the cast will include Kean Cipriano, AC Bonifacio, Ariella Arida, Dexter Doria, Nadia Montenegro, Ingrid Dela Paz, Jomari Angeles, Malou De Guzman, Smokey Manaloto, and Maxene Magalona.

Here is a little spin on the formulas that ABS-CBN uses for its late-morning dramas. While ‘Playhouse’ is for the most part a romantic comedy, it is also a child-oriented series since child actor Justin James Quilantang will play a vital role here as the child that Patty and Marlon are forced to take care of.

That said, it will be interesting to see how this hybrid format will work in this increasingly competitive late-morning slot. In spite of ABS-CBN’s success on that timeslot, ‘Playhouse’ will still have its work cut out here and if they win right away it will boost its confidence.

‘Playhouse’ airs weekdays before ‘It’s Showtime’ on ABS-CBN.

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A Secret No More: Richard Gutierrez Joins ABS-CBN

Richard Gutierrez has found a new home.

On Wednesday, May 31, ABS-CBN held a press conference to announce the acquisition of the former long-time GMA artist. In a statement, Richard told the media about his decision to join ABS-CBN.

“I have always been curious how it is to work in ABS-CBN. I only hear great things about this network. Finally, now I’m here, I’m excited that I have been given the opportunity to work here.”

Richard graced the much-anticipated event alongside his mother Annabelle Rama, ABS-CBN COO for Broadcast Cory Vidanes, Star Creatives COO Malou Santos and Finance head for Broadcast and News and Current Affairs Cat Lopez. The news quickly spread like wildfire on social media, with many netizens congratulating Richard on his decision.

Prior to joining ABS-CBN, Richard Gutierrez made his mark on rival GMA Network, starring in teleseryes such as ‘Mulawin’, ‘Lupin’, ‘Sugo’, ‘Kamandag’, ‘Codename: Asero’ and ‘Captain Barbell’. He also starred in films such as ‘Let the Love Begin’, ‘Mulawin: The Movie’ and the ‘Mano Po’ franchise.

Richard’s most recent series was the TV5/Viva production ‘Ang Panday’, which aired last year. He also made a few guest appearances on ABS-CBN programming during a four-year period as a freelancer.

The first salvo for Richard with the Kapamilya network will be the upcoming fantasy-action series ‘La Luna Sangre’, starring alongside Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. Although former ‘Mulawin’ co-star Angel Locsin will also make an appearance on the third installment of the ‘Lobo’ franchise, don’t expect the one-time love team to appear on-screen together.

However, ABS-CBN did announce that a planned reunion of Richard and Angel in an upcoming Star Cinema film is in the works. In addition, another untitled Star Cinema movie alongside Angelica Panganiban is also planned for Richard.

Let’s just hope that ABS-CBN will make good use of Richard Gutierrez. With a reputation of turning fading stars back to relevance, this is an opportunity for the network to once again weave their magic on a talent that still has some mileage left.

Pangako Sa ‘Yo Down to Final Week

One of the country’s top-rated drama series on primetime is about to bid farewell.

On Friday, February 12, the final episode of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ will air on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida. The series, which first aired on May 25, 2015, will have a total of 190 episodes in all by the end of its run.

‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, a remake of the 2000 series starring Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa, again told the love story of Angelo and Yna, now portrayed by Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, respectively. Throughout the series, Angelo and Yna were faced with several obstacles, but their love for each other still prevailed against all odds.

But as ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ reaches its conclusion, a pair of shocking truths will await the duo. That said, Angelo and Yna will need to face this final test before they can finally fulfill their promise of love and happiness to each other.

‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ was a ratings juggernaut throughout its run, as it consistently ranked among the top-rated programs in the country, based on Kantar’s figures. It even hit the 40% mark on a few occasions.

What made its domination even more impressive was that earlier this year, ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ managed to beat all three ongoing GMA Telebabad series in one calendar month. During the month of January, ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ faced ‘Little Nanay’, ‘Because of You’ and ‘That’s My Amboy’ in succession, and the former defeated them all.

It also made a huge impression on Twitter, particularly in an episode where the future Amor Powers (Jodi Sta. Maria) vowed for revenge against the Buenavistas, portrayed by Angelica Panganiban (as Claudia) and Ian Veneracion (as Eduardo). The series, particularly the KathNiel tandem, earned numerous awards, sold out merchandise, and even attracted jam-packed crowds to its promotional events.

‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ also made history by holding a talent search for the character of Bea Bianca. That contest was won by Sarah Carlos, and her brief but memorable portrayal of Vanessa del Bianco’s original character paved the way for Sarah to become a MYX VJ at the start of this year.

Overall, ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ lived up to the expectations of the original. The series proved that the KathNiel tandem can indeed play more mature roles, while at the same time, it gave Jodi, Angelica and Ian a new lease in their showbiz careers.

This week’s final few episodes should be intense. Don’t miss the much-awaited finale of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, after ‘Ang Probinsyano’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

Banana Sundae to Answer Sunday PinaSaya Next Week

‘Banana Split’ will be rebranded as ‘Banana Sundae’ starting this Sunday, airing alongside ‘ASAP’. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

The second longest-running active gag show on Philippine television is moving to a new timeslot.

Starting this Sunday, ‘Banana Split’ will now be renamed as ‘Banana Sundae’. Its gag show in front of a live audience approach will be retained, except that it will now be seen on a more viewer-accessible Sunday afternoon slot.

Most of the show’s cast will be carried over from ‘Banana Split’, with a few additions. Jessy Mendiola and Pokwang will now join ‘Banana Sundae’ alongside established mainstays such as Angelica Panganiban, Jason Gainza, John Prats, Pooh and Ryan Bang.

Even though ‘Banana Split’ was holding its own every Saturday night for the past several years, it is clear that the show’s appeal was severely affected by the reality and talent shows that preceded it. For example, ‘Banana Split”s final Saturday episode was aired a few minutes before midnight, due to the lengthy first-part finale of ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ and ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar’.

Even worse for ABS-CBN was the success of ‘ASAP”s latest rival ‘Sunday PinaSaya’, whose new comedic approach provided a livelier alternative to ‘ASAP”s concert-based format. As the long-running ‘ASAP’ lost ground to a new, more entertaining rival, plus the recent lack of attention towards ‘Banana Split’, ABS-CBN decided to make a move.

Thus came the rebrand of ‘Banana Split’ into ‘Banana Sundae’. With the move to Sunday afternoons, ABS-CBN hopes that ‘Banana Sundae’ will appease the demands of viewers who crave for a comedy show that will answer ‘Sunday PinaSaya’.

‘Banana Sundae’ is not expected to directly compete with ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ though, as ABS-CBN has no plans of moving ‘ASAP’ to a later timeslot the same way GMA did with ‘Sunday All-Stars’. The most likely destination of the show is the timeslot currently occupied by ‘Kapamilya Mega Blockbusters’, unless ABS-CBN slightly changes its plans.

Either way, ‘Banana Split’ will now move to Sunday afternoons. And loyal viewers should get more excited now that it airs on a more accessible timeslot.

‘Banana Sundae’ airs every Sunday starting November 15, with the timeslot to be determined.

The Impact of Pangako Sa ‘Yo on Philippine TV

The original ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, starring Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa, will always be remembered in Philippine television lore.

Airing from 2000 to 2002, the series was considered the first teleserye in Philippine television. The popularity of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ forever changed the landscape of primetime television viewing in the country.

Before ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, primetime on Philippine television was at its most diverse, ranging from local and foreign sitcoms, action, variety and suspense programs to even animes and cartoons. However, the mid-90s foreshadowed the eventual dominance of dramas in the primetime slot, beginning with RPN-9’s ‘MariMar’ and later with ABS-CBN’s ‘Mara Clara’.

Then on November 13, 2000, ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ premiered on what would later become the Primetime Bida slot (ABS-CBN did not dub the primetime block as such until 2002). The series quickly made an impact, and by 2001 it was the hottest program in the country viewership-wise.

The success of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ proved to be the last straw for GMA as a niche-oriented upscale network. Midway through 2001, GMA cancelled its Anime Assault (later known as Astig Authority) anime block from its primetime lineup and replaced them with their own teleseryes, a precursor of what later became GMA Telebabad.

However, GMA’s own lineup of teleseryes were no match for ABS-CBN’s, and eventually forced the network to introduce the fantaserye genre, which turned the tables in the mid-to-late 2000s. ABS-CBN stuck to their tried and tested formula of traditional teleseryes, even though they briefly flirted with fantaseryes, and later introduced sexual, social, political, value-oriented and culture-oriented themes to their teleseryes.

By the time ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ finished its run on September 20, 2002, much of the primetime scene on weeknights, if not entirely, were dominated by teleseryes. Today, with the exception of the early evening newscasts, teleseryes are aplenty in the 5:50-11:00 p.m. window, with each episode lasting for 40-45 minutes.

Fast forward to 2015, and the remake of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ will make its way onto Primetime Bida this coming Monday. The premise is virtually similar to the original, with the love story of Yna Macaspac (Kathryn Bernardo) and Angelo Buenavista (Daniel Padilla) dominating the series along with the love triangle between Amor Powers (Jodi Sta. Maria), Claudia Buenavista (Angelica Panganiban) and Eduardo Buenavista (Ian Veneracion).

But like all recent remakes, the story of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ will be shortened, revised and compressed to today’s teleserye standards, with a timetable of at least four to eight months depending on the ratings. Still, fans of the original series cannot wait to revisit the tale that first captivated the nation in the early 2000s.

The original ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo”s place in Philippine television history has been secured. Now it’s up to the new version to make a similar impact.

The remake of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ airs this Monday after ‘Nathaniel’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

The Last Three Weeks of ‘Forevermore’; ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ Coming Up

Tonight will be the premiere of ‘Let the Love Begin’, but the Road to ‘Forevermore’ is about to get underway.

ABS-CBN announced that ‘Forevermore’, the top-rated primetime series starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, is now down to its final three weeks. The series is scheduled to end on May 22 after 158 episodes.

The announcement of its impending conclusion came soon after its thanksgiving concert, supposed to be held May 10 at Sitio Pungayan in Sto. Tomas, Benguet, was cancelled due to environmental concerns.

ABS-CBN also confirmed that the replacement of ‘Forevermore’ will be none other than the remake of the classic 2000 teleserye ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. While the teaser below gave no specific premiere date, ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ is slated to premiere on May 25, based on the timetable set on ‘Forevermore”s conclusion.

‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ was heavily hyped by the network since the end of last year. The teaser introduced viewers to the four main characters, which will be played by Kathryn Bernardo (Yna Macaspac, originally by Kristine Hermosa), Daniel Padilla (Angelo Buenavista, originally by Jericho Rosales), Jodi Sta. Maria (Amor Powers, originally by Eula Valdes) and Angelica Panganiban (Claudia Buenavista, originally by Jean Garcia).

The impending teleserye return of the KathNiel tandem should pose some concern to GMA’s debuting teleserye ‘Let the Love Begin’. Gabbi Garcia and Ruru Madrid are considered greenhorns in a lead role at this point, so it remains to be seen if their performance on the latter series will give them a boost to their budding careers.

With everything set, expect a smooth transition from the unexpectedly successful LizQuen pairing to the well-established KathNiel duo. Three weeks from now, a changing of the guard is in order on Primetime Bida’s third slot.