So Long, Throwback Asianovelas (For Now)

Throwback Asianovelas are taking a bow, at least for now.

ABS-CBN’s ‘Lovers in Paris’ and GMA’s ‘Jewel in the Palace’ will air their final episodes later today. The two Asianovelas were re-aired as part of the 10th anniversary of the genre’s Philippine television debut.

‘Lovers in Paris’ was the second Asianovela to re-air on the Kapamilya network this year, after ‘Meteor Garden’. The love story between Carlo (Park Shin-Yang) and Vivian (Kim Jung-Eun) became a huge hit when it first aired, and it even received an equally successful local adaptation starring Piolo Pascual and KC Concepcion.

The re-run of the original ‘Lovers in Paris’ became a decent hit on ABS-CBN’s ‘Umaganda’ slot, despite the fact that the early morning block receives fewer viewers than ABS-CBN’s other programming blocks.

Meanwhile, ‘Jewel in the Palace’ re-aired on GMA in order to respond to the successful re-run of ‘Meteor Garden’. The tale of a medieval Korean physician named Jang Geum (Lee Young-Ae) became GMA’s first true hit Asianovela, and it helped viewers forget about the commercial failure of ‘My MVP Valentine’.

‘Jewel in the Palace’ also fared decently well on GMA’s ‘Afternoon Prime’ slot, even though it was matched up against ABS-CBN’s own hit Koreanovelas ‘The Heirs’ and ‘My Girl’.

Nevertheless, it became clear to both networks that neither ‘Lovers in Paris’ nor ‘Jewel in the Palace’ will equal, if not surpass, the impact that ‘Meteor Garden’ has had to the Asianovela craze. The F4-starred Asianovela remains a benchmark for other Asianovelas to come, and if there is one thing that both networks learned, it is that no one will ever top ‘Meteor Garden’ as the greatest Asianovela ever aired on Philippine television.

Right now, both networks will focus on their newest Asianovelas. But for the fans of these classic Asianovelas, it was fun while it lasted.

Asianovela Nostalgia Continues with Lovers in Paris

‘Lovers in Paris’, the original Korean series, will re-air beginning in late June on ABS-CBN.

First there was ‘Meteor Garden’ on ABS-CBN. Then came ‘Jewel in the Palace’ on GMA. And now the Kapamilya network is bringing back another classic Asianovela, in what has become a seemingly endless exchange for both networks.

It was announced earlier this week that ABS-CBN will bring back the original Korean version of ‘Lovers in Paris’. The series, considered as the first Koreanovela aired in the country, was a huge hit with viewers when it first aired in 2005. Its success would later translate to an equally popular Filipino adaptation, starring KC Concepcion and Piolo Pascual, which aired in 2009.

The popularity of ‘Lovers in Paris’ also led to a response from the Kapuso network. Their answer was ‘Jewel in the Palace’, which also became a huge hit in the same year, and is currently re-aired in the late weekday afternoons.

As the title suggests, ‘Lovers in Paris’ is a story of a businessman named Carlo (Park Shin-Yang) who fell in love to a film student/housekeeper named Vivian (Kim Jung-Eun) in the French capital of Paris. The couple’s relationship would blossom, but not without some challenges to overcome.

‘Lovers in Paris’ is expected to premiere around late June, and is likely to replace the Lee Min-Ho starrer ‘The Heirs’ in the late afternoon slot.

For nostalgic Koreanovela fans, this is another classic series to watch and reminisce. ‘Lovers in Paris’ proved to be a big hit the first time around, so a lot is expected for the show once it airs again this month. But then again, ABS-CBN has been strong in the ratings game, so there is no doubt that the encore presentation of ‘Lovers in Paris’ will become a hit again.