Kapag Nahati ang Puso: A Worthy Challenger or Another Footnote to Sana Dalawa ang Puso

This time, GMA is taking things seriously to the late-morning slot.

After failing to hit paydirt with the light romantic comedy ‘Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw’ and the light musical drama ‘My Guitar Princess’, GMA decided to go with a much heavier approach. The new series, ‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’, is uncharacteristic for a late-morning drama in which the story is more serious and emotional.

Coincidentally, ‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’ will star Bea Binene, who will once again encounter the faces of ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’ in Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap. The last time JoChard and Bea faced each other was in 2012, when the former’s ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ sent the latter’s ‘Cielo de Angelina’ packing after only a few weeks.

And much like their previous encounter, JoChard’s light-heartedness (with some sprinkling of Robin Padilla in between) will clash with Bea’s serious and dramatic demeanor. So how will this latest installment play out?

But back to ‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’ in general. In the series, Bea plays Claire, a young woman who grew up without any memory of her parents.

Her biological mother is Rio (Sunshine Cruz), a simple island beauty who soon falls in love with Nico (Zoren Legaspi), a rich and happy-go-lucky tourist from Manila. However, Nico’s ex-girlfriend Miranda (Bing Loyzaga) thwarted their relationship, causing Rio to lose her family and leaving Nico to take care of Claire.

When Rio later returns to the Philippines a successful woman, she and Claire cross paths not knowing that the latter was the former’s mother. Both would end up falling in love with Joaquin (Benjamin Alves), and along with a jealous Miranda, will soon threaten to destroy both of their lives.

Also part of ‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’ are David Licauco, Raquel Villavicencio, Robert Ortega, Sharmaine Santiago, Geleen Eugenio, Nar Cabico and Freddie Webb in a special participation. The series is directed by Gil Tejada Jr.

Considering the streak of good fortune for ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’, GMA will once again be hard-pressed to give this series a run for its money. That said, the network can only hope that ‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’ will not turn into yet another 35 or 50-episode bust of its predecessors and instead become a decent 80-episode series that viewers will always talk about.

‘Kapag Nahati ang Puso’ airs weekdays before ‘Eat Bulaga’ on GMA.

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GMA’s New Rival to Sana Dalawa ang Puso Premieres Monday

GMA has a new series coming up to counter ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’.

After over a month of staying away from the dreaded love team that is Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap (with some sprinkling of Robin Padilla in between), GMA will once again look to defeat the popular tandem. This time, however, they will not have the benefit of TAPE Inc. as a blocktimer and production partner.

Instead, the new series ‘Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw’ will be self-produced by the network, the first time they have done that in a pre-noontime show since ‘Cielo de Angelina’ in 2012. But unlike the latter which is more of a tear-jerker, ‘Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw’ will be done in the same way as ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’: a romantic comedy.

‘Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw’ will be headlined by Camille Prats, Neil Ryan Sese, Ayra Mariano and Bruno Gabriel. Camille (as Ginny) and Neil (as Lance) are single parents still attached to their past, but with some common ground between them (e.g. living in the same condo, enjoy the same brand of coffee), it seems like a relationship is about to bloom.

Their lives will also intertwine with that of their children. Ginny’s daughter Marione (Ayra) and Lance’s son Benjie (Bruno) are also on the verge of falling in love, but it remains to be seen if either or both of their relationships will flourish.

GMA is no stranger to morning romantic series, having aired ‘With a Smile’ and ‘Dangwa’ in years past. Unfortunately, the presence of TAPE’s pre-noontime shows prevented GMA from seriously challenging ABS-CBN’s popular late-morning dramas, which led to both shows’ failure to make an impact.

The curse of ‘JoChard’ has become a long-standing dilemma for GMA ever since ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ premiered in 2012. That said, GMA can only hope for the best with ‘Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw’, as this could be their last-ditch attempt to overcome the problem.

If they fail on this objective, it will not be a surprise to see the network return to a pupal state and fill the airtime with ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’. It is either all-out or stay out as far as GMA is concerned.

Directed by Tata Betita and Jojo Nones, ‘Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw’ airs weekdays before ‘Eat Bulaga’ on GMA.

GMA Tries Another Weekday Morning Drama with Dangwa

Seems like GMA hasn’t learned anything from past failures.

After a two-year absence, GMA decided to pursue another local weekday drama series in the morning. They called upon Janine Gutierrez to star as the mysterious ‘Dangwa Girl’, in the series known simply as ‘Dangwa’.

Mystery shrouded the streets of Manila earlier this month when university belt students posted photos and videos of a girl giving out roses to various strangers in social media. The mysterious encounter quickly became viral on social media, and eventually, the then-unknown ‘Dangwa Girl’ was revealed to as Janine Gutierrez.

‘Dangwa’ will feature the story of Rosa, a beautiful flower vendor who would change the lives of men who bought flowers from her. While the story of Rosa will be the focus of the series, a new love story between two individuals will be featured each week, all of which begin with a chance encounter with Rosa herself.

As for Rosa, she will also have a love story of her own. Two men named Baste (Mark Herras) and Lorenzo (Aljur Abrenica) would gain the attention of Rosa’s heart, but as they discovered, she is something else to behold.

The first week of ‘Dangwa’ will also star Barbie Forteza and Ruru Madrid. This will be followed by starring roles from Carla Abellana and Rafael Rosell, Rhian Ramos and Geoff Eigenmann, Bianca Umali and Miguel Tanfelix, and Pauleen Luna and Gerald Napoles.

‘Dangwa’ will be the latest series produced by the GMA Public Affairs group. But as everyone learned, the involvement of GMA Public Affairs in the series is simply a way to bail out an Entertainment department that has not had success in recent years.

There is also a question about the series’ viability in the morning. Considering that the last two GMA morning dramas (‘Cielo de Angelina’, ‘With a Smile’) were ratings failures, a very tough task awaits ‘Dangwa’ in their hopes of reversing a recent trend.

That said, it will be interesting to see if ‘Dangwa’ lives up to the hype. After the success of the viral posts, the series now hopes to turn them into good, if not impressive ratings.

‘Dangwa’ premieres this Monday at 11:00 a.m. on GMA.

Be Careful’s Rivals Revisited (Part III)

Since debuting in April 2013, ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ gave ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ an even tougher challenge. (Photo credit: Eat Bulaga official Twitter)

‘Be Careful with My Heart’, ABS-CBN’s long-running ‘kiligserye’ series, ends this Friday, November 28. As a tribute to its unexpected success and longevity, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful”s rivals and their performance against the said late morning drama series.

After vanquishing rivals ‘Kusina Master’ and ‘Cielo de Angelina’, it seems like no one can stop the reign of ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ in the late-morning slot.

And for much of February and March 2013, it appeared that GMA has already given up facing ‘Be Careful’, as old movies via the ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’ took over the timeslot opposite the aforementioned ‘kilig-serye’.

But on April 1, an episode of ‘Eat Bulaga’ gave GMA some glimmer of hope.

On that episode, host Vic Sotto gave child star Ryzza Mae Dizon a memorable and extremely special gift. That reward came in the form of a microphone and a new show called ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’.

A week later, then seven-year-old Ryzza and her eponymous talk show would make its much-awaited debut on the Kapuso network, opposite none other than ‘Be Careful with My Heart’.

As expected, the pilot episode of ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ had a shaky start, posting ratings of 11.7 and 17.5% according to Kantar and AGB Nielsen, respectively. On the other hand, ‘Be Careful’ posted numbers of 24.4 and 23.4%.

Despite the slow start, it was clear that ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ was holding its own against ‘Be Careful with My Heart’. Even though ratings of 10% or better remain a regular occurrence, the show was able to last longer than either ‘Kusina Master’ or ‘Cielo de Angelina’, simply because GMA and producer TAPE, Inc. kept its faith on Ryzza and her growing talents.

With ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ providing a tougher-than-expected challenge, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ tried to find new ways to increase their ratings. In November 2013, the wedding of Maya (Jodi Sta. Maria) and Ser Chief (Richard Yap) gave ‘Be Careful’ an impressive 27.2% rating, but the show’s ratings soon declined below 20% as audiences grew tired of its slow and dragging storyline.

While ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ was unable to beat ‘Be Careful with My Heart’, it did give the latter fits. The fact that viewers grew uninterested on the latter may have provided a bit of a spark on the former, as evidenced by the shrinking gap in the ratings of both programs.

Having said that, it was a big achievement for ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ to last over a year. The talk show may have not been victorious, but at least it gave audiences a new reason to watch.

As for ‘Be Careful with My Heart’, the two-year ride ends this Friday. With that, From the Tube wishes the show the best of luck.

‘Give Love on Christmas’, a three-week Christmas special, premieres on December 1 on the soon-to-be vacated timeslot of ‘Be Careful with My Heart’.

Be Careful’s Rivals Revisited (Part II)

In October 2012, GMA responded to ‘Be Careful with My Heart”s success with ‘Cielo de Angelina’, but it failed to even make a dent in the ratings. (Title card courtesy of GMA Network)

‘Be Careful with My Heart’, ABS-CBN’s long-running ‘kiligserye’ series, ends this Friday, November 28. As a tribute to its unexpected success and longevity, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful”s rivals and their performance against the said late morning drama series.

In just its third month on the air, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ emerged as the most-watched morning program in the Philippines, with consistent ratings of over 20%. The surprising success of the series left rival GMA, in particular ‘Be Careful”s then-opponent ‘Kusina Master’, stunned.

As a result, GMA decided to counter with a morning drama of their own. Their response came in the form of a drama series starring emerging teen stars Bea Binene and Jake Vargas.

That series became known as ‘Cielo de Angelina’, and it made its debut on October 22, 2012.

On its pilot episode, ‘Cielo de Angelina’ registered a decent 10.2 and 11.8%, according to Kantar and AGB Nielsen, respectively. On the other hand, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ earned monster ratings of 23.1 and 22.9%.

From the beginning, it was clear that ‘Cielo de Angelina’ would be no match for ‘Be Careful with My Heart. Soon after, single-digit ratings became a regular occurrence for the former, and by November 12, GMA has had enough.

After registering paltry ratings of 8 and 8.8% on the November 9 episode, GMA decided to demote ‘Cielo de Angelina’ to an earlier timeslot in favor of ‘Kusina Master’. However, the change of schedule failed to turn the tide for the struggling show, thanks in large part to the entry of ‘Masterchef Pinoy Edition’.

With ‘Cielo de Angelina”s struggles taking its toll on GMA’s morale, the Kapuso network decided to pull the plug, and on January 4, 2013, the series was finally cancelled.

In fairness to the Kapuso network, ‘Cielo de Angelina’ was not a bad attempt, in a way that it further exposes Bea Binene and Jake Vargas to a more serious type of acting. But it was a series that GMA should have never done in the morning slot, not against a more light-hearted ‘Be Careful with My Heart’.

Meanwhile, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ continued to dominate its timeslot, leading to another demotion on the part of ‘Kusina Master’. After that, from February 18 to April 5, the series would find itself without an opponent, as GMA aired old movies via its ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’ block.

It didn’t take long for GMA to find another rival for ‘Be Careful with My Heart’. This time around, they enlisted the help of TAPE, Inc. boss Malou Choa-Fagar in creating their latest late-morning program, one that is unlike any other in television history.

Tomorrow on Part III, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful with My Heart”s final, and by far its most formidable rival, ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’.

Be Careful’s Rivals Revisited (Part I)

‘Be Careful with My Heart’ easily overwhelmed ‘Kusina Master’, hosted by Chef Boy Logro (above), during its first few months on the air. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

‘Be Careful with My Heart’, ABS-CBN’s long-running ‘kiligserye’ series, ends this Friday, November 28. As a tribute to its unexpected success and longevity, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful”s rivals and their performance against the said late morning drama series.

On July 9, 2012, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ debuted on ABS-CBN’s late-morning slot. The then-debuting series introduced viewers to the characters Maya and Ser Chief, portrayed by Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap, respectively.

In its maiden episode, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ registered ratings of 14.1 and 15.2%, according to AGB Nielsen and Kantar figures, respectively. The series defeated its first rival, the then-dominant GMA cooking series ‘Kusina Master’ of host Chef Boy Logro, who ended up with paltry ratings of 13.5 and 8.8%, respectively.

Soon after, ‘Be Careful’ began to overwhelm the once-confident ‘Kusina Master’, and by October 22, the latter show had been demoted to an earlier timeslot, in favor of ‘Cielo de Angelina’. At this point, ratings of 20% or better were a regular occurrence for ‘Be Careful’.

However, on November 12, ‘Kusina Master’ returned to its original 11:30 a.m. timeslot, thus facing ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ for the second time. But it bombed even further in the ratings, and on February 18, 2013, it was moved back to the 10:00 a.m. timeslot, this time for good.

Make no mistake, ‘Kusina Master’ had been a force to be reckoned with prior to the entry of ‘Be Careful with My Heart’. Chef Boy Logro’s unorthodox and fast-paced cooking style were a hit with audiences, and his ability to interact and entertain with the viewers helped him become a household name.

But once ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ entered, it was all downhill for ‘Kusina Master’, to the point that it was demoted again to an earlier timeslot, and then reformatted in the final year of its run. Still, the show was fortunate to have lasted over two years, thanks to its loyal viewers who kept the show alive.

‘Kusina Master’ was cancelled on May 9, 2014, and was replaced by ‘Basta Every Day Happy’.

Tomorrow on Part II, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful with My Heart”s next rival, ‘Cielo de Angelina’.