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.

In 100 Words: ‘Pangako sa ‘Yo’ Reimagined

The teleserye that launched Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa to stardom returns with a fresh look.

Last night, a teaser for the remake of ‘Pangako sa ‘Yo’ was released during the ABS-CBN ‘Kapamilya Thank You’ trade event. This time around, the roles of Yna (Hermosa) and Angelo (Rosales) will be portrayed by Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, respectively.

In addition, Angelica Panganiban will take on Jean Garcia’s old role as Claudia Buenavista. And finally, arch-rival Amor Powers, previously played by Eula Valdes, will now be performed by Jodi Sta. Maria.

The newly-remade ‘Pangako sa ‘Yo’ is just one of several upcoming programs that will be launched on the Kapamilya network in the first half of 2015.