Alyas Robin Hood Back to Original Timeslot as Super Ma’am Premieres Tonight

The truth really hurts.

Frustration within GMA’s Telebabad block reaches a new high as they once again made a timeslot change at the top of the order. The reason: they still cannot beat the Philippines’ top two programs in ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘La Luna Sangre’.

It can be recalled that on August 14, GMA brought back ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ for its second season. Hoping to give ‘Ang Probinsyano’ a run for its money, GMA decided to place ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ opposite the long-running ABS-CBN action series while ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ was placed at the second slot against ‘La Luna Sangre’.

After only a month, it was clear to GMA that Pepe (Dingdong Dantes) was no match for Cardo (Coco Martin). And it was not even close as ‘Ang Probinsyano’ climbed 20% higher in the ratings than that of ‘Alyas Robin Hood’.

As a result, GMA decided to once again shake things up. Beginning tonight, ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ will return to its original timeslot (as intended to by this writer), where they will finally butt heads with Malia (Kathryn Bernardo) and Tristan (Daniel Padilla) of ‘La Luna Sangre’.

In the meantime, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ will receive a new opponent. After dispatching ‘MariMar’, ‘Little Nanay’, ‘Poor Señorita’, ‘Encantadia’, ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ and ‘Alyas Robin Hood’, Cardo will now have to deal with Minerva (Marian Rivera) of the upcoming GMA fantasy action series ‘Super Ma’am’.

‘Super Ma’am’ features the story of Minerva, a teacher with a soft spot for students. But an encounter with the Tamawo, a clan of mythical creatures who abduct children for the sake of gaining energy, changed Minerva’s life as she became the superhero known as Super Ma’am, one who is determined to protect the world from the Tamawo.

The cast of ‘Super Ma’am’ also includes the following:

• Helen Gamboa
• Matthias Rhoads
• Joyce Ching
• Kristoffer Martin
• Kevin Santos
• Isabelle de Leon
• Andrew Gan
• Jackie Lou Blanco
• Jillian Ward
• Enrico Cuenca
• Ash Ortega
• Marika Sasaki
• Vincent Magbanua
• Meg Imperial
• Ashley Rivera
• Jerald Napoles
• Shyr Valdez
• Al Tantay
• Julius Miguel
• Kim Domingo
• Carmina Villarroel
• Dina Bonnevie
• Aiai delas Alas

The series will be under the direction of LA Madridejos.

Despite possessing the power couple of Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes, both ‘Super Ma’am’ and ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ will have their hands full in trying to defeat ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘La Luna Sangre’. That said, the imposing shadow of both Coco Martin and KathNiel will be on GMA’s minds this week as they look to overcome Primetime Bida’s top two shows.

The task will once again not be easy for GMA Telebabad. Oh well, best of luck in hurdling over these foes anew.

Last-Minute Timeslot Change for Little Nanay

Turns out ‘Little Nanay’ won’t be facing ‘On the Wings of Love’ after all.

Instead of pitting two light-hearted dramas against each other, GMA decided at the last minute to shake up the lineup of Telebabad. ‘Little Nanay’ will now air at 7:45 p.m., while ‘MariMar’ and ‘Beautiful Strangers’ will now be bumped to later timeslots.

This means that ‘Little Nanay’ now be up against the action-oriented ‘Ang Probinsyano’, while ‘MariMar’ and ‘Beautiful Strangers’ will face ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ and ‘On the Wings of Love’ respectively. The decision came as a last resort for the network, who still couldn’t find a way to beat Coco Martin and the KathNiel and JaDine love teams.

Prior to the timeslot change, both ‘MariMar’ and ‘Beautiful Strangers’ were not faring well against ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, respectively. The most recent national ratings report shows that the two GMA teleseryes were badly blown out by their ABS-CBN counterparts.

In making the timeslot change, GMA hopes that ‘MariMar’ and ‘Beautiful Strangers’ will fare at least a bit more decently than in their previous timeslots. Then again, they are still at a disadvantage, since they are up against the two hottest love teams in the country.

As for ‘Little Nanay’, it is a bit surprising to see the light-hearted drama go up against a more action-packed series in ‘Ang Probinsyano’. Nevertheless, even though they won’t be facing ‘On the Wings of Love’, they still have a daunting task coming, since Coco Martin has been able to thrive as twins in an adaptation of a Fernando Poe, Jr. classic.

That said, rough waters still lie ahead for GMA. Even with all the changes that took place, it’s still not easy defeating the ever-superior Primetime Bida of the Kapamilya network.

Unable to Beat Kathniel and Pangako Sa ‘Yo, GMA Resorts to Its Old Reliables

‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ took its toll on GMA once again.

Fifteen years after the original series took the then-Rainbow Network by surprise, the newly-revised version of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ again proved its lasting power in the era of social media. It showed that even with new actors, new technology and a tweaked script, the results will still be the same.

For rival ‘Let the Love Begin’, it was a total disappointment. GMA tried to concoct a new and promising love team with Gabbi Garcia and Ruru Madrid, but it never clicked with the viewers at all.

Whether it’s the ‘Forevermore’ duo of Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, or ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo”s Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, the GabRu duo failed to match the chemistry and mass appeal of its rivals. And after 70 episodes by the end of Friday’s finale, their future as an on-screen duo is now in doubt.

Now GMA is going back to its old reliables in hopes of curtailing the momentum of ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’. Enter Lovi Poe and Heart Evangelista of the upcoming series ‘Beautiful Strangers’.

In ‘Beautiful Strangers’, Heart and Lovi are billed as rivals, in contrast to their off-screen friendship. Heart plays the role of a kind-hearted plastic surgeon, while Lovi portrays the role of an interior designer with a dark past.

The two lead stars will be joined by Christopher de Leon, Benjamin Alves, Rocco Nacino, Dina Bonnevie, Ayen Munji-Laurel, Renz Valerio, Kier Legaspi, Dianne Medina, Djanin Cruz, Gab de Leon, Nar Cabico, Mariel Pamintuan and Lovely Rivero. ‘Beautiful Strangers’ will be directed by Albert Langitan.

Once ‘Beautiful Strangers’ premieres this Monday, it will be the second of three new dramas that GMA will introduce on the same day, as part of a month-long overhaul of Telebabad. But it remains to be seen if the new series will pose a more interesting challenge to ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’.

One thing’s for sure: GMA still can’t make the most out of their younger talents and now resort to old-timers in hopes of gaining some relevance.

‘Beautiful Strangers’ airs starting August 10 at 8:30 p.m. after ‘Pari ‘Koy’ on GMA Telebabad.