A New Opponent for The Better Half One Week Into Its Run

After only five episodes, ‘The Better Half’ finds itself with new competition.

The now-ongoing ABS-CBN afternoon drama series premiered last Monday against the GMA Afternoon Prime series ‘Hahamakin ang Lahat’. As it turned out, however, ‘The Better Half’ did not have enough time to warm up, as GMA announced that ‘Hahamakin ang Lahat’ would end during that week.

Nevertheless, ‘The Better Half’ premiered strongly with a 16.8% national rating, which is 3.1% higher than ‘Hahamakin ang Lahat”s 76th episode. While figures for the remainder of the week remain unavailable at the moment, it is safe to say that ‘The Better Half’ got the best of the departing ‘Hahamakin ang Lahat’.

Next up for Shaina Magdayao, Carlo Aquino, Denise Laurel and JC de Vera will be the upcoming GMA afternoon drama series ‘Legally Blind’. The series will mark the return of Janine Gutierrez to the small screen, several months after starring in the ill-fated primetime series ‘Once Again’ with Aljur Abrenica.

In ‘Legally Blind’, Grace (Janine) is an aspiring lawyer who lost her sight after she was raped by an unknown culprit. After successfully earning her stripes as a lawyer, she met Edward (Mikael Daez), a rich businessman who not only helps her in the search for justice, but also falls in love with her.

Along the way, Grace’s plans will be put to the test by people who doubt and despise her. Whether it’s her envious younger sister Charie (Lauren Young) or her ex-boyfriend Joel (Rodjun Cruz), Grace’s hopes for attaining justice will not be easy.

The series will also star Lauren Young, Marc Abaya, Rodjun Cruz, Chanda Romero, Therese Malvar, Lucho Ayala, Ashley Rivera and Camille Torres. It will be directed by Ricky Davao.

For the rest of the first quarter and deep into the second, ‘The Better Half’ and ‘Legally Blind’ will go up against each other. But for the latter, beating the former will not be easy given its potential track record after just five episodes.

That said, GMA’s brass can only hope that Janine Gutierrez will redeem herself after a so-so performance in her last series. For ‘Legally Blind’, it is all about finding the right formula for Janine to thrive on.

‘Legally Blind airs weekdays after ‘Ika-6 na Utos’ on GMA Afternoon Prime.

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KPC to Stay Despite Premiere of Temptation

‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’ will remain on GMA Telebabad for the next two weeks.

The said movie block will stay on the lineup despite the premiere of the Koreanovela ‘Temptation’. The latter, starring ‘Stairway to Heaven”s Cholo and Jodi (Kwon Sang-woo and Choi Ji-woo respectively), will air starting tonight after ‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’.

The reason behind it is that ‘That’s My Amboy”s premiere will not take place until January 25. ‘The Half-Sisters’, an ongoing Afternoon Prime series that also starred Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras, will air its final episode this Friday, and premiering ‘That’s My Amboy’ tonight would cause a conflict of interest.

Keeping ‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’ would also maintain the balance of GMA’s Telebabad lineup in check. However, this won’t help the viewers of ‘Saksi’, as they will be forced to watch the newscast at a much later time than usual.

Over the next two weeks, ‘Temptation’ will air five times a week, a rare occurrence for late primetime Koreanovelas on Telebabad. It will air Mondays to Thursdays at 10:45 p.m., after ‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’, and Fridays at 9:15 p.m., in between ‘Because of You’ and ‘Bubble Gang’.

This means that every Monday to Thursday will see ‘Temptation’ go up against both ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ and the early part of ‘Bandila’, while on Fridays, it will go up against ‘On the Wings of Love’. While they may have a chance to win from Monday to Thursday, albeit with a reduced viewership, the same probably can’t be said for Friday.

Of course, this will only take place for the next two weeks. Once ‘That’s My Amboy’ premieres, expect ‘Temptation’ to revert back to a four times a week broadcast on the late primetime slot.

With that, here is the GMA Telebabad lineup for the next two weeks.

5:45 p.m. – The Producers

6:30 p.m. – 24 Oras

7:45 p.m. – Little Nanay

8:30 p.m. – Because of You

9:15 p.m. – Kapuso Primetime Cinema (Mondays-Thursdays)/Temptation (Fridays)

10:45 p.m. – Temptation (Mondays-Thursdays)

Quite a mess for GMA Telebabad to start the year. But oh well, good luck.

In 100 Words: Encantadia to Return Soon

The original ‘Encantadia’ became a hit for GMA a decade ago, helping popularize the fantaserye genre. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

The fantaserye that briefly put GMA on top is about to return.

GMA recently announced that ‘Encantadia’ will be among the few new shows that will premiere next year. It is yet to be determined whether or not it will be reboot or a continuation of the original series.

For much of the late 2000s, ‘Encantadia’ and its sister series ‘Etheria’ and ‘Encantadia: Pag-Ibig Hanggang Wakas’ helped GMA take the lead over ABS-CBN in the ratings. But the cost of making such an elaborate series took its toll on the network’s finances.

A fourth sister series, ‘Encantadia: The Second Saga’, was supposed to premiere in 2010 but was scrapped even before production began. That said, it is still a question of if and when with regards to the latest version of ‘Encantadia’.