Precious Hearts Revival Series Continues with Los Bastardos

From ‘Araw Gabi’ to ‘Los Bastardos’.

On Monday, the revived ‘Precious Hearts Romances’ series will continue with a second pocketbook adaptation in ‘Los Bastardos’. And much like its predecessor ‘Araw Gabi’, ‘Los Bastardos’ will showcase mature and sensual themes that is typical of the ‘Precious Hearts Romances’ franchise.

‘Araw Gabi’, which starred JM de Guzman, Barbie Imperial, Phoebe Walker, Jane Oineza, Vina Morales, Rita Avila, and Raymond Bagatsing among others, premiered on April 30 and will air its 119th and final episode later today. The series enjoyed a decent run with an average of around 15% in the ratings.

‘Araw Gabi”s satisfactory performance prompted ABS-CBN to continue with the ‘Precious Hearts Romances’ adaptations. This time, five of the Kapamilya network’s male heartthrobs will grace the small screen with ‘Los Bastardos’.

‘Los Bastardos’ will be led by Jake Cuenca, Diego Loyzaga, Marco Gumabao, Albie Casiño, and Joshua Colet, who will play five brothers born and raised by one father (Ronaldo Valdez) and five different women who fell in love with him. The series will look at how these five half-brothers discover their origins and fight for the right and power of his family.

Based on the Precious Hearts Romances pocketbook ‘Cardinal Bastards’, ‘Los Bastardos’ tells the story of Don Roman (Ronaldo), a rich man who lived a happy life with a small family. But a severe tragedy forces him to make love with four different woman which will bear him four different sons to go along with a fifth from his own family.

The five brothers are Isagani (Jake), his long-lost son from his first love; Joaquin (Diego), the only son who will grow up under his care; Marco (Matteo), who will grow up alongside Don Roman’s rival family; Connor (Joshua), a conman hellbent on destroying Don Ramon’s wealth; and Lucas (Albie), who grows up not knowing about the man he serves is his own father.

Also part of ‘Los Bastardos’ are Marijoy Apostol, Mica Javier, Jane Oineza, Maxine Medina, Ritz Azul, and Kylie Verzosa. Completing the supporting cast are Perla Bautista, Ana Abad Santos, Joyce Ann Burton, Pinky Amador, Jeffrey Santos, Isabel Rivas, Lito Pimentel, Rosanna Roces and Bert Reyes.

For what it’s worth, ‘Los Bastardos’ will have its hands full following up the success of ‘Araw Gabi’. But if there is any indication about Kapamilya Gold’s recent streak of good fortune, expect this series to do just fine.

‘Los Bastardos’ airs weekdays after ‘Kadenang Ginto’ on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold.

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Bouncing Back: Julia Montes Returns in Asintado

ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold badly needs a boost.

For months, the block has struggled against a resurgent GMA Afternoon Prime. It was clear that Kapamilya Gold has gone stale with a repetitive ‘kabitserye’ formula, and as a result, viewers tuned away in favor of series that had campy scenes (‘Ika-6 na Utos’), one actress playing two contrasting personalities (‘Impostora’), and allusions to the supernatural (‘Haplos’).

This Monday, Kapamilya Gold will try to return to relevance with a familiar face and a new attitude. Enter ‘Asintado’, the newest afternoon series starring daytime drama’s undisputed queen in Julia Montes.

In ‘Asintado’, Julia is Ana, a member of a rescue team who looks to make her adoptive family proud. After saving Gael (Paulo Avelino) from a mining accident, she became his personal nurse and eventually fell in love with each other.

But just as their relationship blooms, Gael’s ex-girlfriend Samantha (Shaina Magdayao) returns to try to win back his heart, even if it means killing Ana. Fortunately, Ana was saved by Xander (Aljur Abrenica), only to find out later on that Gael and Samantha are about to get married.

Just as Ana is plotting her revenge, she finds out that Samantha was her long-lost sister. Samantha, as it turned out, was lost in the fire that killed their parents.

The search for love and justice in ‘Asintado’ will also involve a veteran supporting cast consisting of Lorna Tolentino, Cherry Pie Picache, Lito Pimentel, Agot Isidro, and Nonie Buencamino. The series will be directed by Onat Diaz and Lino Cayetano.

If Julia’s previous series ‘Doble Kara’ helped Kapamilya Gold reclaim the ratings lead from Afternoon Prime, then ABS-CBN should look for ‘Asintado’ to do the same. Still, the series will be up against a formidable foe in ‘Impostora’, and battling a tested star in Kris Bernal will not be a walk in the park.

But considering Julia Montes’ star power, facing such an obstacle is no big deal. That said, it will be up to her to lead Kapamilya Gold back to where it wants to be.

‘Asintado’ airs weekdays after ‘It’s Showtime’ on ABS-CBN.

Struggling JaDine Demoted; Magpahanggang Wakas to Face Alyas Robin Hood

Two weeks in, and ‘Till I Met You’ is not living up to expectations.

Even though it is the third most-watched show in Kantar’s national ratings, ‘Till I Met You’ is only averaging 26% through its first eight episodes. This was a far cry from the consistent 30% or better marks enjoyed by KathNiel’s ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, and LizQuen’s ‘Forevermore’ and ‘Dolce Amore’.

To make matters worse, the GMA Koreanovela ‘Descendants of the Sun’ closed the gap to within 3% as it airs its final few episodes. With the controversial series ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ nearing its premiere, it is clear that JaDine is in real trouble.

Thus, ABS-CBN decided to demote ‘Till I Met You’ to the third slot in hopes of giving JaDine less pressure to succeed. Though the duo is used to the slot during the time of ‘On the Wings of Love’, it is an entirely different story since the demotion clearly affected the morale of not only JaDine, but also their fans.

With the move of ‘Till I Met You’ to the third slot, it will now be a battle of two debuting series starting this Monday. Going toe-to-toe with ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ will be ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’, the new Kapamilya series starring Jericho Rosales, Arci Muñoz, and John Estrada.

In ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’, Jericho (as Waldo) and Arci (as Aryann) will play two young lovers who were tightly connected to one another. However, Waldo was accused of a crime that was accidental, and after his release, he appeared to have been murdered by the brother of Aryann’s would-be rapist.

Soon after, Aryann moved on and found a new love interest in Tristan (John). But after realizing that Waldo is alive, a series of complicated events begin to take place between the three.

‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ will also star Gelli De Belen, Rita Avila, Danita Paner, Liza Lorena, Lito Pimentel, Justin Cuyugan, Marco Gumabao, Maika Rivera, and Jomari Angeles. It will be directed by FM Reyes.

It will be interesting to see how the unexpected move to the second slot will affect ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’. The fact that it is a mature and sexually-charged series may not be worth a shot, considering the recent tradition of the second slot that involves young love teams.

Then again, as proven by ‘Pasion de Amor’ when it was slotted to the early evening slot, it will not be a hindrance. Still, ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ will have its hands full as they face the ever-motivated ‘Alyas Robin Hood’.

‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ airs weeknights after ‘Ang Probinsyano’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

Tubig at Langis Premieres Today

Zanjoe Marudo and Cristine Reyes are back together, on-screen that is.

Their newest project, ‘Tubig at Langis’, will mark the most serious project for the pair. Airing later today on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold, the new series will feature a plot that would test not only the limits of marriage, but also devotion to family and loved ones.

In ‘Tubig at Langis’, Irene (Cristine) was a young woman and a family breadwinner, having been abandoned by her mother as a child. At first, she fell in love with Jaime (Victor Silayan), only to find out that he had already been married to another woman.

A few years later, Irene’s childhood friend Natoy (Zanjoe) returned, and the two fell in love and eventually got married. Unknown to Irene, Natoy soon met and fell in love with Clara (Isabelle Daza), after which things became complicated between the three of them.

‘Tubig at Langis’ also stars Vivian Velez, Lito Pimentel, Nadia Montenegro, Marco Gumabao, Ingrid Dela Paz, Dionne Monsanto, Archie Alemania, and Miguel Vergara. It will be directed by FM Reyes, and produced by the drama unit of Ruel S. Bayani.

The new series will take over the timeslot of ‘All of Me’, whose finale aired last Friday. By all accounts, ‘Tubig at Langis’ should perform respectably like its predecessor, considering the recent streak of good fortune for Kapamilya Gold.

Still, with Cristine Reyes’ marriage to Ali Khatibi taking place days before the series premiere, ‘Tubig at Langis’ may only end up as a short-run series. ABS-CBN can only hope that ‘Tubig at Langis’ can last as long as their creative staff desires, and that Cristine Reyes can stick around while adjusting to life as a married mother.

‘Tubig at Langis’ airs weekdays after ‘Doble Kara’ on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold.