GMA’s Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko Looks to Make Saturdays Relevant Anew

As stubborn as they come.

Even in a losing cause GMA continues to defy the norm. Their insistence comes in the form of one afternoon drama that airs from Monday to Saturday.

Initially they only used this formula for ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, by far their most successful afternoon drama in the recent past. But later dramas such as ‘Contessa’ and ‘Ika-5 Utos’ proved to be flukes as neither show was able to keep viewers tuned in six times a week.

And after only 36 episodes, GMA demoted ‘Ika-5 Utos’ to a later timeslot to make way for yet another ‘kabitserye’. As far as the new series ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ is concerned, there is no need to explain, not even the story itself.

(Spoiler alert: one of the lead characters is a gay man who underwent sexual reassignment surgery ala Jake Zyrus to become a woman)

For those who still want to check in on the plot, just click this link. Enough said.

Anyway, ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ will be led by Kris Bernal, Rayver Cruz, Thea Tolentino and Jason Abalos. The supporting cast will include Lotlot de Leon, Devon Seron, Annalyn Barro, Caprice Cayetano, Jean Saburit, Ricardo Cepeda, Maricris Garcia, Matthias Rhoads, and Phil Noble.

While ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ has some recognizable names and an intriguing yet familiar storyline, the challenge now for the show is its ability to keep viewers glued to their seats from Monday to Saturday. Considering its opponent is ‘It’s Showtime’, it is not going to be an easy task, especially on Saturdays.

That said, GMA can only hope that ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ will give Vice Ganda and company a lot more than they can chew. If not, then it will not be a surprise to see GMA demote this series and try a new strategy every Saturday.

Directed by Mark Sicat dela Cruz, ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ airs every Monday to Saturday after ‘Eat Bulaga’ on GMA.

Advertisement

Can AlDub Rule Primetime with Destined to Be Yours?

Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza’s biggest test lies ahead.

After spending over a year captivating viewers with their spontaneous ‘kilig’ and acting skills on ‘Eat Bulaga”s Kalyeserye, the popular love team now moves over to primetime for a new challenge. As a reward to their enduring success, GMA and APT Entertainment gave Alden and Maine a new project in hopes of conquering a new audience.

Enter ‘Destined to Be Yours’, the upcoming drama series which will air later tonight on GMA Telebabad. It will be Alden’s first lead primetime series since the ill-fated mini-drama ‘Ilustrado’, while it will be the first for the still-relative newcomer Maine.

In ‘Destined to Be Yours’, Benjie (Alden) is an up-and-coming architect who spearheads a construction project in the mountainous area of Pelangi. As fate would have it, he meets Sinag (Maine), a radio jock in the province, and the two soon fell in love with each other.

However, their philosophical differences would soon get in the way of their relationship. That said, it will be up to them to sort their issues and find true love within their hearts.

‘Destined to Be Yours’ will also star Janice de Belen, Boots Anson Roa, Lotlot de Leon, Gardo Versoza, Tommy Abuel, ina Feleo, Ronnie Henares, Sheena Halili, Dominic Roco, Juancho Trivino, RJ Padilla, and Koreen Medina. It will be directed by Irene Villamor.

While Alden and Maine have established themselves as a love team to be reckoned with, conquering primetime will not be easy for the two. The dominance of ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida, in particular, has taken its toll on GMA Telebabad, and for the network, giving AlDub a teleserye of their own could be the block’s last chance at survival.

It will also be interesting to see if AlDub on primetime can win over netizens on social media. Considering how highly successful ABS-CBN is in drawing millions of tweets for their shows, GMA will definitely have their hands full trying to make an impact online with AlDub’s newest series.

As AlDub takes over GMA Telebabad, it remains to be seen if their overwhelming success on noontime will translate over to primetime. With high expectations mounting, GMA can only hope that Alden and Maine will deliver and reverse course for the seemingly moribund Telebabad block.

‘Destined to Be Yours’ airs weeknights after ‘Encantadia’ on GMA Telebabad.

Conan, My Beautician Premieres Sunday

Meet Mark Herras in drag.

Beginning this Sunday, Mark will topbill GMA’s newest comedy series ‘Conan, My Beautician’. This series will feature Mark in a role that he has never played before: that of a gay man.

In ‘Conan, My Beautician’, Mark will play Conan, a straight man who is the most talented yet desperate beautician at Salon Paz. But in order to accept the job, he has to pretend that he is gay; after all, he needs the money for the sake of his sick mother and family, who were banished from their hometown by Chika La Chaka (Cacai Bautista).

Along the way, he met and fell in love with Ava (Megan Young), whom he worked along in a make-up gig. But as the story goes on, his fellow beauticians seem to notice that Conan may not be gay at all.

‘Conan, My Beautician’ will also star Jerald Napoles, Betong Sumaya, Boobsie, Tetay, Lotlot de Leon, Jay Manalo, Balang, Chlaui Malayao, Vangie Labalan and Antonette Garcia. It will be co-directed by Adolf Alix and Rember Gelera.

Continuing the recent trend of Sunday afternoon comedy series that was first seen on ‘Juan Tamad’, a lot is expected on ‘Conan, My Beautician’. Still, winning its timeslot will be a daunting task, considering that ABS-CBN’s ‘Family Feud’ remains the most-watched show nationally every late Sunday afternoon.

Nevertheless, expect the series to pull all the stops. Playing a man dressed in drag is a great challenge for Mark Herras, and if the viewers find it awesome and funny, that should help spike ‘Conan, My Beautician”s performance.

‘Conan, My Beautician’ airs every Sunday at 5:00 p.m. on GMA.

Juan Happy Love Story Debuts Tonight, To Face The Story of Us

GMA continues to have fun with romantic comedies.

Their latest, ‘Juan Happy Love Story’, takes it even further with the addition of a more daring and naughty approach. Premiering tonight on GMA Telebabad, the series stars Dennis Trillo and Heart Evangelista as two lovers with differing views in both romance and life.

In ‘Juan Happy Love Story’, Juan (Dennis), a responsible businessman and a ‘chick boy’, and Happy (Heart), a feisty family-oriented woman who relied on signs to find her true love, were two individuals with contrasting perspectives. Still, they fell in love and tied the knot, but unfortunately, they cannot bear a child of their own.

Instead, they found a bubbly six-year-old orphan named Katkat (Leanne Bautista), but marital problems intervened and they separated. Nevertheless, Happy allowed Juan to live with her in hopes of legally adopting Katkat, however, their relationship was put to the test with the entry of Bob (Joross Gamboa) and Agatha (Kim Domingo).

Bob, a childhood friend of Happy, and Agatha, a business partner of Juan, attempted to court the two individually. With their relationship in doubt, it is up to Juan and Happy to put their differences aside and reconcile anew, hoping to finally live a normal life with their adopted daughter.

Joining the extended cast of ‘Juan Happy Love Story’ are Gloria Romero, Nick Lizaso, Gardo Versoza, Lotlot de Leon, Erika Padilla, Dominic Roco, Vincent Magbanua, Rob Moya, Arianne Bautista, Koreen Medina, and Vince Gamad. The series is directed by Lord Alvin Madridejos.

‘Juan Happy Love Story’ should have an uphill battle to begin with. Its opponent, ABS-CBN’s ‘The Story of Us’, has been on a roll, and with the love team of Kim Chiu and Xian Lim already well-established to the viewing public, it’s going to be a daunting task for both Dennis Trillo and Heart Evangelista to find a niche early on.

This is a light-hearted romantic series that GMA cannot afford to lose. After failing to hit paydirt with ‘Because of You’ and ‘That’s My Amboy’, their last ray of hope now rests on ‘Juan Happy Love Story’, whose success will depend on how viewers will welcome this new mix of comedy and raunchiness.

‘Juan Happy Love Story’ airs weeknights at 9:15 p.m. after ‘Once Again’ on GMA Telebabad.

My Mother’s Secret Meets Its Painful Demise

The plug has finally been pulled from ‘My Mother’s Secret’.

GMA has announced that the early evening teleserye will be down to its final two weeks. This means that the series finale of ‘My Mother’s Secret’ will air on Friday, July 31.

‘My Mother’s Secret’ starred Gwen Zamora, Christian Bautista, Lotlot de Leon, Meryll Soriano and Kim Rodriguez. It was directed by Neal del Rosario.

The series premiered on May 25 with little fanfare. It was unexpected and hastily created to begin with, since GMA did not seriously hype ‘My Mother’s Secret’ in the weeks prior to its premiere.

As expected, the series was no match for the opponent in the ratings. ‘My Mother’s Secret’ lost badly to ‘Inday Bote’ in its opening week, but the series slumped even further once ‘Pasion de Amor’ entered the fray.

‘Pasion de Amor’, the local adaptation of ‘Pasion de Gavilantes’, became a surprise hit for ABS-CBN despite its sexually-charged theme and unlikely placement in the early evening slot. The Kapamilya series’ average rating of over 20% (based on Kantar Media) became a cause of concern to ‘My Mother’s Secret’.

It also didn’t help that ‘My Mother’s Secret’ can only muster single-digit ratings in most episodes. When it became clear that the series would be more of a hindrance to the primetime lineup, GMA decided to act accordingly.

Thus, after only 50 episodes (short of the typical 80 episodes of a modern teleserye), ‘My Mother’s Secret’ will officially take a bow after its final episode on July 31. The series did not deserve a second chance after all, with poor ratings the motive behind its demise.

The cancellation of ‘My Mother’s Secret’ is only the beginning for GMA Telebabad, though. Over the next few weeks, ‘Pari ‘Koy’, ‘Let the Love Begin’ and ‘The Rich Man’s Daughter’ will also be replaced, marking a month-long turnover for the embattled primetime block.

More on that in a future article.

My Mother’s Secret to Face Two Kapamilya Teleseryes in First Two Weeks

For the first time since ‘My BFF’, a local teleserye will kick off GMA Telebabad.

On Monday, May 25, ‘My Mother’s Secret’ will take over the slot that will be vacated by ‘My Love from the Star’ later tonight. This will mark the end of an eight-month lull for a lengthy local teleserye at the said slot, after GMA experimented with a pair of mini-series and a trio of Koreanovelas.

Directed by Neal del Rosario, ‘My Mother’s Secret’ will tell the story of an actress who is secretly pregnant, after which she sold her child in order to continue her showbiz career. A controversial scandal forced her to leave the industry and begin a family with her one-time boyfriend, but a liver problem threatened her husband’s life, and she was forced to find the child she once sold in order to help her husband.

Gwen Zamora, Christian Bautista and Kim Rodriguez will breathe life into the three primary characters of ‘My Mother’s Secret’. Kiko Estrada, Lotlot de Leon, Diva Montelaba, Shamaine Buencamino, Enzo Pineda, Joanna Marie Tan and Tricia Cabais will play supporting roles, while Meryll Soriano and Mark Herras will also appear in a special participation.

As mentioned earlier, ‘My Mother’s Secret’ will be the first local teleserye to kick off Telebabad since ‘My BFF’, which ran from June to October 2014 (‘Seasons of Love’ and ‘Elemento’ were only aired as a mini-series, and not as full-fledged teleseryes). Coincidentally, both series replaced ‘My Love from the Star’ on the same timeslot.

The first two weeks of ‘My Mother’s Secret’ will air against the finale week of ‘Inday Bote’ and the premiere week of ‘Pasion de Amor’. That said, the series will have its work cut out for them as they go up against two ABS-CBN teleseryes in as many weeks.

Once again, GMA goes to a local drama to begin Telebabad. But will it make a difference? Find out next week.

‘My Mother’s Secret’ premieres this Monday before ’24 Oras’ on GMA Telebabad.