Goin’ Bulilit’s Real Archrival, Eleven Years After

Remember ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’?

For those who have grown up watching ‘Bubble Gang’ for the past 21 years, some may not remember this short-lived spinoff. Yes, ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ was GMA’s own attempt to counter ABS-CBN”s ‘Goin’ Bulilit’, using their own child stars in hopes of replicating the same formula that made its parent show a success.

‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ first premiered on May 8, 2005, four months after ‘Goin’ Bulilit’ took off. The notable cast members of the show include BJ ‘Tolits’ Forbes, Ella Guevara, Miguel Tanfelix, Sam Bumatay, Empress Schuck and Joyce Ching.

The show was essentially an introduction to several ‘StarStruck Kids’ alumni, as it was one of their first projects following the conclusion of the reality series. It also introduced viewers to BJ ‘Tolits’ Forbes, whose claim to fame at the time was on a Tide commercial.

While ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ showed some promise, it failed to make an impact against the well-established ‘Goin’ Bulilit’. The fact that the spinoff was hastily created from the start contributed to its short run, and as a result, GMA cancelled ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ following its final episode on August 7, 2005.

Overall, ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ lasted only 14 episodes. On the contrary, ‘Goin’ Bulilit’ has aired over 550 episodes since 2005, and has seen a fair amount of child talent come and go.

Although ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ met its unfortunate end after a near-four month run, some of its stars found success in the years after the show’s cancellation. Miguel Tanfelix, for instance, reemerged in shows like ‘Niño’, ‘Once Upon a Kiss’ and ‘Ismol Family’, while Joyce Ching became a main cast member on ‘Bubble Gang’ and is also seen in the teleserye ‘Hahamakin ang Lahat’.

Despite that, the lesson that ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ provided was difficult to accept for GMA and its management. Let’s face it, had ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ remained on the air today, more up-and-coming talent would have been showcased.

Alas, GMA’s own mistakes only served to doom the show. To this day, ‘Bubble Gang Jr.’ remains a show that GMA regrets, and after 11 years, it continues to haunt the network and its Artist Center for its inability to hone new stars.

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Nino, Secret Love Bow Out

‘Nino’, along with ‘Secret Love’, will end their runs this week on GMA Telebabad. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

Two GMA Telebabad programs will bid farewell within the next two days.

First up is ‘Secret Love’, whose finale will air later tonight. The Koreanovela premiered on July 14 and was one of GMA Telebabad’s stronger-performing programs.

Starring Ji Sung as Dominic, Hwang Jung Eum as Elise, and Bae Soo Bin as Howard, ‘Secret Love’ focused on Dominic’s obsession and eventual romance with Elise amid the latter’s involvement in the killing of Dominic’s girlfriend. The series also saw how Elise willingly accused herself of the crime for the sake of her then-boyfriend Howard, after which he called off their relationship and humiliated her.

During its two-month run, ‘Secret Love’ competed well against the likes of ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’, ‘Pinoy Big Brother: All In’ and ‘Miss Ripley’ on ABS-CBN. The Asianovela averaged at least 15% on AGB Nielsen’s national ratings, and at least 7% on Kantar.

No replacement will be made for ‘Secret Love’, since ‘I Hear Your Voice’, the Kapuso network’s supposed successor Asianovela, premiered last month while the former was still airing.

Meanwhile, ‘Nino’ and his Naynay Commandments will officially end their run tomorrow.

The teleserye starring Miguel Tanfelix premiered on May 26, replacing ‘Carmela’ while dislodging ‘Kambal Sirena’ out of its original timeslot. Despite its value-oriented nature, ‘Nino’ had an up-and-down run, as reflected by the AGB Nielsen and Kantar ratings.

‘Nino’ had a slow start against ‘Dyesebel’ in the AGB Nielsen ratings, but managed to pick up steam as the latter drew to a close. The series continued to win over viewers even after ‘Hawak Kamay’ took ‘Dyesebel”s timeslot on July 21, and should finish with an average of 22% by the end of its run.

But on Kantar’s count, ‘Nino’ performed badly against both ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Hawak Kamay’. A 17% average for ‘Nino’ and a -10% disparity against rival ABS-CBN teleseryes should be a cause of concern for GMA management, even as ABS-CBN endured a slight decline in the ratings of their aforementioned programs.

Overall, ‘Nino’ was a decently good teleserye, but not as revered as the likes of ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, and ‘Honesto’ on the Kapamilya network. And with GMA becoming infamous for producing merely filler teleseryes that have shorter timespans, ‘Nino”s near five-month run is just another example of why GMA is resorting to this tactic with little results.

Replacing ‘Nino’ on its timeslot will be ‘Strawberry Lane’, another family drama starring Bea Binene, Kim Rodriguez, Joyce Ching, Joanna Marie Tan, and Rita de Guzman. The series, which centers on five juvenile girls seeking a new direction in life, will premiere on September 15.

 

Hawak Kamay Replaces Dyesebel on ABS-CBN

Just as GMA is warming up with their value-oriented teleserye in ‘Nino’, ABS-CBN decides to counter with one of their own.

Enter ‘Hawak Kamay’, the Kapamilya network’s newest teleserye that is set to debut this Monday. The series, starring Piolo Pascual, Iza Calzado, Zaijan Jaranilla and Xyriel Manabat, Andrea Brillantes and Yesha Camille, will replace ‘Dyesebel’.

The Anne Curtis-starred series has been a ratings winner since it debuted on March 17. ‘Dyesebel’ defeated rivals ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Nino’ during its five-month run.

In ‘Hawak Kamay’, Pascual plays a frustrated musician turned guardian named Gin. He was tasked to take care of three orphans named Emong (Jaranilla), Dara (Manabat) and Ningning (Camille), who lost their parents in a car crash.

Throughout the series, Gin would evolve from a reluctant to a responsible guardian who is determined to keep all of his orphans together, despite enduring serious trials. Along the way, Gin’s life would change with the help of Bianca (Calzado), a lawyer who helped arrange the adoption, and her sister Lorrie (Brillantes), who would develop a friendship with the three orphans.

‘Hawak Kamay’ is named after the popular song recorded by Yeng Constantino in the late 2000s. The song was remade by Piolo Pascual specifically for the series.

ABS-CBN is no stranger to producing successful value-oriented series. After all, they produced winners in ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, ‘Budoy’ and Honesto’, all of which earned high ratings and critical acclaim. The success of these teleseryes should add some pressure on ‘Hawak Kamay’, but considering the network has been winning the primetime race of late, it should not pose a problem to the new series.

‘Hawak Kamay’ premieres this July 21, after ‘TV Patrol’. The teaser to the upcoming series can be viewed below.

Notes: From the Tube would like to extend our condolences to the victims of Typhoon Glenda and Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 17. Our thoughts and prayers are for the families of the said victims.

‘Dyesebel’ Stands Tall as ‘Kambal Sirena’ Ends This Week

‘Kambal Sirena”s final episode will be this Friday on GMA.

GMA’s ‘Kambal Sirena’ is now down to only five episodes. The series, once an arch-rival to ABS-CBN’s ‘Dyesebel’, will bid farewell this Friday.

‘Kambal Sirena’, starring Louise delos Reyes and Aljur Abrenica, debuted last March 10. However, the series made little noise throughout its run. ‘Kambal Sirena’ was defeated by the departing ‘Honesto’ in its first week’, then got spanked in the subsequent weeks thanks to ‘Dyesebel’, starring Anne Curtis.

On May 26, GMA decided to demote ‘Kambal Sirena’ in favor of ‘Nino’, but the results remained the same despite airing at a later timeslot. Rival ‘Ikaw Lamang’, starring Kim Chiu, Coco Martin, Julia Montes and Jake Cuenca, proved too much to handle for ‘Kambal Sirena’, as the former series dominated the latter in both Kantar and AGB Nielsen ratings.

To be honest, ‘Kambal Sirena’ was worth the try for budding star Louise delos Reyes. After all, she was one of GMA’s emerging young stars, and a bankable talent for years to come. Accepting a role that involves wearing a man-made fin and swimming topless is no easy task, but for delos Reyes, it is a huge step forward in her development as an actress.

In the end, however, it was ‘Dyesebel’ who won the hearts of viewers more than its younger counterpart in ‘Kambal Sirena’. The former is simply too hard to ignore, thanks to an established actress, an accomplished production company, and a legendary Mars Ravelo creation to boot. But that doesn’t mean GMA did not do well in producing ‘Kambal Sirena’. They made the story their own, and they picked an actress whose star is about to shine. Too bad viewers did not respond to a newbie in the sea.

‘Kambal Sirena’ was a good project, but it failed to reverse GMA Telebabad’s slumping fortunes. Now the pressure is on ‘My Destiny’, and GMA hopes that the chemistry of Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellana will be the key for turning things around.

But for now, ‘Kambal Sirena’ takes a bow. As for Louise delos Reyes, there is still a lot more to improve.

‘Sirena Wars’ End Prematurely

The ‘Sirena Wars’ between ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Kambal Sirena’ was dominated by the former.

Tonight on GMA Telebabad, the much-awaited value-oriented drama series ‘Nino’ will make its primetime debut. But instead of premiering on the timeslot vacated by ‘Carmela’, GMA decided to make a programming change.

‘Nino’ was placed on the timeslot following ’24 Oras’, essentially following the same formula used by ABS-CBN in series such as ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, and ‘Honesto’. It also meant that the so-called ‘Sirena Wars’ waged between the Kapuso network’s ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ABS-CBN’s own adaptation of ‘Dyesebel’ had to end with this timeslot change, as ‘Kambal Sirena’ was moved at a later time opposite ‘Ikaw Lamang’.

The ‘Sirena Wars’, which lasted from March 17 to May 23, overwhelmingly favored ‘Dyesebel’ in the ratings. According to TNS Kantar’s figures, ‘Dyesebel’ consistently registered a double-digit winning margin over ‘Kambal Sirena’, with the former’s ratings reaching 30% or better against the latter’s 16% or lower average. Over at AGB Nielsen, the margin was close to nearly 5%, but it still favors ‘Dyesebel’ over ‘Kambal Sirena’, albeit by lower scores compared to Kantar’s.

‘Dyesebel’ was also a hit among social media netizens, with hashtags and topics related to the series consistently ranking among the top trends on Twitter. The same cannot be said for ‘Kambal Sirena’, however.

To GMA’s credit, ‘Kambal Sirena’ managed to hold its own against ‘Dyesebel’. While the series was outplayed by ‘Dyesebel’ in the ratings, it enabled Louise delos Reyes to continue improving her acting prowess, in what is only her second lead role in primetime. And while Anne Curtis remains among primetime’s top female stars, there is no question that delos Reyes is a formidable primetime actress herself, and has a bright future ahead of her.

But in the end, GMA needed a change. Realizing that ABS-CBN was successful in airing ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’ and ‘Honesto’ after news programs, GMA decided to move ‘Kambal Sirena’ to a later timeslot and place ‘Nino’ instead. However, it remains to be seen whether or not ‘Nino’ will match, if not surpass the success of ABS-CBN’s value-oriented teleseryes.

Beginning tonight, both ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Dyesebel’ will continue to air on primetime. But the ‘Sirena Wars’ is no more. And it was fun while it lasted.

GMA Goes Value-Oriented with ‘Nino’

The new GMA Telebabad offering ‘Nino’ will begin on May 26.

With ‘Carmela’ about to finish its run this Friday, GMA decided to take a more simple approach in creating their teleseryes. The new series, titled ‘Nino’, is GMA’s latest attempt towards creating teleseryes that focuses on optimism, hope and good values.

This type of teleserye is not new to viewers. In fact, ABS-CBN  has capitalized on child stars such as Zaijan Jaranilla, Xyriel Manabat, and Raikko Mateo to create simple yet heartwarming teleseryes that were embraced by the viewing public. These usually consist of stories of faith (‘May Bukas Pa’), humility (‘100 Days to Heaven’) and honesty (‘Honesto’), and in each of the shows, the child star was the lead protagonist who sets the tone for the duration of the series.

Not to be outdone, GMA has attempted this formula a few times. However, the remake of the Julie Vega classic ‘Mga Mata ni Anghelita’, starring a young Krystal Reyes, and the Barbie Forteza-Joshua Dionisio starrer ‘Pilyang Kerubin’ failed to click with viewers. They decided to abandon this concept, that is, until the project ‘Nino’ came along.

The upcoming series centers on a mentally challenged teenage boy named Nino, portrayed by Miguel Tanfelix. Throughout the series, Nino will guide people to a journey towards inspiration, hope and optimism amid all challenges. And with the help of his ‘Tukayo’, played by David Remo, Nino is determined to change the life of his town through miraculous means.

The series will also introduce the ‘Naynay Commandments’, a series of values and good manners that teaches people the importance of integrity and honesty in everyday life. It also inspires parents to become responsible in raising their children.

‘Nino’ will also feature an all-star cast that features Tom Rodriguez, Katrina Halili, Lotlot de Leon, Neil Ryan Sese, German Moreno, Dante Rivero, Bianca Umali, Gerald Napoles, Ces Quesada, Luz Valdez, Gloria Romero, Renz Valerio, Julian Trono and Vincent Magbanua.

GMA executives should be optimistic about ‘Nino’. Having seen its rival ABS-CBN succeed with this type of teleserye, there is no question that ‘Nino’ has the potential to attract a big number of viewers. Still, it remains to be seen whether or not ‘Nino’ will pull GMA’s fortunes back on the green side.

Nino is slated to air this Monday, right after ’24 Oras’.