My Love from the Star Returns, Responds to Inday Bote

The popular Koreanovela ‘My Love from the Star’ returns to GMA, this time as a ‘throwbackserye’.

Due to popular demand, the Kapuso network decided to once again re-air ‘My Love from the Star’, which stars Jun Ji-Hyun and Kim Soo-hyun. The re-airing of the said Koreanovela begins this Monday, at the same time as the premiere of ABS-CBN’s remake of ‘Inday Bote’.

‘My Love from the Star’ first aired on GMA from April 21 to June 27, 2014, opposite Julia Barretto’s debut teleserye ‘Mirabella’. The Koreanovela fared well enough in both Kantar and AGB Nielsen that GMA decided to re-air the series every Sunday morning, during the months of May, June and July.

Unfortunately for the Kapuso network, ABS-CBN quickly turned the tables soon after ‘My Love from the Star’ concluded. The Kapamilya network made up for the shortcomings of ‘Mirabella’ by airing ‘Pure Love’ and then ‘Bagito’, in the process regaining its foothold on the sunset slot.

Meanwhile, GMA’s local series ‘My BFF’, ‘Seasons of Love’ and ‘Elemento’ failed to maintain the momentum of ‘My Love from the Star’. Not even Koreanovelas like ‘Prime Minister and I’ and ‘Future’s Choice’ kept the timeslot’s fortunes from slipping off GMA’s grasp.

As a result, GMA made a crucial decision. Still feeling the throwback Asianovela high after all those months, GMA decided to bring back ‘My Love from the Star’, even though it had only been a year since it first aired.

Now GMA must hope that ‘My Love from the Star’ will fare well again in the same manner as ‘Meteor Garden’ on ABS-CBN. But it won’t be easy this time around, not when the Kapamilya network’s new teleserye ‘Inday Bote’ has proven stars in Alex Gonzaga and Matteo Guidicelli to lean upon.

It will be an interesting battle between the two series that begins this Monday at 5:45 p.m., so good luck.

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Surprising ‘Bagito’ Premieres on Primetime Bida

An unexpected selection from ABS-CBN takes over Primetime Bida tonight.

In a last-minute decision, the Kapamilya network announced Friday afternoon that ‘Bagito’ will air on the slot that was vacated by the recently-concluded ‘Pure Love’. The upcoming coming-of-age teleserye premieres later this afternoon.

Like more recent Kapamilya dramas, young and emerging talents will be the focus of attention on ‘Bagito’. The series will be topbilled by Nash Aguas and Alexa Ilacad, with fellow young actress Ella Cruz providing a supporting role.

Also joining the series are veterans Agot Isidro, Ariel Rivera and Angel Aquino. Completing the cast are Paolo Santiago, Alex Diaz and Gimme 5 members Joaquin Reyes, John Bermundo, Grae Fernandez and Brace Arquia.

‘Bagito’ focuses on a teenage boy who suddenly takes on the responsibility of being a father. The series will look at how the boy ended up impregnating a fellow teenager and how he will shoulder the burden of nurturing a child at a young age.

Before becoming a teleserye, ‘Bagito’ was first written as a Wattpad story by well-renowned author Noreen Capili. The entry soon gained popularity among Wattpad readers, with reads of over 100,000 as of today.

Initially an afterthought when it was first promoted, ‘Bagito”s unexpected entry into Primetime Bida came as a huge surprise to viewers. After all, much of the focus has been on the three returning Kapamilyas in Maxene Magalona, Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin, stars of ‘Dream Dad’ and ‘Flor de Liza’ respectively.

In fact, ABS-CBN had already been prepared to replace ‘Pure Love’ with ‘Dream Dad’, and even went as far as unveiling the full trailer of the series Thursday night.

But that all changed Friday afternoon.

The full trailer of ‘Dream Dad’ was taken down from ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube account. Soon after, a trailer for ‘Bagito’ was aired later that night, and then it was announced that ‘Dream Dad’ would premiere on November 24, this time replacing ‘Hawak Kamay’.

Even with a stunner of an entry, ‘Bagito’ should pose little problems in attaining decent, if not high viewership numbers. With GMA using this timeslot for the replay of the Koreanovela ‘Coffee Prince’, expect ‘Bagito’ to lord it over in the ratings against an inferior opponent.

It may have been a last-minute decision from ABS-CBN management, but should ‘Bagito’ succeed in the ratings, it will be all worth it.

GMA Responds to ABS-CBN’s Throwbackseryes

‘Bantatay’ will be re-aired on GMA starting November 10, replacing ‘Return of the Wife’. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

The so-called ‘throwbackserye’ has taken over GMA as well.

After ABS-CBN decided to air re-runs of previous teleseryes in the mid-morning slot, GMA answered back with one of their own. The Kapuso network’s response was ‘Bantatay’, a drama-comedy-fantasy series starring Raymart Santiago, Gelli de Belen, Jennica Garcia and Carl Guevara.

‘Bantatay’ first aired from September 20, 2010 to February 25, 2011 on the then-extended GMA Dramarama sa Hapon (now Afternoon Prime) block. The series garnered high ratings throughout its run, despite facing intense competition from the likes of ‘Kokey @ Ako’ and ‘Sabel’.

Unfortunately for GMA, the timing for the rebroadcast of ‘Bantatay’ came at a not-so opportune time. The series’ lead star, Raymart Santiago, is currently enduring various issues involving himself and his estranged wife (and former GMA talent) Claudine Barretto, and re-airing ‘Bantatay’ may not be a good idea after all.

In fact, it would have been better if GMA extended its anime block to the 10:00 a.m. slot rather than responding to ABS-CBN’s own programming strategies. As far as they are concerned, it is the animes, no matter how repetitive they are to viewers, that are lifting GMA every morning.

Going back to ‘Bantatay’, the series proved to be one of the last GMA programs to date that rated well with viewers. Since ABS-CBN adopted Kantar as their ratings provider, the tables have turned to the latter’s favor, and have not looked back since.

In fact, in what used to be ‘Bantatay”s old timeslot preceding ’24 Oras’, the succeeding GMA teleseryes that followed have flopped consistently against ABS-CBN’s seemingly superior products. Whether it’s ‘Aryana’, ‘Annaliza’ or ‘Pure Love’, GMA seems to have no answers to ABS-CBN’s own fare.

That said, the sadness and shock that is permeating beneath the bosses in the corner of Timog Avenue and EDSA is undeniable. And now they are resorting to these responses just to keep themselves in the hunt, which is not a good idea.

‘Bantatay’ may be back, but for GMA, this is not the time for resorting to such a feeble call.

Another Last-Minute Change Further Ruins GMA Telebabad

‘More Than Words’, starring Elmo Magalona and Janine Gutierrez, was supposed to premiere November 3, but was moved instead to November 17. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

It is becoming an infectious habit for GMA Telebabad to screw its viewers.

Last Friday, the official Facebook account of the upcoming Kapuso teleserye ‘More Than Words’ announced that they would air starting Monday, November 3. However, in a last-second move, GMA decided that the series will air beginning November 17 instead.

And in a rather awkward change of direction, GMA chose to air a re-run of the Koreanovela ‘Coffee Prince’ yesterday, as a replacement to the fill-in programs ‘Seasons of Love’ and ‘Elemento’. As Timow’s Turf pointed out, the decision of GMA to re-air ‘Coffee Prince’ was in response to government station PTV-4’s airing of ‘Here Comes Mr. Oh’, which is really pointless given that PTV-4 is not a rich network giant that GMA is.

In essence, the latest programming change implemented by GMA’s entertainment division only made things even more complicated.

By re-airing ‘Coffee Prince’ on the early evening slot, GMA has essentially conceded defeat to ‘Pure Love’, one of ABS-CBN’s strong primetime performers. The Filipino remake of the Koreanovela ’49 Days’ has been a thorn on GMA’s side since its premiere, as it beat the likes of ‘My BFF’, ‘Seasons of Love’ and ‘Elemento’.

Because of that, expect nothing from ‘Coffee Prince’ on primetime since it is a re-run. Sorry GMA, but ‘Coffee Prince’ is no ‘Meteor Garden’.

With regards to ‘More Than Words’, the postponement of its premiere came at a not-so opportune time. The historical drama ‘Ilustrado’ is on its final two weeks, and it is expected to be replaced by the Jennylyn Mercado-starred series ‘Second Chances’.

Given the recent tendency for GMA to cram its teleseryes on primetime, it seems likely that GMA will use this strategy once again, just to include ‘More Than Words’ on Telebabad. This should spell disaster for the Kapuso network, as the potential eight-pack would push ‘Saksi’ to the more dreaded 11:15-11:30 slot, and worse, further the gap between Telebabad and ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

Already wrecked by poor ratings and lack of bankable and relatable stars, this latest blunder only shows how dilapidated GMA Telebabad is now. And unfortunately, it only gets worse from here.

Elemento: GMA’s Second Miniseries for October

As Halloween approaches, GMA launches another miniseries befitting the special occasion.

‘Elemento’, the horror fantasy series produced by GMA News and Public Affairs, will air starting October 10. The miniseries will feature more humanized versions of iconic creatures from various Filipino legends and myths.

Every Friday during the month of October, viewers of ‘Elemento’ will be treated to a different approach in storytelling. Throughout the series, classic Filipino Halloween icons will be converted from fearful creatures to more protagonistic beings, giving ‘Elemento’ a different spin on the legends that people used to read.

Four different stories will be featured on ‘Elemento’. The first story, ‘Si Esperanza, Ang Rebeldeng Manananggal’, features a vampire who rescues abused children. Glaiza de Castro will play the titular role, while Maria Isabel Lopez will play Esperanza’s mother and Valerie Concepcion will play Lucila, Esperanza’s evil sister. Carl Acosta and Nourish Icon Lapuz will play the role of children saved by Esperanza.

The second story, ‘Ang Masayahing Kapre na si Itim’, features a kapre who protects a forest from flooding. Bodjie Pascua will play the role of Itim, while supporting roles will be played by Ping Medina, Irma Adlawan, Lou Veloso, and child actors Joshen  Bernardo, Kyle Ocampo, Milkah Nacion and Micko Laurente.

The third story, ‘Pandora, Ang Diwata ng Wawa’, features a river fairy who exacts revenge on men who try to pollute the Wawa River. Solenn Heussaff will play the titular character, while Carlos Agassi will play her love interest. Liane Valentino and John Paul Mesde will play supporting roles.

The final story, ‘Apoy ni Bambolito’, tells the story of a black dwarf who gave an Aeta child named Anya the power of fire. Mike ‘Pekto’ Nacua will play the titular character, while Rochelle Pangilinan will play the mother of Anya, played by Marjorie Orteo.

Like ‘Seasons of Love’, ‘Elemento’ will go up against ABS-CBN’s ‘Pure Love’. And since the mini-series will only run for four Fridays this October, it will be a very daunting task for ‘Elemento’ to win its timeslot in such a short period of time.

That said, expectations will be very high for this series, especially when its premise is to tell a more good-natured side to fearsome creatures that are well-known to people. With that, good luck to the writers of ‘Elemento’ in making each story a good one.

‘Elemento’ airs starting October 10, and every Friday of October thereafter, before ’24 Oras’.

 

GMA’s Answer to TV5’s Wattpad Presents

TV5’s ‘Wattpad Presents’ now has a new rival.

Starting October 6, GMA’s new anthology called ‘Seasons of Love’ will air on the timeslot that will be vacated by ‘My BFF’. Like ‘Wattpad Presents’, ‘Seasons of Love’ will focus on one particular love story each week, and will air for a month.

The first story under the ‘Seasons of Love’ banner will be ‘Soulmate, Soulhate’, and will feature Ruru Madrid and Gabrielle Garcia in their first lead roles together.

Both Madrid and Garcia currently appear in ‘My Destiny’ in supporting roles, and will continue to do so while ‘Seasons of Love: Soulmate, Soulhate’ is ongoing.

‘Soulmate, Soulhate’ will focus on two teenagers whose personalities change following a meteor shower. Soon after, they met and eventually forged a romantic relationship.

Three other upcoming stories under the ‘Seasons of Love’ banner will follow suit, with titles and cast yet to be determined.

Curiously, ABS-CBN also aired a romantic anthology called ‘Seasons of Love’. Not to be confused with GMA’s own upcoming series, ABS-CBN’s version aired as a weekly program every Sunday afternoon from 2004 to 2005.

Going back to GMA’s ‘Seasons of Love’, the short-term series will definitely carry a lot of expectations, since it will feature some of the Kapuso network’s up and coming young stars. In addition, the series will go up against the Kapamilya network’s highly-rated teleserye ‘Pure Love’, which has demolished ‘My BFF’ in the ratings.

‘Seasons of Love”s rivalry with ‘Wattpad Presents’ will also be followed closely, though not at the same timeslot. ‘Wattpad Presents” third story, ‘Poser’, will premiere hours after ‘Seasons of Love: Soulmate, Soulhate’ debuts, and based on the success of ‘Wattpad Presents” first two offerings, pressure will definitely be on ‘Seasons of Love’ to come up with a better story that will interest viewers.

With that, let’s wish GMA good luck on ‘Seasons of Love’, and hope this short-term series will pay off.

‘Seasons of Love’ premieres this October 6, and will air every Monday to Thursday before ’24 Oras’.