Big Blow for Tubig at Langis with Resignation of Vivian Velez and Entry of New Rival

The resignation of Vivian Velez forces ‘Tubig at Langis’ to make adjustments. (Photo credit: Vivian Velez official Facebook)

A lot of adjustments await the ABS-CBN drama series ‘Tubig at Langis’.

On Sunday, March 6, cast member Vivian Velez announced on Facebook that she would irrevocably resign immediately from the show. The official announcement is as follows, as seen on this post below.

In an exclusive conversation with PEP.ph, Vivian cited Cristine Reyes’ rude behavior as a reason behind her resignation. According to Vivian, during one of their recent tapings, she and Cristine shared a designated standby room, but Cristine asked her to leave and then threw a fit by slamming the door and shouting at her.

Both ABS-CBN and Cristine’s camp have yet to issue a statement regarding Vivian’s resignation.

Vivian’s departure from ‘Tubig at Langis’ will be a huge blow to the series. Prior to her resignation, she played the role of Conching, the mother-in-law of Irene (Cristine Reyes), and had a pivotal role in the character progression of the latter.

Now that Vivian’s out, the series’ production team has no choice but to make revisions to the story. Writing off the character of Conching won’t be easy though.

Meanwhile, ‘Tubig at Langis’ will have a new rival starting today. GMA’s upcoming Afternoon Prime series ‘Hanggang Makita Kang Muli’, starring Bea Binene and Derrick Monasterio, will take over the slot of the just-concluded ‘Buena Familia’.

In ‘Hanggang Makita Kang Muli’, Bea will play the role of Ana, a feral child who was kidnapped and forced to live in isolation her entire life. After escaping from the clutches of Odessa (Ina Feleo), she was found in the woods by a psychology student named Calvin (Derrick), where he would try to reintegrate Ana back into society and show her the real meaning of true love and compassion.

Also starring in ‘Hanggang Makita Kang Muli’ are Raymart Santiago, Angelika dela Cruz, Kim Rodriguez, Rita Avila, Ramon Christopher, Luz Valdez, Shyr Valdez, Marco Alcaraz, and Jak Roberto. Laurice Guillen will direct the series.

With all the recent events taking place, this will not be an easy walk in the park this week for ‘Tubig at Langis’. The combination of an upcoming rival and a cast member’s resignation over the rude behavior of another may cast a spell on the series’ ratings, so it’s up to them to deliver despite all the odds.

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Last Minute Change for ‘Once Upon a Kiss’; GMA’s Need for a ‘Second Chance’

GMA management is once again at the forefront of last-minute changes.

The latest of these moves took place Monday night, as ‘Once Upon a Kiss’ was placed after ‘More Than Words’ on GMA’s Telebabad block. Prior to the late switch, ‘Once Upon a Kiss’ was scheduled to premiere after ’24 Oras’.

Despite the last-minute change in schedule, the pilot episode of ‘Once Upon a Kiss’ still failed to impress viewers. The teleserye only managed a 15.2% rating against the 23.6 % of ABS-CBN’s ‘Forevermore’, according to Kantar.

That said, the series starring Bianca Umali and Miguel Tanfelix will have a lot more work to do if they want to get past the increasingly popular tandem of Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano. Considering the momentum that ‘Forevermore’ generated from day one, it will be a daunting task for the former to overcome.

Meanwhile, the long-overdue premiere of ‘Second Chances’ will take place this Monday. The series had been scheduled to air back in November, but GMA postponed its premiere in hopes of making a splash for the new year.

As seen in the teasers released by the network, the series tells the story of four different individuals whose lives will change by way of a traumatizing event. Portraying these life-changing characters are Jennylyn Mercado, Camille Prats, Raymart Santiago and Rafael Rosell.

‘Second Chances’ has been in production since early August, and was intended to replace ‘Ilustrado’ on Telebabad back in November. But due to some last minute programming changes, the series premiere was postponed until the early part of 2015.

Now that ‘Second Chances’ finally gets its due, it will be interesting to see how a story of inspiration and determination fare against one featuring infidelity and jealousy. Its pilot week will be against the hot-as-lava ‘Two Wives’, who has thoroughly dominated the former’s predecessor ‘Hiram na Alaala’ for the most part.

That said, GMA now hopes to have a second chance of their own. A traumatizing event like low ratings, declining revenue and front office mismanagement are definitely worth overcoming, but unless GMA finds a way to make a second chance, they will again find themselves on the losing end of ABS-CBN’s dominance.

‘Second Chances’ premieres this Monday after ‘Once Upon a Kiss’ on GMA Telebabad.

A Sad Ending to Ilustrado, Plus Second Chances Moved to Early 2015

The highly-budgeted but low-rated GMA bayaniserye ‘Ilustrado’ will end this Friday . (Photo credit: GMA Network)

‘Ilustrado’ ends this Friday with little to show for.

GMA’s so-called ‘bayaniserye’, which was produced by the News and Public Affairs department, failed to impress in the ratings throughout its run. This despite the fact that it boasted a more hi-tech production and added a more educational approach to the story.

Figures from both Kantar and AGB Nielsen showed that ‘Ilustrado’ was way behind ABS-CBN’s ‘Two Wives’ in the ratings for much of its run. ‘Ilustrado’ also failed to make an impact on social media, as netizens focused more on the intimate and hostile scenes between the characters of Jason Abalos, Erich Gonzales and Kaye Abad rather than Alden Richards’ portrayal of Jose Rizal as a student in Europe.

‘Ilustrado’ premiered on October 20 amid high expectations. GMA gave the show’s producers a big budget, investing on the latest computer technologies to digitally recreate the look of late 19th century Europe.

But the big investment did not translate into ratings success, even though more advertisers pitched in to help recover the losses. That said, expect GMA to lose more money after the disastrous returns of ‘Ilustrado’.

With ‘Ilustrado’ about to leave the airwaves this Friday, a new series will come to the Kapuso network starting November 17.

Contrary to earlier reports, ‘Second Chances’ will not be the replacement for ‘Ilustrado’. The teleserye, starring Jennylyn Mercado, Rafael Rosell, Raymart Santiago and Camille Prats, will now air beginning the first quarter of 2015.

Instead, ‘More Than Words’, starring Elmo Magalona and Janine Gutierrez, will replace ‘Ilustrado’, but not at the latter’s old timeslot. The series is expected to move at an earlier time.

Like ‘Ilustrado’, ‘Second Chances’ is expected to be a big-budgeted series. For the second consecutive year, a series starring Jennylyn Mercado will lead a list of GMA’s first quarter offerings, with the first being ‘Rhodora X’.

The move of ‘Second Chances” to an early 2015 premiere should boost its chances somewhat, as the series’ producers will now use the time to improve the story, production and character development.

This does not mean, however, that ‘Second Chances’ will be a potential hit. As it has been proven time and time again, GMA’s overreliance on its veterans have cost them both ratings, young talent and ad loads, and this latest venture shows how poor GMA is at managing and developing talent.

As 2014 winds down, expect yet another down year for the Kapuso network, both in financial health and in viewership. And it only gets worse.

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.

The Impact of Annaliza on GMA’s Programs

Annaliza’s 10-month run included a near-30% ratings average, and a total of 215 episodes which doubled that of the four different rivals in its timeslot.

For 10 months, the ABS-CBN drama series ‘Annaliza’ was the ratings leader in its timeslot, outplaying its GMA counterparts by a wide margin. As the series concludes this week, let’s look back at how ‘Annaliza’ was able to force GMA to regroup.

Annaliza vs. Home Sweet Home

‘Home Sweet Home’ debuted on GMA’s Telebabad block on April 22, 2013. Meanwhile, ‘Annaliza’ debuted over a month later, on May 27. In its pilot episode, ‘Annaliza’ managed a promising 16.7 % over ‘Home Sweet Home”s 8.8%, setting the stage for its lengthy 10-month run.

While ‘Home Sweet Home’ had a decently good story and a cast led by Raymart Santiago, Bea Binene and Jake Vargas, they were unable to overcome the surprisingly strong acting chemistry between young actress Andrea Brilliantes and co-stars Patrick Garcia, Kaye Abad and Denise Laurel. ‘Home Sweet Home’s final episode on July 19 managed only an 11.4% rating, while ‘Annaliza’ earned 20.4%. ‘Home Sweet Home’ had a total of 64 episodes during its run.

Annaliza vs. Binoy Henyo

‘Annaliza”s next opponent was ‘Binoy Henyo’, featuring another young Kapuso talent in David Remo. ‘Binoy Henyo’ debuted on July 22, but only managed a 12.8% against ‘Annaliza”s 22.1%. Unlike ‘Home Sweet Home’, ‘Binoy Henyo’ enjoyed a rather brief run, lasting for only two months and 45 episodes, with its finale on September 20 managing a paltry 14.4% against ‘Annaliza”s 27%.

Unfortunately for Remo, he was never seen again after ‘Binoy Henyo’, while the showbiz career of Andrea Brilliantes continues to soar with each episode. As a result, GMA decided to create a new series, this time casting a popular love team in hopes of changing their fortunes.

Annaliza vs. Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko

Up next for ‘Annaliza’ was ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’, starring the tandem of Kris Bernal and Aljur Abrenica. But despite the obvious age and experience gap between Andrea Brilliantes and the so-called ‘Alkris’ love team, ‘Annaliza’ still topped ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ on its September 23 pilot, registering a 27.3% over the latter’s 15.1%.

Nevertheless, ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ proved to be a more formidable opponent in its five-month run. But formidable was not enough, and it showed by its performance in the ratings. ‘Prinsesa”s final episode on January 24 managed only a 10.5% rating to ‘Annaliza”s 20.6%. After the series, Aljur Abrenica was paired with Louise delos Reyes in ‘Kambal Sirena’, temporarily putting ‘Alkris’ on the shelf.

Annaliza vs. Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw

‘Annaliza”s 10-month run would conclude against ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’. The series, starring Kim Rodriguez and Kristoffer Martin, debuted on January 27, but only mustered an unimpressive 9.6% against ‘Annaliza”s 23.7%. Like ‘Binoy Henyo’, ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’ failed because of poor marketing and storytelling, and as a result, it only lasted 45 episodes, with its finale scheduled to air on March 28, which at this point the Julia Barretto-starred ‘Mirabella’ was on its first week.

When it’s all said and done, ‘Annaliza’ had topped them all. In its 10 months on the air, ‘Annaliza’ proved to be a more dramatic, more passionate, and more well-written series than anyone had ever imagined. And its successful run should give Andrea Brilliantes something to look forward to as she moves on to bigger and better things.

As for GMA, it was a harsh lesson to learn. Fortunately for them, ‘Annaliza’ will no longer be the least of their problems come next week. However, the impact that ‘Annaliza”s had on GMA’s programs will continue to reverberate on the Kapuso network in the months to come.