Mulawin vs. Ravena Premiere Means New Characters for Ang Probinsyano

The threat is indeed real.

With the premiere of GMA fantaserye ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ later tonight, long-running ABS-CBN action series ‘Ang Probinsyano’ introduced a new slate of supporting actors that will add more color to an already endless story. They are:

• John Arcilla
• Angel Aquino
• Ejay Falcon
• Jhong Hilario
• Lito Lapid
• Mark Lapid
• Sid Lucero
• Long Mejia
• Pokwang
• Mitch Valdes

These actors will join the main cast that features Coco Martin, Ms. Susan Roces, Yassi Pressman and Awra Briguela, among others. Ironically, John Arcilla was last seen in the just-concluded GMA fantaserye (and ‘Ang Probinsyano”s archrival) ‘Encantadia’, where he was cast as Hagorn.

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Another chapter soon. #FPJAP

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The addition of new actors indicate that another fresh storyline for ‘Ang Probinsyano’ is about to take shape. After all, a new rival in ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ will come into play and the best way for the former to maintain viewer interest is to introduce new characters and plots to keep up with its latest adversary.

Speaking of ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’, the sequel to the popular early 2000s fantaserye ‘Mulawin’ is 12 years in the making. The original series (led by Richard Gutierrez and Angel Locsin) became a huge hit when it first aired, and with the creation of the sequel, the bar is raised even higher.

‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ will feature stars such as:

• Dennis Trillo (as Gabriel)
• Heart Evangelista (as Alwina)
• Carla Abellana  (as Aviona)
• Tom Rodriguez (as Rodrigo)
• Lovi Poe (as Magindara)
• Regine Velasquez (as Sandawa)
• Bianca Umali (as Lawiswis)
• Derrick Monasterio (as Almiro)
• Bea Binene (as Anya)
• Miguel Tanfelix (as Pagaspas)
• Ariel Rivera (as Panabon)
• Chynna Ortaleza (as Reyna Rashana)
• David Licauco (as Malik)
• Dion Ignacio (as Siklab)
• Valerie Concepcion (as Tuka)
• Roi Vinzon (as Daragit)
• JC Tiuseco (as Tangos)
• Winwyn Marquez (as Ribery)
• TJ Trinidad (as Greco)
• Angelu de Leon (as Lourdes)
• Bobby Andrews (as Dionisio)
• Charee Pineda (as Savanna)
• Joko Diaz (as Antonio)
• Martin del Rosario (as Aramis)
• Kiko Estrada (as Rafael)
• Nova Villa (as Lola Elo)

Directors Dominic Zapata and Don Michael Perez will once again breathe life into ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’, just as they did with the original ‘Mulawin’.

Heading into tonight, the challenge for ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ is a daunting one. ‘Ang Probinsyano’ has been a ratings juggernaut for nearly two years now and not even the efforts of its predecessor ‘Encantadia’ was enough to topple the former.

That said, the best chance for ‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’ might come from viewers who are becoming disenchanted with ‘Ang Probinsyano”s endlessly dragging storyline. With the latter’s new characters coming into play, this may be an opportunity for some to switch channels and watch something different and pleasing.

Still, with too many loyal viewers siding with ‘Ang Probinsyano’, the task will not be an easy one. So, good luck to GMA in their efforts to sway the momentum away from Coco Martin and company.

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Alyas Robin Hood to Premiere Monday Despite Continuous Criticisms

There will be an ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ after all.

The upcoming GMA fantasy action series will see the light of day starting this Monday. This despite the many criticisms that the show faced, particularly its similarities to the American series ‘Arrow’.

But for ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ lead star Dingdong Dantes, he remains confident with the new project despite the negative reviews of it. He, like Suzette Doctolero and Redgie Magno before him, also defended ‘Alyas Robin Hood’, claiming that it is based on the legend of Robin Hood.

The story of ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ involves the character of Pepe (Dingdong) who was arrested for the alleged murder of his father Jose (Christopher de Leon). After surviving a violent prison break, he assumes the Alyas Robin Hood persona in order to find the real culprit while at the same time redeeming himself.

‘Alyas Robin Hood’ will also star Andrea Torres and Megan Young as Pepe’s confidant and love interest, respectively. As mentioned earlier, Christopher de Leon will have a special role as Pepe’s father.

The rest of the supporting cast includes Ms. Cherie Gil, Sid Lucero, Ms. Jaclyn Jose, Paolo Contis, Gary Estrada, Dennis Padilla, John Feir, Tanya Gomez, Gio Alvarez, Lindsay de Vera, Dave Bornea, Caprice Cayetano, Rey ‘PJ’ Abellana and Ces Quesada. The series will be directed by Dominic Zapata.

With so many criticisms surrounding ‘Alyas Robin Hood’, they might have a hard time attracting viewers early on. Although their opponent, the JaDine-starred ‘Till I Met You’, is struggling of late, the negative publicity that affected ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ could give the latter an opportunity to regain some of their viewers.

Still, it will be interesting to see what kind of story ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ will turn out to be. For the viewers who have tuned in to ‘Arrow’ and criticized ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ the first time around, it’s best for them to watch the latter and see for themselves.

‘Alyas Robin Hood’ airs weeknights after ‘Encantadia’ on GMA Telebabad.

End of the Line for The Millionaire’s Wife

‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ is down to its final two episodes.

Led by Andrea Torres in what GMA calls her most mature series yet, ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ will officially conclude its 67-episode run tomorrow afternoon. All series long, viewers were able to witness the life of single mother-turned-rich wife Luisa (Andrea), and her struggles to deal with two things: money, and love and compassion for others.

‘The Millionaire’s Wife’, which also starred Robert Arevalo, Mike Tan, Jaclyn Jose, Sid Lucero, Ina Raymundo and Rich Asuncion, first premiered on March 14 as a replacement to ‘Destiny Rose’. Initially, the series started strong, registering a 12.5% national rating; in contrast, rival ABS-CBN Koreanovela ‘My Love Donna’ only earned a 9.1% mark on its own premiere day.

The dominance of ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ soon led to the cancellation of the poorly-performing ‘My Love Donna’. Then on April 11, the Kapamilya network placed ‘Tubig at Langis’ opposite ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’, and from that point on, the momentum turned in the former’s favor.

While ‘Tubig at Langis’ carried its average ratings of 15% or better to its new timeslot, ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ continued to score 12% with each passing episode; only this time, they were on the losing end. The former’s confrontational scenes involving Irene (Cristine Reyes) and Clara (Isabelle Daza) proved to be a hit, and it doomed the latter.

Notwithstanding its impressive start early in its run, it was clear that ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ finally met its match in ‘Tubig at Langis’. While Andrea Torres was able to make the most of her evolving artistic repertoire, ABS-CBN still had the edge in terms of storytelling, and this gave ‘Tubig at Langis’ the advantage.

Now that ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ will come to an end, let’s just hope that the final episodes of this series will bring a lasting impression to its viewers. Otherwise, it may end up as the latest in a string of GMA teleserye letdowns.

In 100 Words: The Millionaire’s Wife Premieres Today

Andrea Torres returns to drama with the upcoming series ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’.

The series, which also stars the likes of Mike Tan, Robert Arevalo, Sid Lucero, Ina Raymundo and Jaclyn Jose, tells the story of a woman who had to choose between two things: love or money, in order to save her life. ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ will be directed by Albert Langitan, with Roy Iglesias serving as its creative director.

Replacing ‘Destiny Rose’ on GMA’s Afternoon Prime, ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ is expected to have a great start to its run, considering its opponent is an ABS-CBN Koreanovela in ‘My Love Donna’ (some areas will receive ‘Game ng Bayan’ instead). Still, it remains to be seen whether or not Andrea Torres’ return to drama will pay off.

‘The Millionaire’s Wife’ airs weekdays at 4: 15 p.m., after ‘Hanggang Makita Kang Muli’.

News TV Continues Fall From Grace with Amaya Rerun

‘Amaya’ returned to the airwaves, this time on GMA News TV last Monday. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

It doesn’t get any worse for GMA News TV.

After defying the logic of a news channel with classic movies and reruns from their previous incarnation QTV, News TV took it one step further by re-airing an old teleserye from their parent channel. And it was led by no less than the network’s so-called ‘Queen of Primetime’.

‘Amaya’, the 2011 ‘epicserye’, started re-airing on Channel 11 last Monday. The said series, which took place in 16th century Visayas, starred Marian Rivera, with supporting roles from Rochelle Pangilinan, Glaiza de Castro, Sid Lucero, Mikael Daez, Aljur Abrenica, Diana Zubiri, Gardo Versoza, Raymond Bagatsing, Lani Mercado, Gina Alajar and Ayen Munji-Laurel.

The series originally aired on GMA from May 30, 2011 to January 13, 2012. ‘Amaya”s run coincided with the gradual decline in the network’s performance during the current decade, as ABS-CBN’s counterparts began to dominate the ratings.

Nevertheless, ‘Amaya’ received citations from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the Department of Education for its culturally significant story.

But that is not the real story behind News TV’s decision to re-air ‘Amaya’. Having exhausted all of their programming material to air, and having lacked the drive and the resources to produce more news programs, News TV resorted to another desperate manuever: re-airing older teleseryes from the parent Channel 7.

News TV is no stranger to airing historical and socially-significant dramas. After all, they aired GMA News-produced mini-series such as ‘Titser’, ‘Katipunan’ and ‘Bayan Ko’ to critical success, and they even re-aired the equally costly but less popular drama ‘Ilustrado’ at one point.

But ‘Amaya’ is a different animal. After all, it was a ‘true’ teleserye that GMA produced, and not a mere mini-series like the aforementioned ‘Ilustrado’.

And while ‘Amaya’ shares a similar historical significance as the other dramas, the fact that it had over 150 episodes to boot makes it an exhausting series to watch and remember. That said, re-airing ‘Amaya’ is a waste of time and space for GMA News TV.

So what’s next for the suddenly teleserye-friendly News TV? Will they re-air a Koreanovela remake like ‘Endless Love’, a fantaserye like ‘Encantadia’, or a more mature drama like ‘My Husband’s Lover’? We’ll never know, but one thing’s for sure: the worst is yet to come for GMA’s troubled little sister.