In 150 Words: Forevermore Ends Run On a Superbly High Note

They began their run at the top, and they end their run at the top.

The recently-concluded ABS-CBN drama ‘Forevermore’ dominated primetime from start to finish, and following last Friday’s epic finale, the series registered its highest rating ever. ‘Forevermore’ defeated ‘Let the Love Begin’ in both Kantar and AGB Nielsen, registering numbers of 39.3% and 37% over the latter’s 16.1% and 15.3%.

With an average of over 33% in the ratings, ‘Forevermore’ was easily the highest-rated primetime series of 2015 so far. The series’ impact also showed on social media, as topics related to ‘Forevermore’ were among top trends on Twitter both nationally and globally.

Overall, ‘Forevermore’ defeated four different GMA programs during their run at the top, starting with ‘Hiram na Alaala’, followed by ‘Strawberry Lane’, ‘Once Upon a Kiss’, and finally ‘Let the Love Begin’.

With ‘Forevermore’ officially over, it’s now up to ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ to continue that run of success. But don’t expect the latter to surpass the success of ‘Forevermore’ anytime soon.

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A Fourth Opponent for Streaking ‘Forevermore’

There is no stopping ‘Forevermore’ as their run winds down.

The ABS-CBN drama series, starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, has been on top of the primetime world ever since it debuted in October of last year. So far, ‘Forevermore’ overcame the challenges of ‘Hiram na Alaala’, ‘Strawberry Lane’ and ‘Once Upon a Kiss’ of rival station GMA, beating each series by a wide margin.

Now a fourth opponent awaits the streaking teleserye.

Starting this Monday, May 4, ‘Forevermore’ will go up against ‘Let the Love Begin’, the newest GMA teleserye starring Ruru Madrid and Gabbi Garcia. The upcoming series should not be confused with the movie of the same title, starring Richard Gutierrez and Angel Locsin, which was released a decade ago under the GMA Films banner.

‘Let the Love Begin’ will also mark the return of Ai-Ai Delas Alas to the GMA camp after over a decade with ABS-CBN. Joining her in various supporting roles will be Gardo Versoza, Donita Rose, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Neil Ryan Sese, Gladys Reyes, and Ms. Gina Pareño.

Other members of the cast include Noel Trinidad, Phytos Ramirez, Abel Estanislao, Ricardo Cepeda, Joko Diaz, Rita Daniela, Ar Angel Aviles, Nomer Limatog, Angeli Bayani, Sancho Delas Alas, Therese Malvar, and Ren Escano.

The series will revolve around the cordial friendship between Jeni (Ai-Ai) and Tony (Gardo), who work for a fictional radio program that focuses on love advice. A major problem would later shatter their friendship, but their paths would soon cross again thanks to a blooming relationship between their children Erick (Ruru) and Pia (Gabbi).

‘Let the Love Begin’ may have been scheduled to air on the vacated timeslot of ‘Once Upon a Kiss’, but the series’ first few weeks may come too late to prove its worth against ‘Forevermore’. As seen in the teaser below, ABS-CBN made it clear that ‘Forevermore”s run would end very soon in favor of a new drama.

Still, the prospect of ‘Forevermore’ taking on a new Kapuso love team is hard to resist. They have already overcome the duo of Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali, and now it is up to Ruru and Gabbi to show their potential against LizQuen.

‘Let the Love Begin’ premieres this Monday after ‘Pari ‘Koy’ on GMA Telebabad. Good luck.

‘More Than Words’ Demoted with Premiere of ‘Once Upon a Kiss’

GMA Telebabad’s first salvo of the year comes with yet another timeslot change for one of their current teleseryes.

‘More Than Words’, starring Janine Gutierrez and Elmo Magalona, will have a new timeslot later tonight. This will give way to a new drama series starring another young love team in Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali.

Titled ‘Once Upon a Kiss’, the series revolves around a young girl’s unexpected kiss from a coma-stricken boy. From then on, the two would try to forge their love for each other amid their families’ constant quarrels.

‘Once Upon a Kiss’ will replace ‘Strawberry Lane’ on Telebabad’s lineup, but it will not be placed on the latter’s most recent timeslot. Instead, it will be placed on ‘Strawberry Lane”s original timeslot, one that was later taken over by ‘More Than Words’ until last Friday’s episode.

For ‘More Than Words’, the timeslot change had something to do with its performance. In both Kantar and AGB Nielsen, ‘More Than Words’ was thoroughly outclassed by ABS-CBN’s ‘Dream Dad’, which ironically featured Elmo’s older sister Maxene Magalona.

A new timeslot for ‘More Than Words’ would have breathed new life and a sense of relief for the struggling series. However, the series’ newest opponent is no slouch either, as ‘Forevermore’, starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, has been on a roll since premiering in October.

That said, ‘More Than Words’ will have a huge mountain to climb, considering the unexpected success of ‘Forevermore’ and the Liza-Quen love team.

As for ‘Once Upon a Kiss’, their first hurdle won’t be easy either. ‘Dream Dad’, led by Zanjoe Marudo and Jana Agoncillo, is also very successful in its own right, and it will be a daunting task to see how far Bianca Umali and Miguel Tanfelix will take their partnership to new heights.

‘Once Upon a Kiss’ premieres tonight after ’24 Oras’, followed by ‘More Than Words’ on GMA Telebabad.

No Sibling Rivalry in Premieres of Dream Dad and More Than Words

There will be no rivalry between the children of the late ‘Master Rapper’ Francis Magalona on Philippine television.

Fresh from re-signing with ABS-CBN, Maxene Magalona will co-star alongside Zanjoe Marudo and child actress Jana Agoncillo in ‘Dream Dad’. The series will also star Beauty Gonzales, Yen Santos, Ana Feleo, Katya Santos, Ketchup Eusebio, Ariel Ureta and Gloria Diaz.

‘Dream Dad’ will focus on an orphan who searches for a loving family, and a bachelor who tries to mend a broken heart by focusing on his family’s welfare. Ultimately, their lives would change after they cross paths with one another.

(Due to unforeseen circumstances, the full trailer of ‘Dream Dad’ on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s official YouTube was taken down as of November 14).

Over at GMA, younger brother Elmo Magalona will reunite with ‘Villa Quintana’ co-star Janine Gutierrez in ‘More Than Words’. Also starring in this series are Rey ‘PJ’ Abellana, Leni Santos, Jaclyn Jose, Gardo Versoza, Yayo Aguila, Enzo Pineda, Stephanie Sol, Mayton Eugenio, Mikoy Morales and Coleen Perez.

The story of ‘More Than Words’ will revolve around two individuals: a teenage boy whose memory was lost following an accident, and a daydreaming female student who created an imaginary ‘dream boy’ in one of her blogs. After finding the supposed boy of her dreams, they would grow fond of each other, while the boy begins a new life with his adoptive parents.

While ‘Dream Dad’ will premiere in its expected timeslot, the same cannot be said for ‘More Than Words’. It was supposed to premiere November 3, replacing both ‘Seasons of Love’ and ‘Elemento’, but GMA management wanted none of the possible sibling rivalry between the Magalonas, and as a result, they hastily re-aired ‘Coffee Prince’ on the timeslot that was supposed to be filled by ‘More Than Words’.

Then in a somewhat surprising decision, they moved the premiere date of ‘Second Chances’, which was supposed to replace ‘Ilustrado’, to the first quarter of 2015. And to top things off, both ‘Strawberry Lane’ and ‘Hiram na Alaala’ will now be moved to later timeslots, paving the way for ‘More Than Words’ to occupy the slot after ’24 Oras’.

Thus, ‘More Than Words’ will go up against the soon-to-conclude ‘Hawak Kamay’ while ‘Dream Dad’ will face the re-airing ‘Coffee Prince’ on their respective networks.

It will be interesting to see how both Magalonas fare in their respective new series, but even in different networks, they will always be family off-screen. Good luck.

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.