“’Victor Magtanggol’ has completed its full intended run.“
This is exactly what GMA Vice President for Drama Productions Redgie Magno told Pep about the fate of ‘Victor Magtanggol’, the primetime action/fantasy series starring Alden Richards. The series will officially bow down after its 80th episode on Friday, but while ‘Victor Magtanggol’ had a decent run, it still failed to deliver.
‘Victor Magtanggol’ first premiered on July 30, 2018, but before the series even began, it was littered with controversy over its supposed similarities with Marvel’s Thor. Much like ‘Alyas Robin Hood’, ‘Victor Magtanggol’ failed to escape the wrath of the critics for allegedly plagiarizing another Marvel character.
In response, GMA executives defended the series saying that it was inspired from millenia-old Norse mythology. Still, a negative light had been cast on ‘Victor Magtanggol’, no matter what the executives say.
As expected, GMA placed ‘Victor Magtanggol’ opposite ‘Ang Probinsyano’, and the results did not look good for the former from the get-go. Much like the previous nine opponents that took on ‘Ang Probinsyano’, ‘Victor Magtanggol’ fell victim to Cardo Dalisay’s (Coco Martin) onslaught, losing by around 30% in most of its episodes.
Not even the supposed star power of Alden Richards helped ‘Victor Magtanggol’. In many ways, the series seemed to have taken a hit in Alden’s popularity, and it did not help that it went up against Coco Martin, by far the most popular star in primetime right now.
In Alden’s defense, he was still satisfied with how ‘Victor Magtanggol’ turned out. Not even its shortcomings prevented Alden from being thankful to the producers for giving him a project that expands his range of skill and physical will.
Still, it would have helped Alden if ‘Victor Magtanggol’ enjoyed a few wins. But regardless, it was worth a try.
On Friday, ‘Victor Magtanggol’ will take its last ride. Unfortunately for GMA, the series will only be remembered as yet another addition to ‘Ang Probinsyano”s list of victims.
From the Tube 