There is Hope for My Only Hope

Okay, so I am still watching My Only Hope, Sundays after ASAP 08 at ABS CBN. First of all, thank you for the obvious effort to bring kilig to the fans. But what used to be a promising start seems to be dwindling to the sloppy-story road.

Come on, creative peeps of ABS CBN, you know you can do better than that. The latest episode seemed to be done on a rush. Yeah, people would love to see the main leads fall in love, kiss, hug and everything else that was shown on the latest episode. But this completely shattered the good foundation of this Sunday drama series.

The show has already set up so many good points.

• Gerald’s emo character has paved the way for this kind of get-up and attitude to become popular and known to this day’s generation. I wasn’t really paying attention to such before My Only Hope aired. And Gerald was good playing the role of Keeno. He really has done a lot to make the character very convincing.

• The Boracay setting for the show’s first airing was a sight of fresh air for weekends’ couch potatoes like me. It was new and it contributed to the excitement over the progress of the story.

• Gerald and Kim have shown lots of improvement in terms of acting. And Enchong Dee must not be overlooked. He is also beginning to show signs of progress by portraying his role the best he can.

• Tomy Abuel, being the veteran actor that he is, showcases what old school and powerful acting is all about. He sets a good example to the younger casts of the show.

• The new guy who plays the role of Rick, Keeno’s brother, is also promising. But he still has to overcome some apparent shyness and learn how to act tougher.

• Kudos to Miguel Escueta for a very fresh, innovative rendition of the main theme. This was like what David Cook has done for Always Be My Baby. Miguel was able to make me forget about the original version of Mandy Moore.

Let’s go to the negative points.

• The story is becoming too predictable. It’s like showcasing the best or memorable scenes from both local and foreign dramas and collating them all on this one. So Keeno was the one who accidentally killed April’s (Kim’s character) father. Jessie (Nina), who already died, has a twin who looks exactly like her. The rich family of Keeno will not approve of his relationship with poor girl, April. Yang (Regine), who has owned up to the responsibility for most of his boyfriend’s expenses, is actually a call girl (oh wow, very 80s eh?) I am just waiting for an amnesia element and I’ll conclude that the creative team for this drama is composed of 50 to 70 year old folks.

• When I watched My Girl, I thought that David Chua who plays April’s brother on this one was only faking his enunciation to make people believe that he cannot speak Tagalog. But hey, he still sounds like he cannot speak the language on this one even if his role is very much a Filipino.

• Another character that wasn’t able to come out of her My Girl’s character is Alex Gonzaga. She was funny at My Girl because she sounded gay and she was supposed to be comic. But now, the manner that she speaks is already becoming too irritating since she is not a funny one in My Only Hope.

The latest episode brought many disappointing turns with regards to the flow of the story.

• After one date, April loves Keeno already. Um, this can be true, I don’t doubt it. I am a believer of true love, naks! But we must remember that April is only recovering or is actually in the process of forgetting about her feelings for Jhun (Enchong’s character). Keeno’s presence must cause her to be very disturbed and lost for rational explanation why she’s all of a sudden feeling the way she does whenever this emo guy is around.

• And Keeno is also recovering from a loss of a loved one and guilt for what happened. It will be better if we will see him fighting his real feelings for April and thwarting her from becoming too close. Rather than saying that he used to dislike people like April who has so much happiness in life, he must have demonstrated that first before becoming involved with her type.

• The Jhun-April story should have been given more depth. It couldn’t end one night after April’s first date with Keeno. It would really be hard to decide, especially when the intention of June (Keeping his promise to April’s dad) was so pure. At June’s proposal, April should instead have said that she’ll think about it. And then she will be torn between the two.

This is the problem when you put in too many details, too many conflicts and loads of characters that have lots of emotional baggage with them, in a series that will only be watched once a week.

Kim, Gerald and Enchong are becoming too good as actors for the confused story that they were made to portray. The creative team should focus more on fixing the story of these three and making it more believable and well-thought of. Forget about the twin of Nina’s character. She shouldn’t be given too much exposure. She might cause a little jealousy between April and Keeno, then she should be out of the scene completely.

While I am on my Kimerald addiction last Sunday, I also saw the trailer of the upcoming primetime teleserye of the two, Tayong Dalawa. They will be with my most hated Kapuso transferee, Jake ‘Yabang’ Cuenca. Oh please, there is no hope for this guy. Throw him back to GMA or to your Kapamilya freezer and thaw one talented actor to hone for the role, just like what you did with Enchong.

As for My Only Hope, I really wish that they can still fix the script before the story becomes too predictable and too old as a concept. If that’s the case, ABS is only proving that they are running out of good creative talents, reason why they have to resort to remakes of hit TV series from other countries. But I know that this is not true, so prove me wrong, will you?

GOOD SUNDAY TV UNTIL THERE WAS CRISTY FERMIN

Over the weekend, there were triumphant feats on local TV. There was the successful launch of Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson starrer, My Only Hope. The show proved to be a big threat with its attractive visuals, good story and talented leads. I wonder if this is the reason why a GMA 7 starlet who used to be a Kapamilya is hinting that Gerald is courting her and fetches her every day. And the news broke out at a time when the remarkable love team is out of the country for a series of shows. This starlet had already caused a former hit Kapamilya love team to part ways. Will she be able to do it again?

I haven’t heard this starlet say anything about the issue because I don’t watch her shows because I don’t like her. But I have read some write-ups of showbiz reporters under GMA 7’s payroll about the issue. Now, now, GMA 7, if you feel so threatened with the Kimerald team-up, you might as well work your butts out to create stars instead of demolishing the hard-earned careers of good people like Kim and Gerald. Give out groceries or what have you to make sure that people tune in from Unang Hirit to Walang Tulugan. But please, stop the demolition jobs to the Kapamilya stars.

There is really a reason why Judy Ann Santos did not leave ABS CBN despite all the efforts of GMA 7 to acquire her services. But there are still no demolition jobs being set up by GMA 7 to the young superstar. Not yet. They are still courting the actress and giving her what her home studio seems to neglect. Is GMA 7 secretly hoping to get the exclusive rights of Judy Ann’s wedding to Ryan, whenever that will finally happen? I think so. But having observed Juday's, or should I say her manager's love-hate relationship with the Kapamilya network, she might surprise us all by jumping over the bakod one of these days. A piece of advice to Juday, do that only if you want to semi retire from showbiz. See what happened to Jolina Magdangal, she is visible all right, but she fails to shine.

Back to the starlet, a little bird told me that she appeared on the late night comedy show of Joey de Leon at the Kapuso network, Nuts Entertainment, and said that only one guy is courting her at the moment. And that is none other than Deither Ocampo. So it will be better if GMA 7 will watch their own shows to set their facts straight before coming up with issues.
Okay, breathe in, breathe out. Another good thing that happened over the weekend was when Philip Nolasco bagged in the title of being the first champion of the PDA Little Dreamers. Now, now, this child has a lot more potential to be a star than the winner of the PDA adult division, Laarni something who still have to make her presence felt in the industry. But Philip, you must be warned. Once you become a star, GMA 7 might pay some tabloid reporters and create issues linking you with Kapuso starlet. Haha! Spare the child, please.

In between My Only Hope and PDA Little Dreamers, there was The Buzz. So I switched channels because I didn’t want to hear whatever Cristy Fermin would say. But oh well, it has become an item and a bigger issue than the root of all this which was… just to refresh the memories of those who have become lost with all the hullaballoo, the conflict between Gabby Concepcion and his foul-mouthed manager, ex-manager. Gosh, her existence makes Lolit Solis looks like an angel.

So Cristy, in order to get people’s attention, said something that even if it’s true or not, should not be made known to the tsismis-hungered public. My God, tsismosa ako but that is already a private matter that I don’t think people would still want to know, especially from a person who have long kissed her showbiz career goodbye.

I haven’t done the part two of my "Why Do ABS-CBN’s Ratings Keep On Plunging Down." But Cristy Fermin is definitely a big part of that. Why this liar still has a show on a good timeslot, I cannot understand. Does ABS CBN fear Ms. Fermin? That is the only conclusion that I can arrive at. Well, give her a Walang Tulugan rip off. People are talking. People are clamoring for her to be removed from The Buzz. Don’t you read her Pilipino Star Ngayon column? I don’t. But I read the comments’ section. And nobody seems to like her anymore. She has no credibility. And keeping her on the show that caused Ms. Kris Aquino to drop it off is a big mystery, since nobody likes her.

My Only Hope is for Kris to go back on The Buzz and remove Cristy on the face of local TV. And may Philip be given more projects that will make his star shine the brightest.

My Only Hope - Soon on ABS-CBN

Now, now, this seems to be exciting. I am already looking forward to this new Kim Chiu-Gerald Anderson starrer. What makes this exciting is the fact that this has an original story. This is not a 'nakakasawa' tele-fantasy like Diosa. This is not another remake of a canned show from other countries like Betty la Fea. And this is not a rehash of old Phillipine soap operas like Iisa Pa Lamang. I am reserving any comments for Kahit Isang Saglit because I still haven't caught a glimpse of it.

My Girl was good. In fact, the directors and writers made the show fit into each cast member. But it also alienated many of the Kimerald fans, my 3-year-old niece included. First, the show had too many kissing scenes. I guess that ABS-CBN really wants their young stars to grow up fast. This was okay for matured fans like me. But the Kimerald has a following of people ranging from newborns and up. And second, the network decided to place it on a very late timeslot. This could have been a better hit if it was given the former timeslot of Sana Maulit Muli.

Why not place My Only Hope on Primetime and re-run My Girl on Sundays after ASAP? That would be ideal. But that will remain a suggestion because My Only Hope will start on October 5, Sunday, after ASAP.

Here's the trailer of My Only Hope. Credits to jamatias18 on YouTube.