I Hate Tayong Dalawa's Ending! Grrrr!

I am not that fond of watching TV, much less, local soap operas, but I do indulge every time Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson's tandem was part of the casts. I just love these two because if you have seen them since their stint on PBB, you will definitely admire the growth and improvement that they are both showcasing on their craft.

For nine months, I tuned in to Tayong Dalawa because of these two. The story started okay, it was able to highlight each and every character. This is why most of their characters have eventually become household names, the most popular being Lola Gets. The story started sagging down when they have decided to revolve everything on the character of Jake Cuenca, Dave. Everyone at the time would breathe, live and die all for Dave. That was also the time that I started avoiding the show.

I watched again after Dave let go of Audrey, Kim's character. This could have happened a bit earlier so that Audrey and JR could have explored their marital lives, and even include the common problems involved in this situation. But the creative team did not do that because like what happened on the last weeks of the show, when the focus of the story was turned to JR and Audrey, they could no longer find anything interesting plot for the Dave character. And it is very obvious that this cannot be allowed because Jake Cuenca is Jake Cuenca, hmmm, Ana Dizon wannabe? Hehe!

Tomorrow will be the last night for this soap, but I am no longer interested in seeing how it is going to be. I have a clear idea that whatever it is, it is going to be in favor of Jake. For me, the soap ended after Audrey delivered a baby and she was alive and they all lived happily ever after. It also ended after Paul shot Dave, and for me, Dave died on the spot and Ramon, who witnessed the incident, will bring his dead body to his family, will ask for their forgiveness and kill himself. Ramon's character is too bad that he really has to die.

During their promotions, they keep on saying that they will give us a very unforgettable ending. I thought that Santino would appear at the end to heal everyone. Haha! That would be a first in Philippine TV, a cross over of a popular character from May Bukas Pa to Tayong Dalawa.

It was very unfair to kill Audrey's character. She did nothing on the story but cry. When she was allowed to be happy, they have decided to kill her character. She was still crying up to her very last scene, on the video footage where she left her message for JR.

It is funny how many characters they had to kill in this story, from the two Stanley, Jr., David Garcia, Sr., Baron Geisler's character, Nico and the gang (hehe!), Mylene Dizon's character, Olivia, Greta, Mamita, Lola Gets and the unfortunate death of Audrey. Whatever happened to the supposed father of Ingrid? Did he die as well? How about Baby Robert? Now what is Baby Robert. "Tao ba 'to? Bagay? Lugar? Pangyayari?" The writers find it hard to make the boy integral to the story.

I was thinking of buying the DVDs, the start, then I'll skip the parts after Dave was rescued from the terrorists and maybe the last one, beginning at the time when JR and Audrey got married. But now, I would no longer do that because ABS CBN decided to favor the big bosses behind the soap instead of the voices of those who would love to see Audrey happy and alive.

They knew what people would say if they had done poll or text voting as to whose life would you rather save at the end, Dave or Audrey. Now don't ask why until now ABS CBN still trails behind GMA 7, even if the latter has nameless and only few talented actors. They play favorites and maybe the Kimerald fans are not part of the favorite list.

Oh well, maybe they could do ending number 2 to be shown on Your Song. Name it as, Tayong Dalawa: The Real Ending, where Audrey would be saved and Dave will die or simply lose his sanity or disappear together with Baby Robert.

I hope that they are already cooking up something for Kim and Gerald where they will be the central characters. This is only inevitable after the two had given their all for Tayong Dalawa. As for Jake, I am pretty sure that there are hoards of projects lined up on his silver plate already. If only Lola Gets wasn't killed in the story, they could do a spin off like a comedy series or a sitcom where Lola Gets will get the top billing.

Oh, too much rants and all I really want to say is GRRRRRRR!

A Couch Potato's Verdict on ABS CBN's New Shows - Katorse and Dahil May Isang Ikaw

The TV is still on but nobody's really watching. We're all doing our own different tasks and it seems like we're just waiting for the one great person who would turn the TV off. The TV session started during TV Patrol, then we watched May Bukas Pa and then we never fail to tune in to Tayong Dalawa. It is a good thing that they placed the latter on an earlier timeslot.

I tried watching Jericho Rosales' new soap on ABS CBN, Dahil May Isang Ikaw. The verdict – the actors and the concept itself are old. It is boring to watch. There is no more magic to the Echo-Kristine tandem. The show is wasting lots of good actors because they have chosen to give them roles that they have played many times during the span of their has-beens careers.

Through this soap, the network could have helped the involved actors in the series to boost their careers. But all of them needed something fresh, out of the box concept that will make people interested in tuning in to the show even if they are not die hard fans of these actors. Is it already too late to redeem the show? I don't think so. They can still try to twist the story in a way that it will not rely so much on any loveteam or any pakilig scenes because I don't think that Echo and Tin can still achieve what the Kimerald team-up does best.

As for Erich Gonzales' new show, Katorse, I think that they have chosen the wrong timeslot for it. The theme of this soap is not suitable to be watched by children who are still very much awake and even manipulate the remote control at such time. Here in the house, we no longer let anyone change the channels into either the Kapuso or Kapamilya channel before the news starts to air. Both stations are showing soap operas with too many kissing scenes and adult-related themes that will not fit to be viewed by minors.

I know, people will only insinuate that this is where the Parental Guidance notice should be placed into good use. But there are really the right time for young kids to know about adult-related matters and the right venue. They are watching TV at the time in the afternoon to get entertained. It may be easy to explain why Gu Jun Pyo is kissing Jan Di softly on the lips because of love. But how would you tell them why a 14-year-old girl (who looks 25) chooses to disobey her family and started making out to another teenager? Argh! This should be moved to a later timeslot. Oh, please.

I Refuse to Watch Tayong Dalawa

I am no longer watching Tayong Dalawa, sigh. I used to be an avid fan. The story was good, especially whenever Kim Chiu or Gerald Anderson is on screen. But now as the show progresses and it seems like the executives want to highlight Jake Cuenca as its main lead, I refuse to watch it.

I can't really take the sight of this former Kapuso star on screen. It was tolerable at first because the advertisements promised that this would be a Kim-Gerald-Jake soap. Right now, Gerald's character appears to be Jake's support. Kim's character was so stagnant, it is already irritating.

It will be better if Kim and Gerald will be taken out of this soap. Let's see how Jake would turn this to another flop like "Palos." The story is getting bigger and complicated, for Jake and some of the older casts. But Gerald and Kim are not being given what they rightly deserve. There are even days when they would be on screen for some minutes or even seconds, and the rest of the show would be dominated by Jake's over acting.

I think that the team-up of Gerald and Kim should not be treated as if Jake is a bigger star than these two. The publicists of Jake, the tandem of the equally hated tabloid columnists, Cristy Fermin and Alfie Lorenzo, are doing everything to ruin Gerald and Kim while pouring undeserved praises for their boy toy, Jake.

The second reason why I can no longer watch the show is because it is being pre-empted by the show of another former Kapuso actress that I hate seeing on screen, Angel Locsin. For the remake of Only You, ABS CBN management gave the show big budget and they even shot on location in Korea. Now that really makes me feel sad about the fate of Kim and Gerald's My Girl. The show was not as grand as Angel's Only You. But Kim got the attention of the public for being versatile and for being good in any genre given to her. Try to watch Angel's acting. She could be paired with Jake and the show should bear the title, "Over Acting Galore."

The management of ABS CBN should not blame the fans of Kim and Gerald for reacting violently about the news of a possible team-up of Gerald with Sarah Geronimo. They have not given the fans what they want to see from their favorite loveteam yet, a quality show where the two will be the leads and a quality movie far from the crappy launching material given to them.

And if ABS CBN really value their viewers, they will prioritize stars who started with them, whom most Kapamilya viewers would love to see often both on films and TV. If they will insist on bombarding the boob-tube with Jake Cuenca's irritating acting or Angel Locsin's trying hard acting(?), they will continuously lose their loyal viewers. It is not bad to be number 2. But when their morning show like Ruffa and Ai keeps being beaten by TV5's Bratz' reruns, it begins to feel shameful, ain't it?

All My Most Hated TV Actors in One Kapamilya Show

Wow, ABS CBN really impressed me this time. I saw the write-ups at the very controversial PEP of the upcoming show about the pocketbook stories turned into TV series. I just can't believe that they have included all the stars that I hate seeing on TV in that show. This doesn't include Roxanne Guinoo, by the way, because she seems nice. I think that her showbiz career is being slowed down by her craziness when it comes to love.

The other casts of the show include ABS CBN's pet, Jake Cuenca. More actors deserve the kind of roles this one is getting. And the network is keeping him uber busy these days, with Tayong Dalawa, movie and this soon to be shown flop series. And the greater news is that Jake will be paired with Cristine Reyes. Again, there are many original Kapamilya stars who deserve the roles that she has been getting. This girl feels that she is already a big star. There was a time when she made an act ala-Heart Evangelista, by not accepting a role for an afternoon series because she wants her show to be on primetime. Who watched Eva Fonda? Raise your hands. Okay, one, two…

Valerie Concepcion, who likes this girl? Raise your hands. One… No more? Enough said.

And drum roll, Mariel Rodriguez. Well, at least this girl is no longer acting as if we are not aware that she is a bitch. She entered the PBB house as a sweet and bubbly girl. And she came out as herself, someone who hates the masses, loves to curse and loves talking about people behind their backs. I am beginning to like her actually because she is no longer pretending. She is naughty and sometimes bad, but she is no longer acting as if she's sweet.

So who is excited about this show? Raise your hands. Pssst (T2 mode). This is another suicidal move for ABS CBN. It would have been better if they casted the original PBB Season 1 housemates. This could be a reunion project and sort of thawing phase for their frozen careers.

The Hits and Mistakes of ABS CBN's New and Existing Shows

Monday, March 30, ABS CBN introduced two new shows on its afternoon and primetime blocks. First up, Taiwanese drama, Hotshots, starring Jerry Yan, Show Lo and Wu Chun. Although the show can make you laugh once in a blue moon with Show Lo's antics that he has already shown with his other series, the pacing is too slow. I am not a basketball fan either, maybe it adds to the reason why I am only watching this to see more of Jerry Yan.

Pinoy Bingo Night, is boring. If not for Kris Aquino's too much effort to make the show lively, it will not do well even if they give out more prizes than its rival show. The concept itself is dragging. The rules and mechanics are very simple and predictable. There is nothing that the staff can do about it. They shouldn't have gotten this in the first place. You will only tend to watch it if you own a card and you are expecting to win, or if you are a fan of the celebrity player. There is no suspense element, like how it was with Deal or No Deal. It is boring. 1 Versus 100 will fare better than this one.

A quick note on May Bukas Pa. Yes, it is understandable that they want to stretch the story. But can't Santino be faced with situations and problems that normal children usually deal with? Why does he always get entangled with politics, broken families, poor economic condition of his locality, when in fact, he is just a child? My 4-year-old niece, who used to watch the show regularly, would now rather wrestle with me to use my PC to play the Bratz and Barbie online games.

End I Love Betty La Fea ASAP while I still regard Bea Alonzo and John Llyod Cruz with respect. The show is a trash. So it should be dumped immediately. And don't make this available on DVD. People are still waiting for the DVD release of Kim and Gerald's My Girl. It was a very good take on the original version and Kim Chui gave superior justice to the lead role. And I cannot say the same for ILBLF.

Speaking of Kim and Gerald, the story of Tayong Dalawa keeps on getting better. I am not a fan of Jake Cuenca so I am the saddest person on earth when they made it clear that his character is alive. But at least, I got to see him getting tortured like real. It was only during the time when he was able to act naturally, as if he was really scared.

As for Kim and Gerald, these two must be given a valuable movie project after this soap. Kim is very versatile but she excels in comedy. Gerald has proven in Tayong Dalawa that he can deliver quality drama performance. Such a good combination for something like Claudine-Rico starrer, Got to Believe or the Juday-Piolo hit, Till There Was You, or something even better.

What ABS CBN Must Realize From the Success of Tayong Dalawa?

Now that ABS CBN has finally found a gem that caught a lot of people's attention, thus the consistent high ratings of the show, the network must learn from their past mistakes. Tayong Dalawa, the Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson starrer is a rich concept with a very good ensemble of the best character actors in Philippine showbiz. The story and its execution is a treat to the viewers.

I never thought that Gerald would be able to convince me that he is poor and that he grew up in Tondo. The young actor proved that learning how to speak in natural Tagalog is not that hard to do even for someone who grew up in the States. This is something that must be admired by the likes of Sam Milby and Martin Nievera, even though the latter seems to have no intention of doing so. Maybe he is still aspiring to achieve a Hollywood career.

I love Kim for the person I knew since PBB days. She is bubbly, hardworking and appears to be a very positive person. Her acting has also improved a lot as she lasts in the industry. The only thing that she must seriously put her heart into is in gaining more weight. We want our champ to be healthy despite the various tasking projects that she is being put into, right?

Kim was the right Jasmine for My Girl. She was so funny at the show. I hope that ABS CBN will soon release a DVD of the series because I am sure, many people are waiting to get hold of one. My Girl had everything right. But it would have been a bigger hit if it was transformed into film. Many TV viewers still knew very much about the story of the said series when it was aired, hence the lower outcome in terms of ratings.

And this is something that the creative bosses of ABS CBN must be very careful about. Do not fill the boob tube with remakes, especially hits like My Girl, that many people would prefer seeing the original version.

This is also true with I Love Betty La Fea. Yeah, the American version launched the career of America Ferrera. The concept was inspired by the original version, but the overall execution veered away from it. As for our TV version of Betty, it seemed to be following the original one at the start. They even copied the face of the Spanish Betty when she was still ugly. But the result became too forced. Bea Alonzo, as well as Vhong Navarro, looked like retards than ugly. Now they seem to be implementing a newer version by introducing unplanned casts, making the story go out of line. They should have done such move from the start. On a positive note, Jericho's appearance on the soap was strong. He could have been a better Armando. And ABS CBN could have used someone who really looks plain in real life, as Betty. They could have used someone from their roster of talents in their big freezer to launch her career as Betty.

But the good thing about I Love Betty La Fea is that it showed some hints that Bea is effective in lighter and slight comedic roles. The material hasn't given her enough scenes to prove the point. I hope that the remakes of Meteor Garden and Lovers in Paris will not push through. It is time to make our own hits. It is time to follow the lead of Tayong Dalawa. After seeing the tandem of Bea and John Lloyd in heavy drama roles, people would love seeing them on a light romantic comedy series that is an original concept.

My now 4-year-old niece watches TV and loves Kim Chiu. So she stays tuned all throughout Betty La Fea, watches Tayong Dalawa, and then we either turn off the TV or watch what the rival network is featuring. The reason for this is ABS CBN's bold move to include a bold series in its lineup. People are not yet ready for series like Eva Fonda. It is so 80s, story wise. And I don't know about the rating of Pinoy Fear Factor, but the show is so gross that it would have been better if they had shown it weekends on a late timeslot.

Another star that is capturing people's interests via Tayong Dalawa is Coco Martin. I have heard of the scandals that he has gotten himself into in the past. I don't know if that will affect his rise to stardom. But his role in the series is meaty and he definitely gives justice to such. He could have passed as the other David Garcia, Jr. People love Gerald. But much as the executives of ABS CBN hate to admit, Jake Cuenca will never be a big star as what they want to portray him to be. If they will insist on it, people will only hate the starlet all the more. There are other qualified stars of ABS CBN than this one. And if he will keep on getting the good roles, the rumor about him being linked to a gay executive of the network won't die.

I have seen the teaser of May Bukas Pa. This will also be something to look forward to if it will be placed on the primetime block. I know, I have watched the concept over and over again through time. But who can resist a cute child with a good story and hopefully good execution to back him up?

The still to-be-seen Judy Ann Santos' soap needs to be seen now, fast. When they thought about the concept, the boom of the nursing profession was the talk of the town. They have to air the soap before people lose interest at such idea.

There are still a lot of factors that the Kapamilya network needs to reconsider before it regains the number one spot in all aspects of the ratings war. It is a good thing though that they seem to be learning from their mistakes by giving us a masterpiece like Tayong Dalawa. The expectation for the next series to be aired next is high. So it better be good. And please show the Judy Ann soap for heaven's sake!

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?