ALDEN RICHARDS
HANGGANG November na nga lang ba ang Victor Magtanggol ni Alden Richards? This we had to find an immediate answer to.
Bukod sa mismong mga taga-produksiyon, walang ibang makasasagot nito kundi ang CorpCom ng GMA. Agad kaming tumawag kay Marian Domingo sa kanyang office, but no one seemed around to pick up the phone.
Tinext namin siya, stating our purpose base na rin sa balitang GMA is compelled to cancel the show dahil hindi talaga nito kinakabog ang ratings ng katapat nitong programa, ang FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano ni Coco Martin.
Ayon sa text reply ni Marian, she has yet to receive an advisory from VM’s production o sa mismong network management. But all that she knows ay patuloy pa rin ang taping nito.
Balita rin kasing all-systems-go na sa programa in place of VM ang teleserye nina Dennis Trillo at Mr. Dantes. Pardon our sheer ignorance of the Biblical brothers na ginamit bilang pamagat nito, TV adaptation ba ito ng classic film noon which starred Christopher de Leon and Phillip Salvador?
Whatever, kung ito man ‘yon—and the compelling reason behind Mr. Dantes’ scrapping his political plans—ay magandang pantapat ito kay Coco.
Head-on collision ito sa pagitan ng mga binansagang Primetime King ng magkabilang istasyon, however, it takes a “plus one” sa katauhan ni Dennis to topple Coco.
At the onset naman, in fairness to GMA, it knew what to expect mula sa VM. Maaaring mistaken notion ito, but VM had no pretensions at all na pabagsakin ang AP, na sa kabila ng paikut-ikot na lang na kuwento ay hindi pa rin binibitawan ng mga manonood.
AP’s strength though lies in its timeliness. Sumasabay ito sa mga isyu of national concern.
VM is the exact opposite. It does not mirror the social goings-on. Fantaserye kasi na obviously ay malayong mangyari sa tunay na buhay.
GMA did not pretend that Aldens series would cause Coco’s downfall. Alternative program ang bentahe nila, that to get a fair lion’s share of the audience would suffice.
Aware din sa katotohanang ito ang mismong bida na bagama’t positive ang hatid ng kanyang karakter, hindi nito kayang martilyuhin si Cardo until he dropped dead.
Going back to the Dennis-Mr. Dantes teleserye, medyo on equal footing na sila ng AP. We can imagine a rich confluence of all the production elements: may drama, may romance, may action.
‘Yun nga lang, sa tanong if it stands a good fighting chance para mapataob ang AP remains highly speculative.
Pero for sure, Coco won’t stop at thinking of thicker plots and more interesting twists para hindi lumipat ang kanyang audience sa kabila.
What else can we say kundi abangan?