Expats Guide to Teleseryes
On the Wings of Love starring James Reid and Nadine Lustre | Screengrabbed from ABS-CBN.
When it comes to entertainment, there would be no doubt that television will top the list of every Filipino out there. From the start to the end of one’s day, the TV would usually be their indicator as to what time it already is, only basing on what show is airing.
While the everyday TV would air morning shows, comedy and light-hearted dramas, game shows, variety shows, and primetime news shows, Filipinos would agree that the kind of show they would look forward to would be the primetime teleseryes.
My Husband’s Lover starring Dennis Trillo, Tom Rodriguez, and Carla Abellana | Image grabbed from Poklat.
The term teleserye came from two words: “tele” which means television and “serye” which is the Filipino term for series. While these kinds of shows may sometimes be likened to Korean dramas or the American TV shows, teleseryes differ from them in the sense that it airs on the same time during the weekdays, instead of being aired once or twice in a week. Some may also compare it to Mexican telenovelas which invaded Philippine television many years ago.
Aired during primetime (after the daily 6pm news), teleseryes usually have different genres. Some fall under the fantasy category (Mulawin, Encantadia, Captain Barbell, Lobo, Marina, Super Inggo). Some fall under the heavy drama category (Pangako Sa’yo, Sana Maulit Muli, Maging Sino Ka Man, My Husband’s Lover, Babangon Ako’t Dudurugin Ka), or the light romantic-comedy drama (Please Be Careful With My Heart, Adik Sa’yo, Got to Believe, On the Wings of Love).
Please Be Careful With My Heart starring Jody Sta. Maria and Richard Yap | Image grabbed from tfc.tv.
These shows tackled the same old plot lines and contain the same cliché elements: babies switched at birth, poor girl falls in love with a rich boy, people slapping and pulling each other’s hair, main characters suffering amnesia, evil step families, policemen arriving when it’s already too late, and villains laughing their signature evil laugh as they watch cars burning before their eyes. While these concepts may already seem overused and repetitive, people support and watch it from start to end, in hopes that there will be something that would redeem their favourite character.
Unoriginal as some of its stories are, there is no denying that this particular type of content is successful at entertaining a lot of people in a time where everything may seem problematic. True, it could be exaggerated and unrealistic at time, but it makes the people forget their own problems, and be absorbed in a world where the lead characters get the happy endings they deserve.
Sources: Kabayan Central, Spot
