Mermaid wars

Thursday, April 17, 2014

As subject of folly and fiction, mermaids are by no means any laughing matter for the country’s top TV networks.

'Anne Curtis, Louise delos Reyes and Janella Salvador face-off in this aquatic TV ratings war. (File photos ABS-CBN, GMA-7, IBC-13)'

ABS-CBN and GMA-7 have made a big production splurge on stories about these mythical creatures that has captured the imagination of Filipino masses through the years. There was the monster hit Marina from ABS-CBN that further catapulted then teenage star Claudine Barretto to superstardom. It was so huge that rival GMA-7 had to immediately concoct its own mermaid primetime entrant, albeit belatedly. The Kapuso network aired a spoof Marinara, starring Rufa Mae Quinto, to further solidify the power of mermaids on local TV.

Biggest splash

After this first chapter of the mermaid wars, both networks continued to use this legend as continuing peg for conceptualizing what it thinks should lord over the ratings.

GMA had since secured the rights for Mars Ravelo’s cartoon Dyesebel to be transformed into a TV series after years of success on the silver screen. It then became another major production that showcased its biggest star, Marian Rivera, and further made her a household name.

Then, in recent years, ABS-CBN took mermaid stories out in the open seas anew, but with a new twist—tales revolving around kid mermaids named Mutya and Aryana, portrayed by the child wonders Mutya Orquia and Ella Cruz, respectively, and these shows surely captured the hearts of young and old alike.

In 2014, IBC-13 made it popular due to airing the very first fantaserye for the mermaid "genre" with the splash of the sea Janella in Wonderland which is top-billed by the Asia's Teen Sweetheart Janella Salvador for her first project on IBC, and becoming a hit among young viewers, especially for teens, kids and the whole family.

But this year, the mermaid “genre” gets its biggest splash with the two networks again going at each other’s throats with fresh major projects that delve once more on this folklore, like Janella in Wonderland on the number 3 station IBC, the original fantasy, mermaid and romantic love story. And this time, it is ABS-CBN’s turn for its take on the Mars Ravelo classic, and GMA-7 creating an original story, which is about not one but two mermaids, twins at that, to further stretch televiewers’ imagination.

Neck-to-neck

At present, ABS-CBN’s Dyesebel, GMA-7’s Kambal Sirena and IBC-13’s Janella in Wonderland are going neck-to-neck in the ratings game, with really no clear winner for the first month of their respective telecasts.

Last January 13, the first fantasy series Janella in Wonderland become a hit among younger viewers as well. In the first few weeks, Kambal Sirena was reported to have made a clear advantage in the ratings, because it had the privilege of getting the first crack at the audience with GMA-7 having to air the series featuring Louise delos Reyes a good two to three weeks before the Dyesebel premiere.

But based on recent overnight ratings from AGB Nielsen and Kantar Media, Dyesebel has made up for lost ground. It even topped the entire primetime block for some days during the week of April 7 to 14, especially during those episodes when Anne Curtis, Gerald Anderson, Sam Milby and Andi Eigenmann started to appear. It reached a high of 30% on Monday, April 14.

Star power vs creative flexibility

Star power is surely a factor for Dyesebel’s surge, apart from the production values and the popularity of the character. Kambal Sirena, on the other hand, enjoys the creative flexibility to present more interesting and compelling plots to entice the viewers. Hence, it should not be discounted in this aquatic face-off.

But which show will prevail? It will be the one with a well-crafted narrative, unexpected character developments, and plot twists that should surprise viewers of a largely formulaic and predictable fantasy genre, if you may identify it as such. And, maybe after these series have ended, we could wish for fresher, more original and distinctive primetime dramas—such as what GMA-7 attempted last year with My Husband’s Lover—and none of the sometimes irritating retelling of oft-repeated tales, such as these mermaid legends that keep on coming back after just a few years. This is an eventuality all of us will welcome, when we demand more from those who produce entertainment; when we would now want something new.

Meantime, it is still really a delight to see these comely thespians in shapely fish suits.