A Love to Last, Meant to Be and City Hunter: Primetime’s Opening Salvos This 2017

January 9, 2017

Three new teleseryes get their baptism of fire in the second week of 2017.

On ABS-CBN, Bea Alonzo and Ian Veneracion star in the upcoming series A Love to Last. A family drama, A Love to Last tells the story of Andeng (Bea) and Anton (Ian), two individuals whose fates intertwined thanks to the crumbling relationships with their significant others.

Andeng, a breadwinner and a successful events organizer, was about to get married when she caught her fiancé cheating with another woman. Anton, on the other hand, was a company president and CEO, married to Grace (Iza Calzado) and had three children, only to see her leave and file for annulment.

Both eventually found love with each other in the most unexpected of ways. However, Andeng must first deal with Anton’s marital problems in hopes of gaining his acceptance.

A Love to Last also stars Enchong Dee, Julia Barretto, Ronnie Alonte, JK Labajo and Hannah Vito. It is directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng and Richard Arellano.

Fresh from the successful-but-not-quite-impressive run of Magpahanggang Wakas, ABS-CBN is pinning its hopes on A Love to Last to reverse a downward trend of sub-30% ratings in recent months. But as Bea and Ian were already industry veterans with nothing left to prove, it remains to be seen if viewers can still accept them as a force in primetime.

Over on GMA, a much lighter story will take place in the upcoming series Meant to Be, starring Barbie Forteza, Ken Chan, Jak Roberto, Addy Raj and Ivan Dorschner. It will be Barbie’s first primetime series since the not-so successful team-up with Andre Paras in That’s My Amboy last year.

Joining them in this complicated love story are the ‘Triplets’ of That’s Entertainment in Sheryl Cruz, Tina Paner and Manilyn Reynes, along with Keempee de Leon, Sef Cadayona, Mika dela Cruz, Stephanie Sol, Zymic Jaranilla and Ms. Gloria Romero. It will be directed by LA Madridejos.

In Meant to Be, Billie (Barbie) is an independent millenial whose life would soon revolve among the four men who will try to woo her heart; namely Fil-Brit Ethan (Ivan), Fil-Indian Jai (Addy), pure-blooded Filipino Macoy (Jak), and Fil-Chinese Yuan (Ken). But choosing the only guy that will fill her heart is not the only problem for Billie.

Billie will also deal with the crumbling relationship of her parents Wilton (Keempee) and Amelia (Manilyn), and the unemployment of her brother Bats (Sef). In addition, a sub-plot about Billie’s friendship with Mariko (Mika), and the once-formidable bond between Amelia, Suzy (Tina) and Beatriz (Sheryl) as a girl group will also be explored.

Meant to Be's premiere will come at a not-so opportune time, as the JaDine-starred Till I Met You reaching its final two weeks. With only a few episodes to prove themselves, it will be a huge challenge for this rom-com to make a first impression to Kapuso viewers.

As for IBC-13, AJ Muhlach returns on primetime in the upcoming series City Hunter. An action drama is the local adaptation of 2011 Koreanovela and marks the return of AJ under IBC after his several projects are Whattaboys and the superhero action-fantasy drama seris Voltron Man.

This will be the second primetime series of AJ after the superserye Voltron Man. It is also the third Korean drama adaptation to air on IBC-13 after the school-themed drama Glory Jane (produced by IBC-13 and Secarats Talent Management Servies) and the romantic comedy-drama My Princess.

Joining Muhlach in the powerhouse cast of City Hunter are Sue Ramirez, Eddie Garcia, Albie Casiño, Empoy Marquez, Eliza Pineda, Chienna Filomeno, Kier Legaspi, Dina Bonnevie and Tonton Gutierrez. It is directed by Lino Cayetano and Topel Lee.

In City Hunter, Johnny Lee (AJ) is a charming and smart young man who works at the Presidential residence called the Blue House. Little did everyone know that behind his massive appeal to women, intelligence and pleasing personality lies a son trained to kill and seek revenge for his father. His mission is to make five politicians responsible for killing his father pay with their own lives. Despite being a skilled assassin, the task wouldn’t be that easy for Johnny because he has to follow three rules on his mission— he can't trust anyone, he can't reveal his true identity, and he can't fall in love. All of these will be put to test when he meets Kim Na-na (Sue), a body guard at the Blue House. As Johnny unintentionally falls in love with Kim, he must also choose which path to take.

The original City Hunter first aired on IBC-13 from August 1, 2011 to September 30, 2011 as a late primetime drama before moving to ABS-CBN from January 23 to April 13, 2012 as a late primetime drama and re-aired again from July 9 to September 7, 2012 as an afternoon drama entitled City Hunter Returns, and it starred Korean superstar Lee Min-ho. Took over the timeslot of Paano Tatakasan ang Bukas? in the 9:15 p.m. timeslot (the fantasy anthology I Luv for Christmas was aired in the interim).

Fresh from the successful-but-not-quite-impressive run of Magpahanggang Wakas, ABS-CBN is pinning its hopes on A Love to Last to reverse a downward trend of sub-30% ratings in recent months. But as Bea and Ian were already industry veterans with nothing left to prove, it remains to be seen if viewers can still accept them as a force in primetime.

Either way, both A Love to Last, Meant to Be and City Hunter are worth the wait for those who anticipate it. Good luck to both shows.

A Love to Last airs weeknights after Ang Probinsyano on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida, while Meant to Be airs weeknights after Alyas Robin Hood on GMA Telebabad, and City Hunter airs weeknights after You Light Up My Life on IBC Kapinoy Primetime.