Thoughts on Korean Drama Remakes Airing on TV Stations

January 15, 2016

'‘Glory Jane’ premieres on IBC-13 this Monday. The said series is a rare example of a remake that aired on a different station from the original. (Photo credit: PEP.ph)'

Not all remakes of drama series ended up airing on the same station as the original.

Such was the case for three telenovelas starring Thalia: MariMar, Maria la del Barrio and Rosalinda. The first two originally aired on RPN-9 in the mid-90s, briefly giving the struggling station a ratings boost.

GMA then re-aired MariMar in the late 2000s, while creating two local remakes of it: one starring Marian Rivera in 2007, and another still under pre-production this year. ABS-CBN never re-aired the original Maria la del Barrio, but was able to produce a remake in 2011 starring Erich Gonzales.

The Kapamilya network also aired Maria Mercedes and Rosalinda later in the 90s. But while they managed to create a local version of the former with Jessy Mendiola two years ago, the latter wound up in the hands of the Kapuso network, not only re-airing the original, but also producing a remake starring Carla Abellana in 2009.

This phenomenon is not restricted to telenovelas alone. It also happens to local dramas as well.

For instance, GMA aired the original Anna Liza starring Julie Vega in the early 80s. Then over two decades later, ABS-CBN remade the series (retitled Annaliza) with Andrea Brillantes, running for nearly a year.

Another example was Dyesebel, which was remade into a GMA teleserye in 2009, only to be rehashed again by ABS-CBN last year. The former starred Marian Rivera while the latter starred Anne Curtis.

As for IBC-13, airing the telenovela Carita de Angel (under Viva-TV block) in 2001. Then over 13 years later, it managed to create the first local version with Mutya Orquia, aired from September 30, 2013 to February 28, 2014. Also, airing TreseBella's Taiwanovela Hayate the Combat Butler, which is remade the local version from October 27, 2014 to March 27, 2015, starring Born to be a Superstar season 3 grand champion Shanne Velasco. This will be followed by the local version of Fall In Love With Me (which was TreseBella's Taiwanovela aired in 2014), topbilled by Sue Ramirez and Aljur Abrenica.

GMA has The Baker King in 2011 and ABS-CBN has My Faiy Lady. The latter wound up in the hands of the Kapatid network TV5 by producing a remake starring Mark Neumann from May 18 to Setember 11, 2015 and follows the remake starrng Jasmine Curtis-Smith from September 14 to Decembr 11, 2015.

Now, IBC-13 is doing recently unprecedented, as a remake of the popular ABS-CBN Koreanovela Glory Jane is expected to premiere on the network starting this Monday. That said, Asianovelas are not safe in the said phenomenon.

The original version of Glory Jane aired on the Kapamilya network in 2013 and than, IBC re-aired Glory Jane from September 30, 2013 to March 7, 2014, and starred Park Min-young, Chun Jung-myung and Lee Jang-woo. The series earned decently good ratings for ABS-CBN that year in 2013.

After re-airing the original Korean drama, IBC-13 acquired the rights for the remake last 2015.

The remake of Glory Jane will star Cheryz Mendoza, Rico dela Paz and Francis Magundayao, and will air on weeknights 5:45 p.m. starting January 18 before Express Balita.

It is rare for a drama series to have a remake air on a different station. Whether it is due to lack of revenue, loss of desire or motivation, or declining ratings, keeping the rights to a particular drama is a something TV stations cannot avoid at times. That said, it is one station’s loss and another’s gain when these things fall into place. Regardless of the result, these stations should be proud to have tried their hand at remaking these classics.

After all, Philippine television is always a cautionary tale for a station’s decisions. Glory Jane is the first Korean drama to have its Filipino remake produced for IBC-13.