MANILA, Philippines - I’ve been watching television ever since I can remember and I’ve formed a great connection to this wonderful medium of communication. I’m a TV connoisseur, possessing vast knowledge of the main premise and plot points of different shows today, a library of cult TV in the hard drive of my computer rivaling that of a mampipirata in Quiapo and this useless ability to remember the resumes of TV actors/actresses from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
However, the one thing that I cannot seem to find enthusiasm for is the Filipino TV show, especially the teleserye (or teledrama, whichever TV station you belong to). I’ve watched a handful of these shows during the time of Encantadia. But after that era, I can’t seem to find anything interesting to watch on local TV anymore. All the teleseryes right now are the same. Even when they seem different, they’re just a different version of the same formula.
And so I want to give some advice to anyone who has creative control over a teleserye in the same way that people give P-Noy advice on how to run the government; it’s unsolicited, possibly unwanted, but I mean well with it.
1. No more love stories. Or at least, don’t make them the focal point. Okay, I know that love-against-all-odds factor is a tried and tested formula and you make lots and lots of money with it, but primetime is oversaturated with love (all kinds of love). Enough of the unrealistic, improbable and overly dramatic love stories, people. It’s not the only source of happiness in this sad world we live in. Some people actually have other aspirations, other sources of happiness, aside from finding true love — aspirations such as success, wealth, power and fame. Having a major theme aside from love will help — e.g. finding one’s self, finding your place in the world, free will versus fate — and it will help encompass your show and ultimately propel your story forward.
Teleseryes share some characteristics and have similar roots with classic soap operas and telenovelas, but they have evolved into a genre with their own unique characteristics. The genre’s uniqueness gives they more freedom to try new things. Tell new stories. Make us think. Currently, Magkaribal has the potential to be more than just another love story with flashy subplots, with its exploration of family dynamics, success and revenge, except that the promo pictures have the male lead in the middle of the female leads, so I’m still at a loss as to whether it’s a love-against-all-odds story or leaning towards a Bold and the Beautiful kind of show.
2. Subtlety: You’re doing it wrong. The one thing about teleseryes that sends me spiraling down to suffering second-hand embarrassment is its lack of subtlety, either with telling stories or revealing sensitive or shocking information. Dramatic moments in teleseryes are as subtle as a sledgehammer to the audience’s face (Can you hear the background music? A serious crying scene is about to commence, get your tissues! Do you see the kontrabida’s blatantly “evil” face? She’s up to something evil!). Stop telling your viewers what to feel; if you’ve done a great job establishing the characters and the setting, you don’t need your lead actor to release a valley of tears, tear his hair out in a dramatic release and spray his snot all over the room. Please, just… don’t. People emulate these things and it isn’t pretty in real life. Not pretty at all.
Also, what is up with starting your pilot episodes with the lead characters as children (Endless Love, Rubi, Magkaribal, etc.)? It’s quite emotionally manipulative. Why are you showing the trials and tribulations of the characters before the actual start of the story? To make sure that the characters already have the audience’s sympathy? Jump right to the characters where they are right now, then (maybe) delve into their back stories later!
3. Make something you really want to make. Experiment. And no, not those kill-off-the-leads type of experiments that seem to be the fad in teleseryes nowadays. (I know these things even if I don’t watch. They trend on Twitter, you know.) The constant hashing and re-hashing of stories are making them predictable and tiresome for the viewers, and probably making it boring for you. Use your imagination. Stop pandering to the masses by always giving them what they want or what they expect; create a world that you want to see. We don’t care if you want to make a show about a morally ambiguous, cross-dressing, book-loving alien who crash-landed on earth, quoting Rizal while fighting other space aliens who want him dead and pursuing his dream of becoming a universe-renowned chef. We’re not going to judge you (I promise). As long as it’s entertaining.