10 Things I Don’t Want to See in Philippine Television Shows

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Lately, I lose interest in watching television shows because I’m no longer entertained. My stress levels increased when I am supposed to relax and rest after a day’s work. That is why I listed down ten things which I hate to ever see again on Philippine television.

1.       Burarang Nanay (Negligent Moms) idea – Every local television series starts on misplaced or interchanged babies, lost heirs, kidnapped at birth to be given to a poor family or left in an orphanage. These stories give out impressions that our hospitals or natal care centers could not be trusted. Can we have a story without these scenes? Honestly, it’s getting old and predictable.

2.       Preempted DNA Test – When viewers are on the verge to get excited about the revelation of the true identity of the heroine/hero of the story boooom! Here comes the showstopper to ensure that the DNA test would not surface. It’s either they bribe or blackmail the doctor or steal the document and replace with a new one. Writers should get another job if they insist to use this ancient trick.

3.       Bomb explosions – A local soap would not even spare this obsolete idea. In order to have the hero/heroine have a cinematic comeback, they would always insert a heart-pounding explosion sometimes obviously made thru CGI. This has been overused and milked by soap operas from the ‘90s. The digital natives and old folks would not buy these anymore. Are people that powerful to sneak a bomb to kill a damsel in distress/action star-like hero? Aren’t our authorities supposed to make a large scale investigation because hello, it’s an explosion?

4.       Police Patola (Incompetent Police) – We cannot blame the low morale of our local police force because seldom we see them being the heroes in the little screen. If they are not the mobsters or the paid ally of the villains, they would look like fools for being the last to arrive at the scene. Ten uniformed men could not even catch a single fugitive. Although crooks in uniform are true to life this does not give television shows enough reason to make them look helpless and incapable more frequent than the usual.

5.       Soaps Named After Song Titles – Are we running out of ideas in making titles aside from those inspired by songs? It looks like the creation of the title depends on the soundtrack to be used.

6.       Revival Again – No offense meant to the golden hits. But instead of relying too much on them, why don’t television shows feature original songs as soundtracks. This would not only benefit the revival of OPM but would give opportunity for aspiring songwriters.

7.       Return of the Undead – The protagonist survived yet another explosion, crash or assassination attempt while the rest mourned, thought he/she was dead. The scene was made more dramatic by the grandness of the burial; the over emphasized smirking and relieved face of the antagonist, and the cry of injustice of the remaining supporters of the protagonist. Let’s say after 3 years, he/she would become more powerful and rich, or would undergo surgery to change appearance. He/she would then plot his sweet vengeance without even filing a case against the antagonist. Are evidences that elusive?

8.       Puppy love overexposure – We all know that love is great, powerful and overwhelming but can we tone it down to the “believable” levels. Hero and heroine loving each other at a very young age are quite disturbing. I mean it can develop over time but not that fast.

9.       Stereotyped characters – The protagonist are usually poor, beautiful/handsome, weaklings at first for a perfect Cinderella story. Meanwhile, antagonists are usually rich, spoiled-brats, possessive, obsessed, mob owners, desperate of attention, and insecure. Can we at least have the opposite scenario like the central characters are rich and the antagonists are poor?

10.   Overstretched Stories – If a show is a hit, the tendency is to stretch the story up to the point that it gets dragging and silly. Elongated storylines not only make the central characters stupid but pathetic, too. The story becomes preposterous to the point that viewers would lose interest and turn off the television. Can we focus more on quality instead? And isn’t it nice to end the story on a high note?

These are just my personal opinion. No harm intended to anyone. If you agree or disagree with me, share your views in the comments section below.