[ Phil. Drama 2008] My Girl

[Guest imogene_af]

^

^ How did you know that Green Rose is going to be remake? I wasn't able to watch Green Rose but I think the role does suit Jake. *thinks of Palos*

Green Rose was hardly action like PALOS. Green Rose if remade would be in better hands of such intense actors (not to mention more competent) like John Lloyd Cruz or Jericho Rosales.

I know this because I have "bees" who work for ABS. They bought Green Rose AND Lovers in Paris, although LIP is more of a hard deal for them. It's on "reserve". Green Rose is currently casting.

Anyway, I'm actually crossing my fingers now that MY GIRL remake isn't as disastrous for my sanity and you know... ego as a Filipino. Lord.

[chrissavic]

geez too many haters...

anywayz..I'm gonna watch this on Monday.

[Guest charmaine412]

Re: Green Rose remake

I'll root for John Lloyd Cruz if ever!

Re: My Girl Remake

I don't expect them to come up with a remake at par with the original in terms of quality, but I wish it's at least a decent one , one that won't be too embarrassing to be shown outside the Philippines.

[elley]

I'll really don't know if I like the MY GIRL remake..i have to watch it. Actually I like Kim Chui but I think Gerald is not fit as a Julian he look so young on his role. I'm not saying I don't like Gerald but I think there is still someone.

[Guest Nayden]

Anyway, Nayden, I think I'll fly to the Philippines and kick the executive's door open if they even think of remaking Robbers! That's enough damage, thank you.

Trust, me I'll be joining you if that happens! haha - As much as Im dreading this My Girl remake, I am curious to see if I'm proved wrong. Does anyone know if this will be uploaded on youtube or something?

Thanks x

[Guest xarlem7]

TRAILERS:(w/ English Subs)

[Guest jollibee]

green rose???

didn't see that coming...

it would be awkward though...

kim is a bit overacting...i think

[Guest charmaine412]

waaahhh, Pilot epi, how come the first epi became so dramatic? As I expected, it didn't catch my attention, sucks.. :fury: :fury: :fury: :fury: All of them are over-reacting.

regarding Gerald I feel so sorry for him, he can't really act. It's like he was smiling instead of crying..

Can't wait for Nina, for me she is the only one that suits the role.

anyway, Miss Yoon and Gong Chan in this remake, it's like they're gonna fall in love with each other, for me they have more chemistry than Jasmine-Julian.

[Guest yojan17]

The pilot epi's supposed to be funny... I don't know what happened. Well, I guessed because they 'Filipinized' it, it became so melodramatic. I hate how they're making Mrs. Jang a villain and how they changed some of the minor details. But the worst thing about this remake is "Tira-Tira" (eewww). Gerald Anderson is a very close second. I could go on all night about the rest. I applaud Kim for trying though.

Gerald's acting is a hopeless case. *shakeshead*

EDIT: Wait, I completely forgot about DJ Durano. Aw, never mind.

[Guest madz_kikay]

i watched the airport episode and so on.. and it was funny...

but gerald can't act.. and i rily hate when I hear "tira-tira" duh!!!!

[Guest imogene_af]

From what I got from reviews, Kim apparently was a big surprise.

Gerald got bad reviews. As expected.

[zashibear]

Why must they say Tira Tira? yacck.

[cutekid]

its for real...

it just started broadcasting last night hear in the philippines.

i'm not into kim-gerald love team, no hater too, but i don't like remakes...

watched it a few minutes then turned off the TV afterwards. kim looks cute and improved her acting, gerald never mind him. so bad actor. i just hope the actor workshop pays off on him. he needs more practice...

[Guest imogene_af]

So I watched it... it wasn't as painful as expected haha.

The Skinny: MY GIRL REMAKE IS FLAWED, BUT GIVES US A STAR MAKING MOMENT FOR KIM CHIU

Overall a strong pilot, had flaws, but passable.

I am viewing this as one of the biggest fans of the original, I have come to love this show and its actors so much, I came to follow even the career of the original Yoo Rin/Jasmin, Lee Da-hae who has grown so much as an actress after her stint in MY GIRL.

I have whined. I have blasted the notion of having a remake, but being fair, I gave the show a chance. Seeing this as solely just another ABS-CBN show and a Filipino remake.

The pilot wasn't rid of a lot of faults, it had bouts of melodrama, potential cliches, miscasting, and some annoying roundabouts here and there. However, I believe this is one of the strongest ABS pilots of 2008. LOBO being too convulted of a start. PALOS just plain horrific (unintentional) comedy and KUNG FU KIDS being too ambitious for its run.

MY GIRL geared with a straightforward script from the Hong Sisters, the injection of pinoy humor, and a very charming Kim Chiu at the helm has the potential to be a hit teen fare of 2008. Considering the budget restrictions comparison to an SBS Korea production with the rather third world, Philippines, I was surprised with the fast cuts and the fresher approach of editing with this show.

The first frame, we are led to Rizal Park where the tourist guide Jasmin (Kim Chiu) gives an enthusiastic speech to a bunch of Chinese visitors. Jasmin is a Chinese Mestiza (of mixed Chinese and Filipino blood), she's funny, quirky, and spunky. She can speak different languages. She charms the tourists with her weird plays (though, a bit contrived but forgivable) and Chinese inspired costumes. She leads the shabby tour with her two Chinese-Filipino friends, Jeffrey and Christine (Cathy Gonzaga).

Jasmin is the strong-willed daughter to Chito. Chito is a gambling addict who just does not know when to stop. When Jasmin catches her dad doing another rounds in the karera, she scolds him, but later on joins him with the cheering.

In some plot contrivance, and uber stupid script direction (this whole scene was bad), the money Chito won was just snatched. Blink of an eye... just snatched! And they shrug to themselves... oh damn, we lost the money. Big problem. The money isn't even his, but his boss' Asyong's. Then the conflict ensues. They are poor living in a small slum, living in debt, and in hiding. Jasmin tries to make ends meet for their dreams to finally come true.

We then move on to Julian, he lives the great life. In his early 20s, a Harvard Graduate, Taking his masters (WTF), and the future successor of his grandfather's hotel. Much to the dismay of the Vice-President of the hotel resort, Tessie (played by K Brosas).

They establish this kid is close to his grandpa so he would do anything for his "lolo-daddy". When his grandfather suddenly gets a heart attack, he asks Julian for one wish, for Julian to manage the hotel-resort with his long, lost cousin, Hannah.

My Beef: I'll start with some of the real negative points that they probably should shy away later on.

The set for the airplane sure did look like a bus. It was laughable but can be forgivable, if they'd use more close-up shots later on.

But what I thought was damaging was...

The bouts of melodrama between Julian and his family was too much!

Good Lord, the flashbacks with the explainations and how we lost little Hannah... then the whole sob story with her mother was just too much and lessens the fun mood of the teleserye. I do not mind melodrama, but it shouldn't come out as a random thing. Julian's flashbacks were very random and felt off-hand. Why should I suddenly sympathize for people I DO NOT KNOW? I couldn't care less about Hannah's mom. There is no establishment for me to care. This isn't just a MY GIRL problem, though but plagued in a lot of ABS shows.

Gerald Anderson... tries. extremely. hard. You can tell he is exerting all his effort to play this role. He wears a suit, he broods and exhales deeply. His soft eyes that has a look of gentleness... is the same eyes he uses for his dramatic scenes with his lolo and scenes later on with Jasmin. He has his stronger points such as his strut and his interactions with his secretary. Even his reminiscing moments, but I believe he is still a miscast. It's not enough. As expected, I knew it would be distracting. Let's hope for the room of improvement, he should probably take pointers from John Lloyd Cruz who at 19 made me believe he was 27.

The character description for him in the show just gave me a puzzling moment. I thought they ADJUSTED the character for him? But Gerald being a Harvard Masters in Business graduate is already looking at it a bit far-fetched. No matter how much I extend disbelief for its fantasy elements, they didn't do enough adjustments for Gerald to play this role. So much for making Gerald play this role and "adjusting" it for him.

Enchong Dee as Nico didn't even bleep in my radar. If you told me that guy is a main character, I would look at you going... "Really?"

Nico is a player. Nico is "angas"/sexy arrogance. He should be walking into that room with a swagger, with confidence, and a certain playful conviction. He had the same effect to me as DJ Durano/Mr.Jang character... it's like, "Oh. He's there."

Then, there's the use of "tira-tira" as Jasmin's favorite tagline, I can imagine little kids or ya know, people easily amused quoting it, but she doesn't have to say it every. single. time. Yoo Rin did say "Bbasyaaa!" a lot, Kim's character doesn't have to do so. She can have her own quirk, doesn't have to be like Yoo Rin's.

The Mixed Feelings:

What I'm scared of? I am scared that Jeong Woo's mother in this version seems way more villainous than the original. I hope she isn't one-dimensional! I hope we won't see scenes of her shoving Jasmin to do some laundry. Or feeding her mud. Good Lord! Down with one-dimensional villains...

but K Brosas was GOOD in her few scenes. She was one of the few who had a bold mark in this pilot. So we will see what she can offer.

The "saintifying" Jasmin's dad. In the original, he was pretty much scum (though a charming one) that whole robbing incident gave me mixed feelings. I would rather he really just gamble that money away.

Do they have to do the closing credits with the snow flakes? Since when did Manila have snow? What the hell.

Not that I'm just filled with b***ing, the show did have its VERY GOOD points, which caught me off as refreshing.

THE GOOD:

Starting off... Kim Chiu is a pleasant surprise. In her bangs and deep dimples, and rather sparkling youth. I was wondering for a while if the good reviews were all hype, but here she gives us a whole different Jasmin, different from Lee Da-hae's portrayal but captures the essence of the role. Which is what one should do. One does not expect a replica of the portrayal!

Though her knack for comedy is still a little problematic. The airport scene lacked spontaneity but she still was passable. I believe the comedic scenes CATHY GONZAGA owned everyone, but in fairness to Kim she gives us a pretty complex and dimensioned Jasmin. Not to mention, believable.

My favorite scenes are the ones with her father, the mix of humor and sympathetic drama was right at point. Subtle scenes like when Chito overhears his land lady talking crap about him and Jasmin holds his hand. It wasn't forced melodrama but just to the point wherein you can easily relate to it.

I believe Chito and Jasmin in the Philippines' version have more father-daughter chemistry than the ones in the original. Lito Pimentel gives us a pathetic... but incredily worth rooting for daddy role. Though, I had problems with the bag-stealing scene as a way to play the father as a victim, Kim and Lito did well with what they were given.

The scene when Jasmin was adding up their debts, geared with just a flashlight, controlling her tears, sighing in exasperation, then smiling as soon as her father walked in gave me a sort of promise that Kim Chiu can carry her OWN Jasmin. A bit darker but still as goofy. If she continues this route, she can do well in this role and may launch her as one of the stars to look out for in Phil. showbiz.

Another revelation is Cathy Gonzaga who just got me to laugh even at scenes when the focus wasn't on her. I always believed she's the better comedian compared to her sister, the much bigger star Toni Gonzaga. Good Lord, when she sat on the lap of that guy while screaming the hell out in Chinese was just laugh out loud worthy. She for me owns the original role. No contest. None. Cathy's brand of comedy is just with a wink of her eye, though it may be too Filipino of a humor but I love her in this.

I have always noticed the rather sloooooooow editing in Phil. shows, this one it was breezy, snappy, and different. A fresh take on scenes, I liked how they did not DWELL on scenes (I'm looking at you, LOBO, though I love the show to pieces) but gave it out when needed to.

Even the treatment, with two stories being shown at one shot was very smart, though obviously K-drama inspired.

The way they are making us think that Jasmin = Hannah can be seen as problematic, but I think I may like this better than the very random conclusion to the cousin problem in the original.

The use of MY GIRL music, or MY GIRL-like music was a good thing for me, I was one of the few who suggested this because it brings HOMAGE to the original. Which is rightly so. I don't mind just having a few instrumentals here and there, because it gives you a feel for the original.

So we end with the two protagonists finally meeting each other, with her conveniently landing on his lap.

I do see it is a pretty strong pilot, leaving my biases aside that the original is like the best show evaaaar, I do see rather refreshing aspects to this series. Kim Chiu is cute, charming, and gives off a warm affection when doing bouts of little drama.

As long as they veer away from melodrama and do tell their own Filipino version of the story, they are mostly on good track. Too bad the miscasting is still evident. Just direct Gerald to veer away from his puppy dog look when staring at Kim, they are off to a good start.

[Guest angel2nyt]

i watched the pilot episode last night, and this series has REAL potential(than those annoying teasers)

kim is more bearable.. and actually less annoying than lee da hae in the original one

though sometimes she can be verging on annoying

the ONLY problem of this show is : gerald anderson, the first time he talked, he sounded like a younger-but-still-as-annoying robin padilla

i still hate that tira-tira by the way

Another revelation is Cathy Gonzaga who just got me to laugh even at scenes when the focus wasn't on her. I always believed she's the better comedian compared to her sister, the much bigger star Toni Gonzaga. Good Lord, when she sat on the lap of that guy while screaming the hell out in Chinese was just laugh out loud worthy. She for me owns the original role. No contest. None. Cathy's brand of comedy is just with a wink of her eye, though it may be too Filipino of a humor but I love her in this.

i agree, cathy really has comedic timing and she already has this presence

the girl has potential, hope abs-cbn takes care of her

my favorite scene was when jasmine started saying" kapag tumibok ang puso wala ka nang magagawa kundi sundin ito"

so cheesy hahaha

[Guest amydien]

I watched it on youtube, just now. Kim Chiu definitely impressed me. I think she did pretty well on portraying her role. I agree, she had that energetic aura like Lee Da Hae, but at the same time, they're not very much alike. Kim Chiu added her own style to her acting, which was very good.

Im also a fan of the original My Girl series. But I also tried to be fair and gave this show a chance (despite my doubts on the cast).

I have 2 complains:

1) Gerald Anderson REALLY does not suit his character. From his very first scene down to the last, he just looked so wrong for the part. He's way too young for the role. His acting wasnt suitable for his character either. He made Gong Chan look like a wimp (unable to manage the company?). Bad casting on ABSCBN's part.

2) too early for the drama. Way too many flashbacks for a pilot episode. But then I guess ABS wants to lay out all the background info first before going into the main story.....

Like imogene_af, Im also getting a bit of worried feeling about how Jeong Woo's mom's character. She does seem more villaneous than needed in this remake. Even when I watched the original My Girl, I never considered her as a "villain". She maybe "mataray" but never had ill-intentions towards Gong Chan. In this remake, she reminded me of "Selina" from that old Filipino drama "Mula Sa Puso" (Claudine Baretto-Rico Yan). Kinda scary.

My suggestion? Replace Gerald with someone more suitable to the role. I dont care if they made it that Gong Chan had a plastic surgery during his trip to cebu and looked completely different in episode 2, as long as it's not Gerald anymore (and it's someone else more fitting). I dont hate Gerald or anything, but he's just still too boyish for the role.

Overall, 3/5 3.5/5 rating for a first episode. And Im being nice and considerate here. That's just my 2 cents.

[SamLien]

Watched the pilot episode last night. . . hmm I think it was quite passable. Kim's acting ain't as disastrous as Geralds who obviously can't act in my opinion. . .

And I hate it when they say "tira-tira" what is up with that!! And gosh its supposed to be funny how come it ended up like a drama all of a sudden. *sighs*

[Guest imogene_af]

^

Sam Milby would have been a perfect Gong Chan. As predicted, Gerald is the weakest link. It's like "I hate to say, I told you so... but I told you so."

The problem with ABS-CBN or any Filipino network for that matter is they are easily swayed by loveteam fans threats, assuming that every single viewer is a friggin loveteam fan. How am I supposed to believe GERALD in his ill-fitting suit, GRADUATED BUSINESS in friggin Harvard?! Geesh. They could've at least adjusted the role for him, someone who hasn't even finished college who had to go home from the US because his grandfather was sick---that would've made more sense. But they kept Gong Chan!

And I do agree on the plastic surgery part. Do a retake... and get Sam Milby if possible.

All my complaints aside, I really like Kim Chiu as Jasmin. She didn't channel Lee Da-hae, she made her own but captured the essence of the role. Her and Cathy carried the drama for me.

[Guest shred]

did i just see dj durano? is this a wenn deramas drama?

am still watching it ...

[Guest angel2nyt]

did i just see dj durano? is this a wenn deramas drama?

am still watching it ...

nop.. he isnt.. but i know what you mean.. hahaha

the directors are Erick Salud and Jerome Chavez Robocan(or Robccan.. i can't see it properly)