Erich Gonzales
As current TV shows unreel, they reveal flaws or seams that may not have been all that apparent on first viewing.
For instance, on “Maria La Del Barrio,” Erich Gonzales isn’t faring as well as she did in her past teleseryes. What seems to be the problem? The actress is as talented as ever, but her present role doesn’t suit her to a T. She’s playing a maid, but her light-colored, wavy ’do makes her look way too saucy and “sosi” to be believable as the masa character she’s playing.
Worse, although the script puts her in some seemingly daunting situations, she has the incredible knack for saucily getting out of them, no sweat. And she conveniently gets involved with the drama series’ male leads, despite the opposition of most of the female characters in the story. There go the requirements of logic and believability—again.
Young male lead Enchong Dee doesn’t fare much better. His erratic and constantly shifting hero-antihero antics make his portrayal come off, not as edgy and excitingly unpredictable, but too whimsical, petulant and peevish to be worth trying to figure out.
Kim Chiu
As for Ai Ai de las Alas, who played Maria’s tubercular surrogate mother, she finally expired last week, but not before indulging in a final “aria” that enabled her to exit with both a bang and a (cough, cough) whimper.
Talk about confusing, it was perplexing to hear her cough so much, then instantly stop coughing to loudly deliver her long accusatory “aria,” then resume coughing again after declaiming it.
How convenient to have a lung disease that you can turn on and off like a spigot!
‘Time of My Life’
On “Time of my Life,” the dancing has continued to be less than spectacular, and that isn’t cricket for an ostensibly dance-oriented drama about fiercely competitive divas and divos of terpsichore.
‘My Binondo Girl’
On “My Binondo Girl,” Kim Chiu initially passed muster as a frail young man, but as we watch more episodes and the character is involved in increasingly challenging scenes, the visual and vocal trickery betrays its implausibilities.
This isn’t good for the storytelling, because it makes the other people in the series, especially the title character’s Chinoy father, look rather silly and much too easily deceived. Yes, there are frail boy-men in Binondo, but they aren’t this fey and soignee—cute, little fake moustache notwithstanding.
‘The Biggest Loser’
On “The Biggest Loser,” it’s good to see that program host Sharon Cuneta has lost more pounds—around 20 of them, as per recent “evidence.” But the contestants have lost much more, so she still looks plump in comparison.
It also doesn’t help that Sharon’s other, less “styled” appearances on the tube rudely belie her “major” loss of girth and poundage. A recent news clip showing her visiting a TV studio revealed what she really looks like when one isn’t performing or hosting, and the girth was definitely there.
Now that her new movie has been announced, Sharon should really redouble her efforts to get back into fighting trim for the cameras.
We know that it’s tough as heck, but she owes it to herself and her stellar career. In addition, one could inspire many viewers to themselves opt for a lighter and healthier life.