TV dramas go ‘chemical’

As new TV drama series make their debuts this season, it’s turning out that a significant number of them are going in big time for what is now trendily known as “screen chemistry.”

What does the pseudo-scientific term mean?

In general, it refers to the “magic” that happens on the big or small screen when stars “click” in some way, or when their combination of plus points results in a special viewing experience for the audience.

This is not necessarily a romantic connotation—after all, even two comedians can create onscreen magic and excitement if they work wonderfully well together, and inspire each other to turn in “copacetic” portrayals.

Sugar rush

Most of the time, however, especially in our romance-addled TV-film “culture,” screen chemistry refers to that special viewing urge or surge that happens when two real-life sweethearts costar in a romantic drama or comedy production.

Thus in the recently concluded “The Gift of Life,” Gerald Anderson and Maja Salvador’s love scenes had special “kilig” value and appeal to viewers because they knew that the young-adult stars “really” felt “that way” for each other.

To underscore this advantage, the production had “Maja-Gerald” sweetly or sassily saying sweet nothings and doing “sweet somethings” in scene after scene

—until we reeled from the sugar rush.

Right after “The Gift of Life,” ABS-CBN fielded another pair of “reel-and-real” sweethearts, KC Concepcion and Paulo Avelino, in “Exchange Gift,” also on the late-morning program slot. (It also concluded recently.)

KC played a rich girl with a demanding dad; Paulo, a hardworking but cash-strapped farm owner whose property KC was assigned to buy—but he didn’t want to sell!

The series’ first telecast last Jan. 5 made the two stars go the regulation “coincidence” and “away-bati” routes, so it didn’t win extra points for originality.

KC and Paulo did their best to keep viewers in kilig mode—except that KC looked a bit too mature to be so teen-frisky. Why, they even gigglingly splashed each other with water in one giddy “flirt and squirt” scene—more than a bit much, if you ask us.

Happily, the series’ succeeding telecasts had the lovey-dovey couple getting married (over her dad’s objections) and raising a family, so they stopped playing to the peanut gallery.

Nothing new

It proceeded to be a detailed look at the vicissitudes of young married couples—especially their problems with hard-to-handle in-laws. Paulo’s mother, a know-it-all, “lovingly” critiqued KC’s abilities (or lack of them) as a new wife and mom.

For his part, Paulo had to put up with a perhaps well-meaning father-in-law (Jim Paredes) who just couldn’t help flaunting his wealth and “directing” the young couple’s lives.

Yes, the in-law theme is nothing new, but the fact that it was dramatized and dealt with in a contemporary setting made it relatively fresh and viewable—

especially for other young adults who may be experiencing similar pressures and parental “interference” in their own affairs.

So, do KC and Paulo pass muster as the small screen’s latest “chemical” pair? You bet—get them to the church on time!