On A Moment's Pleasure

Philippine telenovelas emerged into Philippine television in the 1960s. The first Filipino TV soap opera produced was Hiwaga sa Bahay na Bato by ABS-CBN. The format of Philippine telenovelas is almost the same as Spanish telenovelas, as they have borrowed many elements. The usual telenovela clichés also appear in Philippine telenovelas.

Classical Philippine telenovelas mainly focus on the miserable life of the protagonist, with a plot mainly focusing on either their love life, the search for their broken family, or both. Meanwhile the antagonists, or villains, usually have a plan to kill or kidnap the protagonists in return for money. Antagonists in the old telenovelas were very greedy, rude and violent. Philippine telenovelas usually begin with the protagonists' past, then moves on to their future, while some telenovelas have a few flashbacks. Twists are also popular, mainly focusing on the protagonists' acquaintances who find out that they were actually siblings or relatives, or love triangles. The story usually ends with the antagonist being killed painfully mainly by a shot or bomb, while the protagonist getting injured, then sent to the hospital (usually ending up safe) and get married and having children in the future. Endings became very obvious and predictable amongst viewers. Casting was also tiresome with the same actor acting as protagonist/antagonist in different series. Example of classical Philippine telenovelas were Mula Sa Puso, Mara Clara, Valiente, Saan Ka Man Naroroon, and Pangako Sa 'Yo.

Modern Philippine telenovelas also focus on the life of the protagonist, but expands to the lives of the characters they meet during the series. Antagonists are also on every telenovelas, but less violent compared to the classical telenovelas, also, the lives and the "humane" persona of the antagonists were also beginning to be adapted into the mainstream Philippine telenovela. New twists are also added to expand the series, which usually lasts 6–8 months. Directors also hire successful reality TV winners or runner-ups, regardless whether they can act or not, as minor characters or someteimes even major characters. The ending too is very different. Unlike the old telenovelas, antagonists have a room for forgivness and reconciliation between the main characters, and nowadays do not die in the end. There are even different themes such as suspense, comedic, political, fantasy. Main examples of current Philippine telenovelas are Imortal, Mutya, Dwarfina, Mara Clara, Koreana, Bantatay, Precious Hearts Romances Presents, and Kristine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenovela

Philippine drama can be classified into different forms and genres, with the most popular being the teleserye and teledrama. The teleserye/teledrama is a television form of melodramatic serialized fiction. It is rooted from two words: "tele", which is short for "television," and "serye", a Tagalog term for "series" and "drama" for drama. Teleserye is now used as the generic term for most Filipino soap operas on television, although the term officially came into existence in 2000 when Philippine network ABS-CBN aired its first official form of teleserye, Pangako Sa 'Yo. Prior to this, Filipino soap operas were called either "telenovelas" (and some are still referred to as such) and "soap operas". But as of 2010, GMA Network officially uses teledrama as their form of Philippine TV Series that is drama related.

Teleseryes share some characteristics and have similar roots with classic soap operas and telenovelas, yet the teleserye has evolved into a genre with its own unique characteristics, often working as a reflection of the social realism of the Filipinos. Teleseryes are aired in prime-time five days a week, and often replays during weekends. They attract a broad audience which crosses age and gender lines, and they command the highest advertising rates in Philippine television. They last anywhere from three months to a year, or even longer, depending on its rating.

Storylines

The underlying theme of any teleserye tends to focus on love in all kinds of dimensions: love between couples, families, and friends. A popular plot-line revolves around a love story between two different individuals; most often an affluent individual who falls in love with someone from the "other side of the tracks," so to speak. Often the couple is separated by ill-fate, with their romance being often contradicted by a third party, usually meddling parents or relatives.

Another popular storyline revolves around a character's search for a loved one: a parent, a child, or a long lost friend; stories tend to start at the beginning of the main character's childhood. These storylines usually begin showing the child being separated at birth, or at a very young age, due to some unforeseen circumstance. In some instances, the protagonist may change places with the antagonist, or the main character may meet separated family members at another time in their lives.

Feelings of love, betrayal, jealousy, social status, and revenge are usually the underlying elements that abound in popular storylines, and story arcs build around main characters, and/or the different family members and generations.
[edit] Twists

Among the most common twists in the storylines circling around a romance between couples is that they may find out that they are actually related; brothers and/or sisters who were separated at birth. Or conversely, characters who have grown-up as siblings may find that they are, in fact, not related after a climactic event and/or situation.

Teleseryes are notorious for adding new characters to an already convoluted plot-line. This often adds more of a twist to the overall story. For example, the lead female character may meet a new love interest. This will eventually create a rift between the lead characters.

Sometimes teleseryes uses the "multiple lives" storyline to add more twists: a main character, who may be known as dead, may all-of-a-sudden show up out of nowhere one day; a technique that is popular in the classic American soap opera.
[edit] Villains

Villains are created to make the life of the protagonist especially miserable. Old Filipino soap operas portrayed very rude, violent, greedy, almost sociopathic villains who have come to be tagged as "Kontrabida," derived from the words "kontra" ("against") and "bida" ("the lead character").

Villains in teleseryes have changed from the old soap opera-like versions to a less violent, less vengeful character. Instead, "villains" in teleseryes tend to build on issues such as insecurities, lack of true people skills or true love, or being misunderstood. While less violent, the teleserye villain continues to wreak havoc on the lives of protagonists through mental tactics, and/or more subdued actions.
[edit] Endings

Stories usually end with villains meeting a spectacularly violent, gruesome, painful and gory end. Most complications will reach a resolution, and protagonists end up on top: winning the prize, getting married, having a child with a loved one, and or landing the lead job in a corporation.

The predictability of teleserye endings, however, has become an outstanding issue leading audiences to complain about repetitive and predictable plot-lines and endings. Because of this, scriptwriters have endeavored to change the endings of certain teleseryes to provide an additional twist, or a mark of added originality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_drama

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/249168/abscbn-soap-operas-now-captivating-nonfilipinos-worldwide

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=588380


-    The rich guy falls in love with a poor girl (can be vice versa).
-    Babies were separated to different parents (one goes to the rich parent , the other goes to the poor one)
-    Rich parents and relatives that lives in a large mansion and despises poor people.
-    Poor became rich, rich became poor, or both.
-    An ugly duckling. In the middle of the story he/she will get a plastic surgery or a wish granted by a fairy godmother (or devil of some sort). He/she will suddenly get famous and get the attention of the man/women that they always fantasize about.
-     The bitch antagonist that is purely 100% evil. In the end she will die a gruesome death.
-    Amnesia (who am I? where am I?)
-    Loyal sidekick (usually a comedian)
-    Nosy maid (there is always one)
-    Curse (be miserable or be ugly)
-    A dead came back to life(classic)
-    Love triangle (pretty useless)
-    Loving parents (they will surely die)

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20100715-281134/Why-telenovelas-have-legs

http://zytrexx.multiply.com/journal/item/256