GMA NETWORK
ACTORS: Alden Richards, Jasmine Curtis, Pancho Magno, Denise Barbacena, and Shyr Valdez
FORMAT: Drama Anthology
PREMISE: A dedicated frontliner nurse navigates life in the “new normal” with the help of her handsome photographer neighbor
TIME SLOT: Weeknights, 9:20 PM
WHY YOU SHOULD SEE IT
Alden Richards and Jasmine Curtis-Smith are back together as a pair in a story that will surely elicit lightheartedness, and ‘kilig.’
LOVE ON THE BALCONY, GMA Network’s first scripted production that was fully shot during the pandemic is filled with breezy warmth and contagious lightheartedness. First of at least four titles under the Kapuso network’s new drama anthology, ‘I CAN SEE YOU’, the week-long mini series stars network staples, Alden Richards and Jasmine Curtis-Smith.
Given their length and the relative ease producing them, the arrival of the show may be easily perceived as a filler to full-length series that are yet to return to the Telebabad line-up after production was halted in the wake of the implementation of community quarantines. This isn’t the first time Smith and Richards are working on a project together. Smith, who is also part of another GMA Telebabad show, Descendants of the Sun, was a part of the Alden Richards-Maine Mendoza movie, Imagine You and Me.
The pilot episode is completely light. There is no prosaic complication in the plot yet, but one can easily dismiss its absence. This is after all, almost only after the hopeless romantics, or those who dig cheesy pocketbook romances. Nevertheless, in spite of the lack of heavier themes, that lightness the show has, itself, is what makes it more exciting. Aside from the fact that seeing another show that is not a rerun of an old one is already refreshing, something that is different from the oversized-drama-filled soap oper, feels a departure from what has become the usual TV fare these days.
If there is something worth noting, other than the inherent chemistry between Jasmine and Alden, the show is actually being a potent platform to raise awareness among viewers about this pandemic. Reminding the public to follow safety protocols is conveniently embedded in the plot, that its integration doesn’t actually look forced. The fact that Smith’s character is a nurse, is itself a symbolism of the show’s intent to pay tribute to our front liners.
There is still enough room for things to get more romantic, or perhaps, heavier in terms of drama, but keeping it light may be best option, after all, given the fact it will run for just a week.
I CAN SEE YOU: LOVE ON THE BALCONY airs over GMA TELEBABAD on GMA NETWORK
WATCH THE TEASER FOR ‘LOVE ON THE BALCONY’ BELOW:
