Humor and romance blend beautifully in this episode of one of ABS-CBN’s most loved romance-drama anthologies.
If you were a teenager in the late 2000s, chances are–like those high schoolers, you set aside Sunday afternoons so they could watch the cutesy and charming love stories on Love Spell Presents. It’s a weekly fantasy-romance drama anthology which ABS-CBN aired from 2006 to 2008.
The show featured fantasy-themed love stories that usually run on-air for several weeks. One of the reasons why the series became so popular is–its theme song titled Mahiwaga, which got sung by Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition 1 housemate, Aldred Gatchalian.
In 2007, one of the stories featured by Love Spell Presents is the one that starred Toni Gonzaga and Zanjoe Marudo. Titled Barbi-Cute the story follows the snooty fashion model, Rachel, who played a sick trick on Luke (Marudo), a company janitor.
Rachel asked out Luke on a date, after noticing he was so into her. However, she did not invite him because she felt the same way for the lowly janitor; she had something devious, in mind. She dressed up a mannequin model to look like her, to make Luke believe that it was truly her. It’s a way to send her message of disapproval to Luke, whom she never imagined to be someone she’d end up being with.
Disappointed, Luke took the mannequin home and named her Barbi. Lightning struck the mannequin, and voila, the mannequin came to life!
Luke, being the new owner of the mannequin, did his best to take care of her. As time passes, Barbi developed a romantic feeling for Luke. Luke who was also starting to feel the same, went on with the dilemma of whether or not to stop his feelings. He knew that their romance would never thrive as Barbie was just a mannequin and not a real person.
Barbi-Cute is the first and last team-up of Marudo and Gonzaga in a Love Spell mini-series, and they certainly made the best of it with ‘Barbi-Cute’.
Charming and goofy, at the same time, Barbi-cute really delighted many viewers during its run, with the unusual amount of comic energy it offered. Of course, that’s partly because Empoy was part of the cast, too. Other than the laugh-worthy moments, there surely are sweet Toni-Zanjoe moments that made their fans’ hearts soar in ‘kilig’.
Missing the fun moments in Love Spell Presents…Barbi-Cute? Browse through the photo gallery below to see still photos from the set of the mini-series.
