Viewers nationwide tuned in to the premiere of the much-anticipated remake of the classic Meteor Garden, and JoshLia’s first television series, which both opened to strong ratings last Monday (Aug. 20).
The pilot episode of the new Meteor Garden enjoyed a national TV rating of 21.4 percent, winning against Wowowin, which only registered 15.4 percent, according to data from Kantar Media.
Filipinos once again follow the life of the feisty Shancai, a girl from a family who runs a delivery service of meals cooked by her mother to make ends meet and stands up to the notorious group of rich, brilliant, young men who always get their way in the university she is attending.
She becomes a target of the F4 and is subjected to every horrible bullying tactic they can employ to make her quit school. However, one of the boys, Huaze Lei takes an interest in her and comes to be her white knight during times she is unable to defend herself. But at the same time, their leader, Daoming Si, falls for the unyielding heroine and starts to appreciate her strong-willed nature.
The 2018 iteration of the Taiwanese series is headlined this time around by Chinese stars such as Shen Yue as Dong Shancai, the main character of the series. The boys, meanwhile, are played by Dylan Wang as Daoming Si, the main love interest of Shancai,Darren Cheng as Huaze Lei, Connor Leong as Fang Meizuo, and Ceasar Wu as Ximen Yan.
“We’re very excited to be once more giving our Kapamilyas the famed ‘Meteor Fever’ that once swept the nation, thanks to this much-anticipated remake,” said ABS-CBN Acquisitions head Macie Imperial.
In 2003, the Philippines fell in love with the original series that starred the famed, and what became to others as the original F4 composed of Jerry Yan, Vaness Wu, Vic Zhou, Ken Chu, and female lead Barbie Xu. Fans can catch the original version again on iWant TV as it brings back the remastered original Taiwan version starting Sept. 1.
Meanwhile, the Ngayon at Kailanman episode that introduced the powerful Cortes clan, garnered a national TV rating of 31.2 percent, or 13.9 points higher than its rival Onanay’s 17.3 percent.
Although series lead stars Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto did not make an appearance in the episode, viewers tuned in and tweeted about the show, making its hashtag #SimulaNgKailanman trend on Twitter.
Ngayon at Kailanman airs evry night on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida, after FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, while Meteor Garden airs right before TV Patrol.