Fantaserye and telefantasya
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Fantaserye or telefantasya is a genre of Philippine television programming which mixes soap opera, telenovela, fantasy,
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
,
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
and enchantment. The episodes are usually 30 minutes long and have a daily slot in the evening primetime row.


Usage

The term fantaserye is often used to refer to ABS-CBN's fantasy series. The first official fantaserye was ''
Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
,'' a series about a girl cursed to become a mermaid. Telefantasya often refers to the creations of GMA Network; their first telefantasya was '' Mulawin,'' a series about a humanoid bird who fell in love with a girl who was later revealed to be part-bird. But even before, GMA has its first fantasy-based soap via ''
Ikaw Na Sana ''Ikaw na Sana'' (International title: ''Destiny'' / ) is a Philippine television drama romance series broadcast by GMA Network. Directed by Mac Alejandre, it stars Angelu de Leon and Bobby Andrews. It premiered on March 17, 1997. The series c ...
'' in 1997 and ''
Pintados Visayans (Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...
'' in 1999. ABS-CBN also reinvented the name of their fantasy TV series depending on its origin, like '' Krystala,'' named superserye (pertaining to
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
) and '' Ang Panday'' as
sineserye Philippine television drama, also known as ''teleserye'', Filipino telenovelas or P-drama, is a form of melodramatic, serialized, televised fiction in the Philippines. ''Teleserye'' is derived from two Filipino words: "tele", short for "''telebis ...
(cinematic origin). However, both are still regarded by many as fantaseryes.


History

The Fantasy genre of television has been around even before the word was conceived. Probably the first Filipino fantasy series could be regarded as ''Okey Ka Fairy Ko!
1
' produced by TAPE, Inc. in 1987 and broadcast originally on IBC Channel 13, moved to ABS-CBN until TAPE Inc. transferred its programs to GMA after its contract expired with ABS-CBN. ''Okey ka, Fairy Ko!'' is a story about Taga-Lupa ("Earthling" in English) Vic Sotto who married Engkantada (a fairy) Alice Dixson. They had children who were half-earthlings and half-fairies. The fairy, a princess in her world, had a stern mother, Ina Magenta (Charito Solis) who visited the neighborhood everyday, criticizing their lifestyle on earth (sometimes battling with evil from the dark world). Fantaserye's origins were more rooted towards situational comedy than soap opera (today's fantaseryes and telefantsayas are lined up in evening prime time along with other soap operas), and ''Okey ka, Fairy Ko!'' is proof of that. The series had a run of about seven years and was aired on one day of the week for about 60 minutes per episode. Other notable series with similar nature are ''Wansapanataym'' of ABS CBN and ''Beh Bote Nga'' of GMA Network on Pinoy Teleserye.Pinoy Teleserye
/ref> Telefantasyas or Fantaseryes need not only depict magical worlds in space or underwater. They may also depict future settings. ''
Pintados Visayans (Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...
,'' launched by GMA, could also fall under the same genre. ''Pintados'' was about a band of painted warriors (Pintados) with the power to control the elements on a mission to save the world. Nowadays, several titles fall under this genre. However, the most popular fantaseryes or telefantasyas are the ones shown weeknights during primetime television. Once-a-week fantaseryes are also included under the same genre but do not receive as much viewership as the ones shown every weeknight. Fantaseryes weren't given as much as attention earlier and thus were usually shown on a once-a-week basis with each episode running for one to one hour and a half. In 2003, ABS-CBN introduced a new genre of teleserye which mixes soap opera, fantasy, myth, magic and enchantment on a nightly basis. This genre was called fantaserye, with such shows falling under this genre broadcast on a nightly basis during primetime. The first fantaserye that was shown on primetime TV was officially '' Darating ang Umaga.'' However, it was commercially a failure. Fantasy themed TV series have been around for while already in the Philippines prior to the launch of the series '' Darating ang Umaga'' although they weren't popular on television. in 2004, ABS-CBN took another risk by showing yet another fantaserye called ''
Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
.'' Unlike its predecessor, ''
Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
'' set a benchmark for fantaseryes on television when it garnered consistent high ratings during its entire run. The ratings and audience share of the said fantaserye were even higher than the usual more established primetime teleseryes. Because of this, the television series ''Marina'' was officially the one that popularized the genre. Today, fantaseryes are the most viewed TV program in the Philippines. Recent surveys by media research firms AC Nielsen and AGB state that fantaseryes have the highest ratings in the evening primetime block. Although ABS-CBN started the fantaserye fad, its rival GMA network introduced its own fantasy-based series which they called telefantasya which has a similar meaning and nature as a fantaserye. After ''
Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
'', ABS-CBN produced fantasy-based series under a different name but with a similar nature in the hope of saturating the ratings game such as superserye '' Krystala,'' sineserye '' Ang Panday'' and '' Super Inggo''. On the other hand, rival GMA network started their telefantasya run during primetime with '' Marinara'' and '' Mulawin. ''(But Marinara is more so called as kwela-novela).'' ''Although in 1997, GMA officially have their first soap with fantasy genre entitled ''Ikaw Na Sana.'' Because of this, GMA network has decided to focus on producing telefantasya shows while ABS-CBN's productions are a mix of at least one fantaserye and several other soap operas (drama).


Criticisms


Values formation

A TV-magazine show's episode on November 5, 2005, pointed out that fantaseryes have a negative effect on the young children because they cannot clearly mark the borderline between reality and fantasy. Also in this line, the themes of the telefantasyas often feature battles between two factions: good and evil. Although the good and evil parts of the battle are clearly marked, people, especially the children emphasize more on the fights rather than the victory of good over evil. The children imitate the fights scenes and thus inculcate them in their lives. Conservatives have always critiqued the showing of violence on television as detrimental to the children's values.


Social constructionism

The theory of Social constructionism is often used as defense by the critics not just of Fantaseryes, but of the television as a
postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
invention. This theory, by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann in the 1960s suggests that reality is constructed by the society in general, and individually, by the people who interpret and perceive reality. In this case, television forms a reality in the minds of the people, specifically, as an "ideal" world on where to live in. The people perceive it and then in turn form the notion that "this is how life should be." This happens, when, in fact, it should not be, because the television is not the reality but life is the ultimate reality.


See also

*
Fantasy television Fantasy television is a genre of television programming featuring elements of the fantastic, often including magic, supernatural forces, or exotic fantasy worlds. Fantasy television programs are often based on tales from mythology and folklore, ...
*
List of fantasy television programs This is a list of fantasy television programs. It includes original television movies, miniseries and television serials in the fantasy genre and its various subgenres. This list excludes fantasy films originally made for the cinema, which are li ...
* Philippine drama
ABS-CBN Fantasy SeriesFantasy TV seriesanimixplay TV series


References

{{Reflist * Philippine television series Fantaserye Television genres