Fantaserye or telefantasya is a genre of Philippine

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

ming which mixes

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

, fantasy,

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, magic 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 ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

's fantasy series. The first official fantaserye was '' Marina,'' a series about a girl cursed to become a mermaid. Telefantasya often refers to the creations of

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

; 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'' in 1997 and '' Pintados'' 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 fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

) and '' Panday'' as sineserye (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,'' 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.'' Unlike its predecessor, '' Marina'' 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'', 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 '' 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 Social constructionism is a term used in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory. The term can serve somewhat different functions in each field; however, the foundation of this Conceptual framework, theoretical framework suggests ...

is often used as defense by the critics not just of Fantaseryes, but of the

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

as a

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

invention. This theory, by Peter Berger and

Thomas Luckmann Thomas Luckmann (; October 14, 1927 – May 10, 2016) was an American-Austrian sociologist of German and Slovene origin who taught mainly in Germany. Born in Jesenice, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Luckmann studied philosophy and linguistics at the ...

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.

References