MANILA, Philippines — Anne Curtis has a new teleserye, “The Wedding,” that pairs her with Zanjoe Marudo and Derek Ramsay. How is the new show shaping up as weeknight fave?

Curtis plays the daughter of feuding couple, Michael de Mesa and Eula Valdez. They’re well-off, but Curtis feels unloved and unwanted. That’s why she feels grateful to Ramsay for making her feel happy and appreciated. However, Ramsay leaves to stay abroad for a time to “find” himself, so Anne is at loose ends once more.

Plan

Enter Zanjoe’s character, who comes from the wrong side of the tracks but is otherwise a good man. At first, Anne sees only his defects and limitations, but she eventually warms up to him when her parents’ loveless marriage is about to break up and she comes up with a plan to save it—by proposing to Zanjoe.

—Huh? Her logic is faulty, but her folks fall for her ruse, so it’s all to the good. Trouble is, she and Zanjoe simply can’t get along, so their planned union is fraught with problems. In addition, there’s always the prospect of Derek coming back and making Zanjoe the fifth wheel and also-ran in Anne’s heart of hearts—unless she realizes that he’s the best man for her.

Does the show’s premise work? Thus far, the production’s generally lighthearted tone makes it easy to take. Its two leads’ rich-poor dichotomy is rather old-hat, but it’s given enough fresh touches to make it worth viewers’ while.

The problem now appears to be Zanjoe’s relative inexperience as a lead player compared to Anne, who’s chalked up more screen time in past shows and films. This has resulted in an imbalance in the two leads’ portrayals on point of show biz savvy and depth. We trust that, as the show progresses, their disparate performance levels will soon blend, so the series becomes more of a unified piece.

As “The Wedding” starts its run on ABS-CBN, “Only You” is winding up its story, so it’s the right time to sum up its run. First and foremost, the show has been valuable to Angel Locsin’s career, because its popularity has compensated for the less than spectacular showing of her previous ABS-CBN series.

Issues

Its two other leads, Sam Milby and Diether Ocampo, have also benefited from the show’s success, but to a lesser extent, because Diether lacks charisma while Sam is still hobbled by language and enunciation issues.

To his credit, Sam has been working on his limitations, but he isn’t home free yet. He needs to understand that familiarity with language runs deeper than just correct diction, so he has to work harder to make his portrayals believable.

For her part, Angel now needs to accelerate her career moves, so she can build on the success of “Only You,” make up for lost time and catch up with her stellar competition.