It’s been 15 years since the Philippines got struck by the Meteor Garden fever from which we apparently never recovered. As years go by, our fondness for the manga-based series just grows more intense, especially everytime a new adaptation is set to air.
Among its remakes, the first still occupies the largest portion in our hearts, as it introduced us to the five characters that we would love forever – Shan Cai, Dao Ming Si, Hua Ze Lei, Xi Men, and Mei Zuo. Besides, those who were able to devotedly watch it when they were younger still know every remarkable moment and statement by heart.
Thus, over the years, some of the most notable scenes in the original and Taiwanese version have been reenacted in some local movies and television series as parodies.
Let’s reminisce first the five of the most entertaining satirical takes of ASAP and It’s Showtime of some of its memorable moments.
ASAP’s spoof of Meteor Garden was indeed cuteness overload!
Imitating the signature look of Barbie Hsu as Shan Cai – double braids, knapsack on her back – Xyriel Manabat opened the production number of Kanto Boys Jr. by mocking her emotive hollering of Dao Ming Si’s name during the bus chase scene. They even mimicked the intense moment when bestfriends Hua Ze Lei and Dao Ming Si fought over the popular leading lady.
Kanto Boys Jr., comprised of child stars Bugoy Cariño, Izzy Canillo, Clarence Delgado, and Zaijian Jaranilla also thrilled the audiences with their mash-up of the original and translated renditions of “Qing Fei De Yi” and the F4’s hits “Can’t Lose You” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.
Meanwhile, It’s Showtime brought us to a trip down memory lane when they created a parody of Meteor Garden titled “Meet Your Gardener” through their defunct segment Sine Mo ‘To. Coleen Garcia played Shan Cai, while Vice Ganda, Jhong Hilario, Teddy Corpuz, and Ryan Bang form the F4.
Here are some of the hilarious skits they did, based on the popular series:
The story commenced with Shan Cai opening her locker only to find a photo of the narrator Billy Crawford (who was then still wooing Coleen) with the question “Kailan mo ba talaga ako sasagutin?” written on it…and the infamous “YOU’LL BE DEAD” red card of F4.
Via a makeshift car, the bad boys of the university finally arrived! Vice was Dao Ming Sugat, Jhong was Mei Sua, Ryan was Waley Ze Lei, and Teddy as Xi Men-to.
In order to make it a legit adaptation of Meteor Garden, the F4 sans Mei Sua sang the Tagalized rendition of its OST, “Biyahe” by Josh Santana.
In one of the episodes of the Mini Me segment, Vice suddenly blurted out “Dao Ming Si” in the midst of his and Vhong Navarro’s pseudo altercation about the latter eating rice porridge with the use of a pingpong paddle.
Are we going to see another wave of parodies as the arrival of the newest Meteor Garden on Primetime Bida fast approaches? Let’s see.