I am a big fan of My Name is Kim Sam Soon so I had high hopes for Ako Si Kim Sam Soon, the Philippine version currently aired by GMA. I think what gave me the false impression that the Philippine remake of my favorite Korean romantic comedy will be good – to say the least- is that Regine Velasquez plays the role of the heroine. I saw some of Regine’s movies and she can be really funny. And then came the first and second episodes…

I say GMA did such a horrible job in their attempt to give Kim Sam Soon a Filipino heart and soul (as they unabashedly claim in their website). Methinks the executive producer, the director, the scriptwriter, the stylist, and even the makeup artist are sleeping on the job.

I was so appalled as I sat throughout Ako Si Kim Sam Soon’s pilot episode. In fact, I hate everything about it . Kim Sam Soon looks like she picked her wig out of the garbage dump. And her makeup is ghastly, to say the least. Where in the world will you find somebody in a housedress wearing gold eye makeup? The first few episodes also portrayed her as a nonsensical, gullible, and glutonous person. Her relationship with Harvey (played by Wendell Ramos) was also made to appear like a product of a one-night stand. I mean, wtf?

And even Cyrus (the role of Hyun Bin in the original version), played by Mark Anthony Fernandez, was not spared. Instead of being the decisive, haughty, and handsome restaurateur, GMA transformed him into a cowardly, indecisive, and bumbling mama’s boy who looks like he has been putting on a lot of his mom’s lipstick.

Lastly, I think the people behind Ako Si Kim Sam Soon forgot that the drama is not about a stupid fat girl who happens to snag a good-for-nothing rich kid. It is about a woman of strength who tries to win life’s battles despite the pressures of society. It is also about family, interpersonal relationships, and other ties that bind people together.

In my opinion, Ako Si Kim Sam Soon is not the Philippine adaptation of My Name is Kim Sam Soon. If the first two episodes are an indication of its worth, it is nothing but an awful distorted version of the Korean drama.

Geez, what an embarassment.