Viewers Loves Shows With Dogs. Will 'Sherlock Jr.' With Siri, The New Wonder Dog, Gain Enough Viewers To Topple Their Rival Show?

MOVIES OR shows with animals have been big hits through the years, like “Lassie”, “Rigiding”, “A Dog’s Life”, “Max”, “Hachiko”, “101 Dalmatians”, “Benji”, “Bolt”, “Marley and Me”, “Beethoven”, “K-9”, “Bolt”, “All Dogs Go to Heaven”, “Snow Dogs”, “My Dog Skip”, “Eight Below”, and many more. This is not surprising since the dog is said to be man’s best friend.

Why are dogs so popular in films and TV shows? Because the audience can connect with them so easily. Kiddie viewers find them so lovable on screen. If you don’t like the members of the cast, then you can be sure you will at least like the dog.

So we’re not surprised that the Kapuso network is now introducing a new show featuring a smart dog, Siri, whose name in the story is Serena. They already had a hit show before in “Bantatay”, with Raymart Santiago turning into a lovable labrador called Bantay.

Now, Ruru Madrid finds a loyal friend in Siri, who’s actually the dog of his girlfriend, Janine Gutierrez. At first, Siri is hostile to him and doesn’t like him as Janine’s boyfriend, but when Janine gets killed by the bad guys led by Tonton Gutierrez, Siri has no choice but to live with Ruru and they quickly become the best of friends.

Of all animals, dogs are the easiest ones to train. Working with animals can be problematic, so it’s good that Siri, the golden retriever in “Sherlock Jr.” is not a primadonna.

“Mabait siya,” says Ruru. “Dahil sa kanya, nawala ang phobia ko sa mga aso na nagsimula when a dog bit me noong bata pa ako. Masarap siyang kaeksena dahil madaling matuto sa anumang ipinapagawa sa kanya. Pero siempre, bawal siyang mainitan o magutom at may sarili siyang air conditioned tent niya. Hindi rin namin siya masyadong pinapagod. Pag pagod na, ayaw nang sumunod sa instructions kaya kaming mga artista ang naga-adjust sa kanya. May cut off time din siya sa taping. Hanggang 12 midnight lang siya puedeng magtrabaho.”

At the presscon of “Sherlock Jr.”, Siri’s trainer made her do some tricks and she willingly obliged, to the delight of the press people present at the affair.

“Best of friends na kami ngayon ni Siri,” says Ruru. “Very comfortable na siya sa akin kasi bago nag-start ang taping, nag-workshop muna kaming lahat para makilala niya kami. Ngayon, basta kasama namin sa show, very friendly siya.”

GMA has fielded so many shows against its rival, “Probinsyano”, but not one has managed to topple it in the ratings game. Will Siri be the key ingredient to make Ruru’s “Sherlock Jr.” very successful and make it a top rater on primetime? We'll see...