TV5: Charting new directions

Just what do Laurice Guillen, Lore Reyes and Peque Gallaga have in common with Tony Gloria, Lourd de Veyra, Paolo Valenciano, Quark Henares, Carlo Aquino, Alex Gonzaga, Mark Reyes and Ryan Agoncillo? They are all members of the spanking new TV5 network.

A week after the newly-refurbished Channel 5 surfaced as TV5, we find ourself hoping and sharing a conviction that there is enough dedication in our talented artists, producers and network owners to turn around the industry that many have practically given up on. Undoubtedly, TV is the most powerful avenue for the formation of taste, opinion and creation of idols. It cannot just be left to malinger.

When the old ABC-5 launched its new partnership with MPB Primedia on a long-term block-time agreement, there were the usual skeptics, but also the innumerable jobless in the broadcast sector that included not only the on-cam actors but producers, writers, directors, makeup artists, wardrobe assistants, cameramen who welcomed the development. Quite a number, also, are jobless by choice, unwilling to accept the near chattel treatment of workers especially in the teleseryes. We caught Bembol Roco recently openly speaking out his discontent over the system, while others of less stature may agree but cannot be vocal for fear of reprisal.

We would assume therefore that cable subscribers couldn’t care less about the new station’s direction, since they seem to have long forsworn free TV shows. The great mass of mainstream viewers may not care that much either, accustomed as they are to the content of the two big players, even welcoming the battle of Kapamilya vs. Kapuso with the same enthusiasm of Ateneo vs. La Salle fans on the hard court.

Who then, is TV5 addressing? At the media launch, the young head of Primedia Christopher Sy singled out the 30 and below niche market, an age group of which he is most knowledgeable. The new team has constantly stated it will offer alternative programming and new concepts, staying away from the nightly fare of teleseryes. At the launch, an audio-visual presentation poked fun at the “monotonous world where viewers have become desensitized by a glut of non-stop daily telenovelas.” Although their main audience will still be C and D, they may get the surprise of their lives to find themselves actually eating into that small but influential sector of thinking Filipinos, who have unstintingly stated that they never watch local programming.

The station must be up to something right for why then is it attracting producers and directors who would normally think twice before plunging into the exhausting routine of interminable overnight tapings. It has also enlisted actors and hosts often lost in the quagmire of overcrowding talents in the two leading stations.

Gallaga and Reyes have found new challenges at TV5 — Peque as overall concept and headwriter for Batang X: the Next Generation ( Friday nights at 7) based on the old Regal movie and TV show, with Reyes as line producer and director.

Gallaga says he wanted to do a superhero story that was more character driven, that didn’t focus on the super powers or the camp villains, and that dealt with the fight between good and evil without preaching, which he gave a new twist in their old property Batang X.

Gallaga would rather conceptualize than direct. “I can’t stand directing TV. Walang katapusan. Budgets are kapit sa patalim, but then what can you expect?” he shrugs. However, he is obviously hopeful that the new station will offer something new as promised in all their media releases and print-outs. “They’re new so they’ll try harder,” he declares.

Reyes also directs Midnight DJ (Monday nights at 7) , a horror series complete in itself weekly with Paolo Contis as the DJ on the midnight slot. Based roughly on an existing Malaysian horror-thriller, it follows a basic story thread involving station intrigues, stormy romantic entanglements and Dj’s tragic family history.

The initial episode we watched had Paolo with Jenny Miller, Desiree del Valle and Roland Tupas encounter the spirits of youngsters who died in a dance club fire reminiscent of the Ozone club tragedy in Timog, QC. We found it excellent in all areas — acting, sound, lighting, story, direction, special effects, plus that special gift of sustaining suspense crucial to the genre. Coming up episodes will have a zombie searching for eternal rest; a poltergeist attack by a child-ghost; a malevolent spirit that lives behind an antique mirror; a family of blood-sucking vampires distributing illicit drugs. 

As for Guillen, her Hush-hush (Wednesday nights at 7) with stars Krista Ranillo, Valeen Montenegro, Bernard Palanca, Ina Feleo, Joem Bascon, Dominic Ochoa came about when asked to pitch program ideas to Prime Media. Hush-Hush, her daughter Ina’s concept, was the one chosen. That in itself is indicative of the “young” thinking of the new group.

In joining TV5, Laurice muses, “ I guess it’s the opportunity to be able to conceptualize and produce a TV show that is innovative of the drama genre as we know it locally.  You don’t get offered that opportunity by the other networks. In a sense it initially appealed to me in the same way that Cinemalaya appealed to the filmmakers.” 

“TV5’s programming will be aimed at the progressive Pinoy. No across the board shows like the daily telenovelas or soaps offered by the two giant networks. There is a large number out there who can’t really afford to follow or are not interested in watching the same telenovelas daily. The fact that Hush2, like the others, is scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m., which is when the news is aired on both the other networks, is a breakaway in itself. But then we do know that there’s a large number out there who don’t really watch local news from 7 to 8.  In that sense its programming will be alternative. (as in alternative to GMA 7 and ABS-CBN primarily).”

 It is obvious then that TV5 will veer away from the soaps, and will also say goodbye to basketball which has wrecked havoc on the old channel’s regular programming. Perci Intalan, long- time head of creative and entertainment, admits “We’ve finished this season of the PBA Fiesta Cup. After this, TV5 will be on its new program schedule for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.”

We watched Love Book Presents (Tuesdays nights at 7) a monthly series with Have Baby, Will Date the first in the series with Valerie Concepcion, Tj Trinidad, Beth Tamayo and Bobby Andrews. Produced by Tony Gloria, directed by Mark Reyes, we predict it will be Beth, the more colorful character in the series who will be noticed. Except for erratic sound which should soon be solved, succeeding episodes should provide lessons to young adults about the dangers of uncontrolled sexual activities.

Rakista (Thursday nights at 7) was conceived by Quark Henares and some friends including Mads Adrias as a youth-oriented show of students who are part of a band. Although line producer Mads has had years of experience in advertising and music videos, her heart belongs to that world of underground music and animé that she has practically gone on leave from her regular job to work on the series. Rakista tapes on location at the venerable rock venue Mayric’s to give the show authenticity. Carlo as lead singer of the band has already begun to impress viewers with his multiple talents.

Two foreign talents, former Miss Earth Ariana and Eat, Bulaga! talent Daiana host Ogags (Tuesday nights at 10:30). The pilot had a cockfight between cocks and men with the cock getting the upperhand that was so hilarious although it could have been edited to a third of its length. The cook using his hands in frying eggs wasn’t as successful, however. The best part of the gag show is still the hosts reading their cue sheets in broken Tagalog and enjoying the mistakes they make.

Lokomoko (Friday nights at 10:30) is similarly zany, especially the man-jumping-off-the-building gag. However, hosting and editing need improvement. ER (Tuesday nights at 10:30) is so similar to Sis we can’t understand why hosts need to be three girls. Why not two or four?

Cheri Mercado, newscaster at ABC-5 for the past four years, is happy that the News has acquired a new face on TV5’s TEN, weeknights at 10.30. Cheri shares with Martin Andanar the new countdown format — Top 10 news stories for the day, whether politics, business, sports, technology delivered in a lighter and more casual manner in Taglish. Cheri adds “We’re proud of our roster of new segment anchors Ed Lingao as analyst and war correspondent, Conrad de Quiros for political commentaries, Lourd de Veyra doing an mtv-type social commentary, Jove Francisco as resident blogger and George Ramirez for motoring. We hope to make people want to watch news again.” The fact that airing is at 10:30 has given them a totally different audience from the other networks that air 7 p.m. and late-news segments.

It is, however, not only Cheri and Martin from the old loyal bunch at ABC-5 who are excited over the infusion of new blood into primetime. Rich Ilustre, director of the Shall We Dance? for the past three years, as well as Philippine Idol, has been assigned Talentadong Pinoy (Saturday nights at 6), and MP3 (Sundays at 4 p.m.), aside from an updated Shall We Dance? — Search for the Dance Superstars (Sunday nights at 9). Explaining the concept behind Talentadong Pinoy, Rich tells us that it is a reality search that has no age limit nor preferred skill requirement. The first few episodes produced jugglers, mimes, ventriloquists, fire-breathers, yoyo experts, animal acts, illusionists, and extreme stunts, apart from the singers and dancers found everywhere.

The challenge of entertaining within 10 minutes is the first step followed by the final jury decision on the winner of P50,000 (instead of a bunch of nameless texters, at least for the moment until cellphone companies get wind of the show). Ryan who is making himself very visible on the new station is host, with Gladys Guevarra, Tuesday Vargas, Audie Gemora, Eula Valdez and Manilyn Reynes.

Ilustre’s other new show MP3 is a lively interesting music magazine show with band vocalist Paolo, Valeen and commercial model Kim Gantioqui hosting. Its appeal is fresh starting from the set of an old warehouse transformed into a modern teen club, to segments like playing games with foreign acts, to interviews (Valeen chatting with Rocksteady in a beauty parlor as she gets her nails manicured by lead singer Teddy, Kim interviewing Rachel Ann Go, Paolo talking to Shamrock on the roof as a typhoon rages on).

Paolo’s mom Angeli Pangilinan is happy that her son is finally on his own turf. She confesses that Paolo could have been an ABS-CBN talent but he didn’t like to go mainstream. “Malou Santos sat me down four years ago for My First Romance with Heart as his love team. Three picture deal, soap opera, the works. Pao said no haaay! He has shunned mainstream doing the rounds of bars doing rock gigs... so he’s a bit of a superstar in the band underground scene. Gary and I are happy for him. A.S.A.P. wanted him but he refused. He’ll shine brighter now.”

It is to Paolo’s credit that early on he has defined his priorities. Other young talents have had to go through the pain before realizing they have made a mistake. We read of the trials undergone by Nancy Castiglione, arriving from Canada and getting inveigled into “the murky underworld of local entertainment,” experiencing “social retardation” before resurfacing now as Nancy Jane who will hopefully be true to herself alone.

The station’s banner show now titled Shall We Dance? — Search for the Dance Superstars still directed by Ilustre has also undergone some face-lifting. Host and dancer Lucy Torres-Gomez has been given two new hosts Jon Avila and Victor Basa; the competition expanded to include jazz, hip-hop and contemporary genres apart from ballroom. Executive producer Nelson Alindogan explains the move as one to counter predictability. “It still has the original concept of a celebrity partnering with a seasoned dancer. I see the new format as a natural development since the show has been evolving since it started three years ago.”

Together with the directors and producers who have joined the new network, the list of actors who will be seen nightly has been growing by the week. Intalan happily reports, “TV5 is proud to have secured the services of several established talents in the industry. We hope to be a venue where actors can showcase their talent to the fullest regardless of where they originally ‘came’ from. We feel that this cross-pollination of talent is very good for the entertainment industry as a whole.” Of course, TV5 will also develop their own fresh new talents which goes without saying.

We hope that TV5 while challenging the two big networks will learn from the latter’s mistakes. Talent management was not originally part of a broadcast institution’s duties and responsibilities. Until they began to realize it made things more manageable for them to have a pool of talents beholden only to them. When one is dealing with naive teeners and ambitious parents, the result can be numerous horror stories ranging from insufferable divas on one end, to broken spirits in youngsters who didn’t know any better.

Even now that TV5 is just beginning, the opportunities it is giving names previously ignored has spawned sudden realizations from the outside. That should not be a problem to the station if they are true to their goal of providing the “alternative.” If their products are superior, these should bring in the market, not the stars.

There are still many other shows that interest us like MVP Most Valuable Pinoy, hosted by Bayani Agbayani, Jason Webb, Norman Black, a search for the best basketball player; a dating game called Mysmatch; Nickolodeon in Pilipino; actual behind-the-scenes of police with Martin Andanar on Pulis; and movies. Some will stay, others will eventually go. But there will continuously be a stream of new formats to take their place, we have been assured.

Of course, the cynics say all this idealism will not last. But for the present, as Laurice states, “there are a few station-produced programs, but at least for now, they welcome independent content providers.  I don’t know if eventually they will become monoliths like GMA 7 and ABS-CBN. I hope not. ”

It is a daunting task, one that we cannot say all other networks did not attempt to undertake. The chore to marry commercial free TV and its many ailments with the obligation of this particular branch of media in providing the populace with responsible programming is a worldwide challenge. Unlike print, the broadcast media belongs to the people as a natural resource in the same manner as the forests, the rivers, and the airwaves utilized in broadcasting. It therefore has a heavier cross to bear.

Perhaps in the daily pursuit of making a living, we have forgotten this distinction — that the Filipino has as much right to verdant woods, clear waters, unpolluted air, as he has to TV shows that would protect his interests, ensure that his children are being fed the right food for their brains, while guarding against anything that smacks of propaganda and outright censorship.

Many are hopeful that the first step has truly been taken.

(E-mail me at [email protected].)