My favorite GMA 7 shows

(First of a series)

GMA 7 marked its 59th anniversary with an extravaganza staged last night at the Araneta Coliseum. Billed as One Glamorous Night: Greater and Grateful at 59, the show will be aired under the Sunday Night Box-Office (SNBO) banner on June 28, most likely after Ful Haus.

GMA — then known as Republic Broadcasting System — began its operations (but radio only) in 1950. Television didn’t come until more than a decade later.

Unlike today, where everything you see is local production — save for a couple of Korean telenovelas that are even dubbed in Tagalog — most shows on Channel 7 in the past were canned programs (the most popular in the US): Combat, Mission Impossible, Sunset Strip, Charlie’s Angels, Three’s Company, The Golden Girls, etc.

Until the ‘80s, the network’s prime market was the A-B crowd. But Channel 7 wasn’t exactly lacking in good local productions in those days. The few that it had were among the best produced and starting in this series, I will go down memory lane and share with you my favorite local shows on GMA 7 from the past to the present.

Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club — What kid of my generation didn’t watch this children’s show hosted by Channel 7’s founder, Bob Stewart (he died only a few years ago in Arizona)? Oh, those were the relaxed days of television — unlike today where every minute is so precious: You are given only a minute or two to interview a celebrity guest who spent hours in the beauty salon and even longer on the road to get to the station. The way Uncle Bob conducted his show — it seemed like he had all the time in the world (nobody could rush him to begin with — he owned the network). What I couldn’t forget about this program were the latest toy models — mostly robots — that were endorsed by Uncle Bob. Although that awakened the covetous side in me, it taught me how to strive harder to attain what I want in life. And yes, I still have a few pieces of those toys I saw in Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club — reminders of the early days of Channel 7. 

Baltic & Co. — Based on the comic strip by Ronnie Santiago of the Manila Bulletin (one of the three dailies allowed to operate during martial law), this comedy, which premiered in 1974, was about office life and among its mainstays were Angelo Castro Jr. (he was a TV-movie actor before he got into broadcasting), Menchu Genato (now Mrs. Quinito Henson and also Tita Maggi in the noodle soup commercial), Mely Tagasa a.k.a. Miss Tapia (she still used the same name when she did Iskul Bukol four years later) and the late Bert Marcelo and Ricky Manalo. The show featured respected guest performers and among them was no less than the late great Rita Gomez, who played a sidewalk vendor and gamely allowed herself to be deglamorized for the part.

Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko — Public service programs (especially of this type) are usually depressing to watch. But with Rosa Rosal there and then you throw in Orly Mercado, you have an engaging tandem. If there was one thing viewers learned from Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko, it was how to share what you have with the less fortunate. Of course, the church had been preaching that from the beginning. But there’s nothing like the influence of television to send the message across.

Student Canteen II — I say II because the original Student Canteen was born on radio and was first telecast on ABS-CBN in the early ‘60s. In January 1975, however, this lunchtime show was revived on GMA 7 with Eddie Ilarde, Pepe Pimentel, the late Bobby Ledesma and Coney Reyes. For seven solid years, it was the king of noontime programs.   

Discorama — Tito, Vic & Joey first worked together in the gag show Okay Lang in 1973 on Channel 13 (along with the APO, who would later become their rival). But it was in this Saturday early evening variety program Discorama where the now-legendary trio gained national prominence. Although the real star of the show was Bobby Ledesma, Tito, Vic & Joey developed their own following among TV viewers — thanks to their Tough Ten hits, which spoofed current hit songs around that period.

Tanghalan — A PETA production in cooperation with the Social Communication Center, this was a drama anthology (aired every Wednesday from 8 to 9 p.m.) with Lino Brocka directing each episode. The show was daring, especially that time when people were more conservative and living in fear under martial law rule. But it dared tackle social issues — like poverty and prostitution. One of its early episodes was Orlando Nadres’ Paraisong Parisukat, which is about exploitation in the work place (in a shoe store). Its female lead was Melvi Pacubas. When Paraisong Parisukat was turned into a movie in 1976, Alma Moreno became the leading lady. Less than two decades later, Jose Javier Reyes did a remake with Joyce Jimenez, but the material no longer worked, sadly.

Penthouse Seven — A descendant of Dancetime with Chito (the first ever local production of Channel 7), it was hosted by Archie Lacson, who was one of the dancers of the ‘60s dance show. Piloting in 1975, it aired every Sunday very late at night and it featured the latest in disco trends, plus Latin dances. One of the mainstays of the program was Ida Henares, who eventually became the head of the GMA Artist Center. From the dance floor below, she has moved up to the executive offices upstairs (that’s what I call success). Penthouse Seven was actually viewed by both the sosyal and the social climber and so it was assured of a captive audience. Strangely enough, it was canceled without warning. Pope John Paul II arrived in February 1981 and the show was pre-empted to give way to the Papal coverage and never returned. When the former Penthouse Dancers (Ronnie Henares, Gina Valenciano — plus the other members who even flew in from the US) had a reunion dance concert last year, I asked them why it was canceled, but no one knew the answer (it was still a popular show when it disappeared). It remains one of the big mysteries in the history of local TV to this day.

Ms.Ellaneous — Until the mid-‘70s, if you were an unmarried woman, you were formally addressed as Miss. But advocates of the women’s liberation movement insisted on being called Ms. — married or unmarried, just like Mr. When GMA 7 therefore launched on July 7, 1977 a show featuring three female hosts — Tina Revilla, Ma-an Hontiveros and Yogi Diminguez — they called it Ms.Ellaneous. The title was apt because the content of the show was, well, miscellaneous: It was talk, instructional, quiz, documentary and even game. Directed by Maria Montelibano (the late Mitos Villarreal eventually took over), it will go down history as among the most polished programs when it came to presentation and with substantial content to boot. It is unequaled to this day.

(To be continued)