Elemento: GMA’s Second Miniseries for October

As Halloween approaches, GMA launches another miniseries befitting the special occasion.

‘Elemento’, the horror fantasy series produced by GMA News and Public Affairs, will air starting October 10. The miniseries will feature more humanized versions of iconic creatures from various Filipino legends and myths.

Every Friday during the month of October, viewers of ‘Elemento’ will be treated to a different approach in storytelling. Throughout the series, classic Filipino Halloween icons will be converted from fearful creatures to more protagonistic beings, giving ‘Elemento’ a different spin on the legends that people used to read.

Four different stories will be featured on ‘Elemento’. The first story, ‘Si Esperanza, Ang Rebeldeng Manananggal’, features a vampire who rescues abused children. Glaiza de Castro will play the titular role, while Maria Isabel Lopez will play Esperanza’s mother and Valerie Concepcion will play Lucila, Esperanza’s evil sister. Carl Acosta and Nourish Icon Lapuz will play the role of children saved by Esperanza.

The second story, ‘Ang Masayahing Kapre na si Itim’, features a kapre who protects a forest from flooding. Bodjie Pascua will play the role of Itim, while supporting roles will be played by Ping Medina, Irma Adlawan, Lou Veloso, and child actors Joshen  Bernardo, Kyle Ocampo, Milkah Nacion and Micko Laurente.

The third story, ‘Pandora, Ang Diwata ng Wawa’, features a river fairy who exacts revenge on men who try to pollute the Wawa River. Solenn Heussaff will play the titular character, while Carlos Agassi will play her love interest. Liane Valentino and John Paul Mesde will play supporting roles.

The final story, ‘Apoy ni Bambolito’, tells the story of a black dwarf who gave an Aeta child named Anya the power of fire. Mike ‘Pekto’ Nacua will play the titular character, while Rochelle Pangilinan will play the mother of Anya, played by Marjorie Orteo.

Like ‘Seasons of Love’, ‘Elemento’ will go up against ABS-CBN’s ‘Pure Love’. And since the mini-series will only run for four Fridays this October, it will be a very daunting task for ‘Elemento’ to win its timeslot in such a short period of time.

That said, expectations will be very high for this series, especially when its premise is to tell a more good-natured side to fearsome creatures that are well-known to people. With that, good luck to the writers of ‘Elemento’ in making each story a good one.

‘Elemento’ airs starting October 10, and every Friday of October thereafter, before ’24 Oras’.

 

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Strangebrew’s All Saints’ Day Tribute

The hilariously informative program ‘Strangebrew‘ may have ended a decade ago, but its cult popularity endures to this day. The program introduced viewers to the funny duo of Angel Rivero and Arvin Jimenez, whose roles as the driver Erning and the sidekick Tado helped them become successful stars in the indie industry, translating to a stint in the now-defunct radio program called ‘BrewRats’ alongside co-star Ramon Bautista.

In one episode, Tado and Erning mourned the loss of their pet cactus Joan, and tried to find a burial lot at the La Loma Cemetery, with the help of a map given by ‘Michael Gel Locsin’ (Bautista). Unfortunately their search for a burial lot failed and they were forced to ‘bury’ Joan inside a freezer. This is a funny episode, but it also has significance to All Saints’ Day, with Tado and Erning visiting a cemetery and informing viewers about the burial of the deceased.

Here is the entire episode, which also includes a visit to a lechon restaurant in the La Loma area.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Meanwhile, let us honor those souls who have departed. Happy All Saints’ Day.

MGB Halloween Specials

‘Magandang Gabi, Bayan”s Halloween specials were a cherished tradition for viewers during Halloween week. Sadly it’s been nearly a decade since the last MGB Halloween episode.

Before Saturday night television viewing was taken over by tearjerkers such as ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya‘ and ‘Magpakailanman‘, news and public affairs programs such as ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho‘, ‘Imbestigador‘ and ‘XXX: Eksklusibong, Explosibong Expose’ were keeping viewers informed during the weekend. But let’s go back to the 90s, and one classic program came to mind.

ABS-CBN‘s ‘Magandang Gabi, Bayan‘ became a standard of excellence for investigative journalism. The program’s title was a trademark of host Noli de Castro, who frequently begins and ends ‘TV Patrol‘ with this phrase, and likewise uses a variation of the phrase whenever he host his DZMM morning program ‘Kabayan, Kapangyarihan ng Mamamayan, Balita at Talakayan’. The program became closely identifiable with de Castro, and was famous for ‘Kabayan”s hard-hitting interviews with various guests, as well as a detailed study at current events and issues that shaped the nation at the time.

However, its most famous tradition was its Halloween specials. In each special, ‘Kabayan’ would discuss urban myths, encounters with the supernatural, horror stories, and even places that were deemed haunted by bad spirits. The MGB Halloween specials became a chilling affair for the viewer, especially when de Castro narrates in his normally baritone voice how each horror tale took place. The specials would continue even after de Castro ran for the Senate in 2001, but its final special aired in 2005, months before MGB was pulled off the air.

When de Castro returned to ABS-CBN after a nine-year run as both a senator and a vice president, he did not convince management to revive MGB. Instead he focused on both ‘TV Patrol’ and his radio program ‘Kabayan’, but in 2011, the traditional MGB Halloween specials returned as a one-off documentary. The special ‘Kababalaghan’ reminded viewers of how the MGB Halloween specials scared the life out of them, especially when de Castro’s baritone turns spookier with every word. The documentary trended on social media when it aired.

It is unknown when another one-off MGB Halloween special will be produced, but one thing is certain: Halloween won’t be the same without Magandang Gabi, Bayan’s Halloween specials.