So Long, ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’

TV5’s ‘Face the People’, along with ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’, bid adieu on November 21, 2014. (Photo credit: TV5)

The last remnants of the original ‘Everyday All the Way’ block are gone.

On Friday, November 21, 2014, ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ aired for the final time on TV5. Three days later, ‘Movie Max 5’ took over the slot vacated by both programs.

And in a related development, both ‘Aksyon sa Tanghali’ and ‘T3: Enforced’ were once again cut to 30 minutes. This was in anticipation of the latter program’s year-end reports that are slated to air during Christmas and New Year’s week.

‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ returned with a second season on July 7, albeit on the late morning slot rather than the afternoon and early evening slots, respectively. The move to new timeslots paved the way for TV5 to air two PBA games on weekdays beginning in mid-October.

As a result, ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ served as an appetizer to TV5’s noontime newscast ‘Aksyon sa Tanghali’, which debuted the following week.

The two shows also carried new hosts; ‘Face the People’ mainstays Gelli de Belen and Tintin Bersola-Babao were joined by Edu Manzano, while Ogie Alcasid replaced Aga Muhlach on ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’.

In all, 100 episodes were aired on both ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ during their second seasons, which was not a bad run.

‘Face the People’ marked the swan song of Edu Manzano on the Kapatid network. On September 14, it was announced that Manzano will rejoin ABS-CBN following the completion of his obligations with TV5.

Meanwhile, Gelli de Belen and Ogie Alcasid will have new projects come next year, as TV5 recently announced its upcoming slate of programs for 2015. As for Tintin Bersola-Babao, it is unclear if she will stick with TV5 or move to another network.

With the cancellation of both ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’, TV5 now has an opening for any of their upcoming programs. For now, though, the same ol’ boring Tagalized movies on ‘Movie Max 5’ will take over the slot, albeit temporarily.

Face the People, Let’s Ask Pilipinas Return

Ogie Alcasid replaces Aga Muhlach as host of ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’. (Photo credit: Ogie Alcasid’s Instagram account)

TV5’s two standout programs are back, with new hosts eager to make a mark.

It was announced that ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ will return for another season this Monday. The former will now air at 10:15 a.m., followed by the latter.

In addition, both programs will receive new hosts. Edu Manzano will now join Gelli de Belen and Tintin Bersola-Babao as the third host on ‘Face the People’, while Ogie Alcasid will replace Aga Muhlach for ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’.

Edu was last seen regularly as host of ‘What’s Up, Doods’, which ceased production in December 2013, while Ogie will return to weekday programming three weeks after his tawaserye ‘Confessions of a Torpe’ ended on June 20.

Both programs were once aired as part of the now-defunct ‘Everyday All the Way’ afternoon to evening block. ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ was last seen on March 28, before it was replaced by ‘Beki Boxer’, while ‘Face the People’ aired its last episode on June 6, before it gave way to a re-run of ‘Star Confessions’.

Their transfer to the morning slot is intended towards the accommodation of upcoming sports events on the Kapatid network. TV5 is slated to air the Gilas Pilipinas matches in the FIBA Asia Cup, the FIBA World Cup, and the Asian Games, along with the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.

The return of both programs is just one of several programming changes that TV5 will implement this month. More on the other changes in future articles.

Struggling and Controversial Celebrities on ‘Face the People’

The appearance of Freddie Aguilar on ‘Face the People’ set the table for more embattled celebrities to appear on the program in order to explain their issues. (Courtesy of TV5)

Several weeks ago, the appearance of embattled singer Freddie Aguilar on ‘Face the People’ caught the attention of many netizens. And while the program’s focus is on normal citizens settling their differences with the help of the audience, Aguilar’s appearance led to several other celebrities sitting down on ‘Face the People”s infamous ‘silya de konsensya’ (chair of conscience) to explain their issues.

Two weeks after Aguilar made his highly-anticipated appearance on ‘Face the People’, controversial lawyer Atty. Lorna Kapunan sat down to explain the reason behind her withdrawal of legal support from Pork Barrel whistleblower Janet Lim-Napoles. Throughout the episode NBN-ZTE scam whistleblower Jun Lozada and activist Krissy Conti provided explanation on why Kapunan should have not left Napoles, while Atty. Ferdinand Topacio defended Kapunan’s decision to withdraw. The audience eventually agreed on Kapunan’s decision to withdraw.

And last Friday, diminutive actress Mahal sat down to explain her thoughts on quitting showbiz. The rumors stemmed from an argument between her and Kissybabes members Kisses Castillano and Em-Em Basa, saying that Mahal is ‘too old and obsolescent’ to be an artist and that her face is only good for Halloween. During the episode both Kissybabes members and talent manager Jethro Carrey tried to explain why Mahal was not given a chance to shine, while Mahal’s best friend Julie Ann defended her attempt to come back. In the end, the audience convinced Mahal to give showbiz another shot.

Today’s episode of ‘Face the People’ will have Tiya Pusit sitting on the ‘silya de konsensya’. Like Freddie Aguilar’s appearance a few weeks ago, Tiya Pusit will try to explain her relationship with a younger person. This time her beau would be a 27-year-old man named Nathan Villa. Throughout the episode fellow actress and friend Vangie Labalan will appear to oppose her friend’s relationship, while gay comedian Inday Garutay come in to defend.

The celebrity appearances on ‘Face the People’ gave the program a new wrinkle. While it is primarily used to settle issues between ordinary people, the program now encourages celebrity appearances in order to provide a deeper and more contentious insight on the issues surrounding them. It may be a harsher route, but ‘Face the People”s concept really helps in building drama behind these issues.

Expect more celebrities to appear on ‘Face the People’, even if they only come once a week. Unlike ‘Startalk‘ and ‘Buzz ng Bayan’, this program is always willing to push the boundaries, regardless of how harsh it can be. And its tabloid-based approach always helps.

TV5’s New Programs for October (Part II)

TV5 recently unveiled new weeknight programs to be aired starting tomorrow. In Part I, I discussed the news programs under the Karunungan, Balita at Opinyon block, along with changes on ‘Good Morning Club’. For Part II, I will discuss the programs under the ‘Everyday All the Way’ block.

At 4:30 p.m., ‘Face the People’ tries to solve personal problems and conflicts with the help of the audience. The program replaces ‘Face to Face‘ and will be hosted by Gelli de Belen and Tintin Bersola-Babao. After ‘T3: Reload‘ and ‘Aksyon‘, TV5 continues ‘Everyday All the Way’ with ‘Madam Chairman’, a dramatic comedy teleserye starring Sharon Cuneta as a barangay chairman/loving mother and wife struggling to cope up with both politics and family life.

Originally ‘The Gift’ was scheduled to debut tomorrow, but is rescheduled after the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals. Starring Ogie Alcasid and Joshen Bernardo, the teleserye tells the story of a musician who adopted an orphaned son of his lover. The game show ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ is a local franchise of ‘Let’s Ask America‘, and host Aga Muhlach challenges homeviewers to win P500,000 by answering various question using only laptops, tablets or other mobile devices. The game show was supposed to air at 8:00 p.m., but due to the postponement of ‘The Gift’, it was moved to 7:00 p.m. bumping ‘Madam Chairman’ to the 7:30 p.m. slot.

TV5’s ‘Sine Ko Singko’ movies will continue to air at 8:30 p.m., but on Thursdays, it will give way to a pair of weekly miniseries. ‘Positive’ stars Martin Escudero as a call center agent infected by the HIV virus, and whose life will revolve around tracing the person who infected him. It will be followed by ‘For Love or Money’. The series, starring Derek Ramsay, Ritz Azul and Alice Dixson, will be a story about a decision-changing move involving both wealth and relationships.

In only two months TV5 has made a pair of game-changing moves that catered to a younger and more educative audience. Weekend Do It Better proved to be a hit, and now the Kapatid Network will try to do the same with the ‘Karunungan, Balita, Opinyon’ (KBO) block and the ‘Everyday All the Way’ block.

In 100 Words: Face to Face Concludes

Earlier today the much-awaited final episode of ‘Face to Face‘ aired on TV5. The program concluded with original host Amy Perez thanking the viewers, the staff, and the people involved in feuds and challenges for making the show possible. The program will be replaced by ‘Face the People’, hosted by Gelli de Belen and Tintin Bersola-Babao, starting October 14.

‘Face the People’ will pick up where ‘Face to Face’ left off, except that the audience will be the decision maker of the problems faced by the guests. While the format will be a bit different, expect ‘Face the People’ to follow the same blueprint as its predecessor. The program is just one of several new TV5 shows under the ‘Everyday All the Way’ block which will premiere this October 14.