In August 2008, what was then-ABC 5 closed down and rebranded after inking a deal with MPB Primedia, a local firm backed by Media Prima of Malaysia. As a result of this partnership, the flagship channel became TV5.
In its early weeks, it instantly became a hit to viewers who are looking for an alternative to the duopoly of ABS-CBN and GMA. According to a research by AGB Nielsen, it rose from having a 1.1% audience share pre-relaunch to around 11% in 2009. Of course, it can always be pinpointed to the innovative programs that were screened during this time. For a regular viewer, you might remember it as the ‘shaking TV’ or ‘kashake’ era, TV5’s moniker back then.
In this feature, we’ll take a trip down memory lane as we rank and discuss our top ten picks for the best TV5 “Shake Mo, TV Mo” shows or those that were launched and/or aired between August 2008 and March 2010.
Let’s start the countdown!
10. Everybody Hapi
Kicking off the list is TV5’s first sitcom (not including their years as ABC) featuring stars like Long Mejia, Roxanne Guinoo, John Estrada, Alex Gonzaga, and Eugene Domingo. It followed the lives of Jim, Jenny, Carrey, Babet, Cathy, and company.
It wasn’t as trailblazing as other shows on this list, but it still deserves a spot for being a program in the same caliber as sitcoms airing on the two other networks.
Furthermore, it even had a spin-off in Hapi-er Together that began airing after the original series ended in September 2010.
9. Lipgloss
Lipgloss was TV5’s youth-oriented drama series. The program follows the students of Linden High, an ultra-exclusive school for the rich and famous and the hottest gossips shared on the school’s unofficial website.
The show gained notoriety when it was compared to and dubbed as a local adaptation of the American series “Gossip Girl“.
During its one year run, it introduced several then up-and-coming stars like Sam Concepcion, Louise delos Reyes, Ejay Falcon, and Lovi Poe.
8. Spongebob Squarepants
Even if it’s not an original TV5 production, this show is certainly one, if not the most, Kashake show in this list.
In 2006, ABC signed a deal with children’s channel Nickelodeon to carry their programs locally. The block was then carried over to the refreshed station as “Nick on TV5”. By this time, a strengthened programming lineup at night was complemented by an equal force on daytime led by Spongebob Squarepants.
Thanks to the decision to dub the show in Filipino, it was brought closer the masses. This practice became popular among viewers and TV5 gained the number 2 spot in the morning schedule in less than 5 months after the relaunch.
7. TEN: The Evening News
These days, newscasts may be not as formal as it used to be. But when you put TEN beside them, you’ll reckon that it might still be to a certain degree.
The show broke many conventions in primetime news programming when it launched with anchors Martin Andanar, Cheri Mercado, and Jove Francisco on August 11, 2008. Instead of strictly using either English or Filipino as its main language, they insisted to use the less formal Taglish or the mixture of both.
If that’s not unorthodox enough for your taste, The Evening News also had different styles of OBBs (opening break bumpers) that are frankly laughable and light for a newscast.
It also went all-out unconventional by counting down ten headlines of the day by its importance and relevance.
It ended its run on March 31, 2010 to give way for “Aksyon“.
6. Lokomoko / Lokomoko High
Believe it or not, the original Lokomoko is not originally a gag show a la GMA’s Bubble Gang. Instead, it was a younger version of ABC’s Wow Mali when it employed Alex Gonzaga and other newbies as hosts of the program. But when the original show went back on air, Lokomoko was reformatted to be a full-time comedy sketch show as “Lokomoko High“, with the segments being more similar to other old ABC shows like “Ispup” and “Tropang Trumpo”.
Speaking of “Tropang Trumpo“, Lokomoko ended its run after five years in 2013 when the network reformatted and basically merged it with Trumpo as “Tropa Moko Unli“.
5. Wow Mali
Originally launched in 1996 on ABC 5 with Joey De Leon as its main host, it featured hidden camera pranks on common Juans and even celebrities. The show also earned a spot in Pinoy pop culture when the line “wow mali” became a common line for mishaps and blunders. Despite being at the top of its game in the gag show category, the program first signed off in 2006. By this time, you might be thinking that it must not be included in this list, since the “Shake Mo” TV5 era started in 2008. But, to put it bluntly, they truly deserve to land a spot here.
Because in April 2009, it was given a second life on TV5 as part of its new wave of shows post-Holy Week. This iteration lasted for a year when a spin-off show ‘Wow Meganon’ took over in 2010.
4. Midnight DJ
Part of TV5’s original slate of programs after the relaunch, Midnight DJ was a horror series like no other.
MDJ features the tales and close encounters of a disc jockey and his friends with the supernatural. First led by Paolo Contis, who was killed off by the end of season 1, it gained a huge following when Oyo Sotto took the helm as the Midnight DJ in the succeeding seasons. By 2009, it became TV5’s prized Saturday night series as it helped the station snatch the ratings top spot from the two giants.
But a series of events in its latter years like moving it to Wednesday, a reformat to true horror tales, and tanking ratings forced the show to end in 2011.
3. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
In 2009, the network brought back a stalwart of the so-called ‘gameshow frenzy’ of the early 2000s. “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?“, dubbed as the world’s most favorite gameshow, first hit the shores in 2001 on IBC’s Viva TV block and was hosted by Christopher De Leon. When they resurrected the said franchise, channel 5 tapped Vic Sotto, a staple of Eat Bulaga! as the new host.
As expected, it became a hit and formed a part of TV5’s Saturday night trifecta, along with Midnight DJ and Talentadong Pinoy, resulting to the network’s dominance in the ratings game.
It went on and off for several years before saying goodbye for good in 2015.
2. Face To Face
Dubbed as the first talakserye and barangay hall on-air, it broke the mold for Philippine daytime TV and local talk shows, in general. Fronted by Amy Perez, it first went on air during TV5’s transition to the Kapatid era, when it truly got its solid following. Akin to the other tabloid talk shows like the Jerry Springer Show, it aims to solve disputes between neighbors, family members, and other conflicting parties.
With its groundbreaking format, Face To Face challenged the dominance from its daytime rivals. As a result, it prompted GMA to produced similarly-formatted shows like Star Box and Personalan on GMA News TV. But no show was able to replicate the vibe that ‘Face’ had. Despite these successes, F2F was cancelled in October 2013 when Amy Perez decided to return to ABS-CBN.
To this day, however, the show remains a cult classic and is being reaired every weekday on TV5 due to public demand.
1. Talentadong Pinoy
There’s no other program that can easily land on the top spot than this one. Hosted by Ryan Agoncillo, ‘Talentado’ showcases the best amd world-class Filipino talents that are more often than not featured elsewhere on TV back in the day. It opened the doors to other acts like pole-dancing, acrobatics, and even yoyo tricks. This original creation was so successful that it helped TV5 gain the #1 slot on Saturday primetime in less than a year after its relaunch. It was only in February 2010 when it gained a fitting rival in ABS-CBN’s Pilipinas Got Talent, a foreign franchise.
Talentadong Pinoy also holds the distinction as the longest-running original ‘Shake Mo, TV Mo’ franchise when it bowed out of our screens in 2014.
Even though the kashake era of the station only lasted for more than a year, TV5 certainly both created and carried many memorable shows during this time. Furthermore, it also gave the Philippine television industry a much-needed push (oh, if only we can have that now) in terms of creativity and concepts.
But, as what many people have said in the past, “it was fun while it lasted.”