Carlo J. Caparas is king of primetime TV

By Isah V. Red

If there’s anyone who can rightfully claim the title of “king of prime time television” it’s not an actor but now iconic komiks king Carlo J. Caparas.

What will television be these days without Carlo?

It all started with Bakekang in September two years ago when Caparas’ first graphic novel about a woman with a physically deformed face became one of the highest-rating primetime TV series on GMA-7.

Caparas’ success as a graphic novelist is indubitable, and the success of Bakekang had been anticipated. The ratings simply affirmed that the serialization of his komiks material landed on the right network, debunking the failure of his materials translated into TV stuff in another channel.

Bakekang gave Caparas on the Kapuso network more opportunities to animate a number of other materials that only saw the light on the pages of the komiks.

Joaquin Bordado with Robin Padilla even became a New York Festival finalist for the Action/Adventure category.

Recently, GMA Network launched Caparas’ Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang with Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes. The series is doing better than most expected it.

Tonight, Caparas fills up primetime TV viewing with another series with Robin Padilla. The series pilots tonight.

As in the other series before it, Totoy Bato has been updated to be more attuned to the changing tastes of television audience.

Caparas who has given GMA Network permission to serialize several others in his cache of graphic novels (some of which had been turned into movies in the past) is not meddlesome in the process of adapting the material to the visual medium. While he provides, when consulted, very important inputs to the writing and staging of the scenes in every series from his material, he doesn’t impose upon the production team.

This is the reason his materials seem to work rather well in this network. The creative team is given a certain amount of freedom to explore the possibilities given to them by the material. Caparas, meanwhile, is simply awed by how much the younger writers have been able to visualize and conceptualize the dramatic exploits of the characters that he had created.

In Totoy Bato, for one, Padilla is not just a boxer, but a mixed-martial-arts fighter. It is very contemporary and gives the series a more realistic strain.

Casting Regine Velasquez to be Padilla’s romantic interest may be a little too edgy, considering that the singer has reached full maturity, yet against Padilla, they imbue the right combination for a romance made for the small screen.

As the press materials say, “Regine, whose teamup with Robin in the big screen was [a] tremendous success, will be portraying the role of Anna, Totoy Bato’s love interest and inspiration in all his struggles.”

Meanwhile, multi-awarded actor Eddie Garcia, who worked last year with Robin in Joaquin Bordado, will play the strict but caring coach of Totoy Bato as Coach Fredo.

Now, isn’t it amazing to see real-life boxing champion Manny Pacquiao playing himself in the series?

Well, he joins the cast as Totoy’s close friend and trainer. This isn’t going to be Manny’s entry to the circle of dramatic stars, yet it also allows the boxing champion to share his experiences in the ring with Padilla.

The rest of the cast

Totoy Bato is an all-star-cast production. It even had a grand launch two Sundays ago to make sure the world knows that Padilla is such an important star to GMA Network.

Joining him in the series are Ian Veneracion as Miguel, and his rival for Anna’s attention; Caridad Sanchez as Concha, the religious grandmother of Miguel; Joonee Gamboa as Mauro, Totoy’s kind-hearted uncle; Ronnie Lazaro as Podong, the ex-convict and abusive father of Totoy; Rommel Padilla as Manuel, Miguel’s brother and a syndicate leader; and Deborah Sun as Matilda, Anna’s materialistic and selfish mother.

Ehra Madrigal as Trixie, a guest relations officer who will fall in love with Totoy; Jolo Revilla as Andong, Totoy’s friend in the city; LJ Reyes as Gilette, Anna’s cousin; Tuesday Vargas as Connie, Anna’s assistant; Mon Confiado as Turko, a former military man who will be Totoy’s worst opponent in the ring; Sweet Ramos as Cecilia, Totoy’s one and only daughter; Ralph Padilla as Steve, Totoy’s assistant in Manila; Ara Mina in a special participation as Elena, Totoy’s wife; and introducing Queenie Padilla as Heather, the daughter of the haciendero that will grab Totoy’s land.

Joko Diaz, Daniel Fernando, Charlie Davao, Camille Pratts, Carlo Aquino, Jun Hidalgo, July Hidalgo, Ella Guevarra, Carlo Lacaña, Menggie Cobarrubias and Boy Alano are also in the cast.

Totoy Bato was, in 1977, made into a movie with no less than the King of Philippine Movies, Fernando Poe Jr. and spawned two sequels after it.

Marvin’s new role

No, he’s not in Totoy Bato, but Marvin Agustin whose career seemed to have taken an upswing since he moved from ABS-CBN to GMA Network is taking on another role. From the buffoon of the localized version of Lalola, the actor moves on to becoming a host of a program featuring materials that show feats of bravery and… stupidity at times.

It is a new program on the Kapuso Network and will start airing tomorrow, Feb. 24, and every Tuesday night. It is simply called Outrageous & Courageous!

Agustin is given a co-host, and she is the witty and high-class Paps. No she’s not a person but a puppet who likes to be treated like a person.

“It’s a nice side dish,” says Agustin of the puppet Paps.

Except that Paps is not edible. Marvin is proving to be one of the most successful restaurateurs in the country with eight restaurants spread all over the metropolis. (You could be dining in one of his restaurants and didn’t know that the actor owns it, huh!)

“Outrageous” and “courageous” are definitely the adjectives to describe the show’s featured people who would do anything and everything for the sake of having fun. Call it skill, talent, or just plain craziness—expect these and more in every episode with our unique duo.

Moving on with Emilio

Award-winning actor Emilio Garcia is very lucky he is always in a show and movies. Right now we see him in GMA-7’s new afternoon series called Paano Ba Ang Mangarap? playing father to Jennylyn Mercado’s character.

We remember Emilio’s most recent TV project, Gagambino, which faded out last Friday.

He has also finished working on two video features, both of which are scheduled to open on March 4.

The first one is Padyak, directed by Alloy Adlawan and featuring an all-star cast consisting of Rita Avila, Baron Geisler, Irma Adlawan, Jay Aquitania, Angel Jacob among others. The other is Booking described as the gay version of Bona and co-starring Marco Morales, Mercedes Cabral, Anita Linda and Snooky.

On Feb. 28, Emilio will be awarded by the NCCA for winning the Best Actor at Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece for Selda. On March 2, Emilio will be receiving his second Gawad Tanglaw award as best supporting actor for Walang Kawala.

Emilio is slated to start work on Marino about the lives of seamen, directed by Paul Sta. Ana, who directed the Cinemalaya film, Huling Pasada. He will also start work on Joel Lamangan’s political thriller Dukot.