New IBC-13 lineup for another mermaid fantasy on primetime

Posted on July 10, 2015

TV5 OPENS the rainy season with three new weekend shows, replacing the old lineup but still focusing on light entertainment, ergo, comedies.

SINGER-COMEDIAN Ogie Alcasid (center) and basketball players Gary David, Beau Belga, Willie Miller and Kiefer Ravena star in TV5’s new sitcom, No Harm No Foul, which revolves around the travails of a barangay basketball team.

“TV5 is really into comedies. So it’s [all about] sports and light entertainment,” Wilma V. Galvante, head of Entertainment TV Group, told BusinessWorld during the launch of the station’s newest sitcom, No Harm No Foul on July 2.

New shows include #ParangNormal Activity which replaces the Padilla brothers’ 2 1/2 Daddies on Saturdays (starting July 11); LolaBasyang.com, which replaces Tropa Mo Ko Unli Spoof, also on Saturdays (starting July 11); and No Harm No Foul which replaces Mac & Chiz on Sundays (starting July 5).

No Harm No Foul is sitcom combining basketball and comedy as it follows the story of Jawo (played by Ogie Alcasid), the former captain of his barangay basketball team, who reconnects with his old teammates played by real basketball players Gary David, Beau Belga, Willie Miller and Kiefer Ravena, to reclaim their team’s former glory.

The show also stars Tuesday Vargas, Yoyong Martirez, Eula Caballero, Valeen Montenegro, Sophie Albert, Long Mejia and Randy Santiago -- who is also the show’s director.

“Basketball is very popular [with families]... so we wanted to [show] the lighter side of these guys because it humanizes them and as a sitcom, it comes across as natural: you portray life but it a humorous, funny way. You see them in court as intense, professional players and then you see another side of them that’s fun,” Ms. Galvante said.

The show will also be the hardcourt players’ first acting job, which Mr. Ravena described as a “summer experience” while basketball remains their main priority.

“We’ve coordinated our practices though all-nighters are sometimes necessary so we can rest after the taping -- it’s a sacrifice, much like basketball... but [tapings] are only on Mondays so it’s just once a week,” Mr. David said in vernacular.

“There’s still PBA but we feel on weekends it should be for families -- it should be a break,” Ms. Galvante said, explaining the network’s aggressiveness when it comes to comedies and light entertainment in general.

LolaBasyang.com is, of course, a modern re-telling of Severino Reyes’ anthology of short stories, this time with the titular Lola Basyang (played by Boots Anson-Roa) -- now called Lola B -- as a blogger who tells her story (like the classic “Maryang Makiling”) to the world and her grandchildren via webcam.

Meanwhile, #ParangNormal Activity is a marriage of horror and comedy as it tells the story of a high school paranormal club whose members attempt to solve a variety of mysteries occurring in their school while being the laughingstocks of the rest of the student body, hence, the series title.

No Harm No Foul airs on TV5 every Sunday starting July 5 at 8 p.m.; LolaBasyang.com airs every Saturday at 7 p.m. and #ParangNormal Activity airs at 8 p.m. on Saturdays.