Iskul Bukol

Iskul Bukol is a Philippine situational comedy show that aired on IBC-13 from 1977 to 1990. It starred Filipino comedians Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon. The show centered on their lives as students of the fictional Wanbol University, parodying its real life counterpart, Arellano University. The theme song of the sitcom, also titled Iskul Bukol, is sung to the tune of Elvis Presley's All Shook Up.

A revival of the original sitcom, Iskool Bukol, the school-oriented teen sitcom produced by IBC and Secarats Talent Management Services and premiered in January 7, 2017, featuring Keith Cruz, Raisa Dayrit and Joyce Abestano as their three main high school characters.

Main characters

 * Joselito "Tito" Escalera (Tito Sotto) - One half of the Escalera brothers, who plots harebrained schemes in every episode.
 * Josemari "Joey" Escalera (Joey De Leon) - The other Escalera sibling. Miss Tapia has a crush on him.
 * Victorio "Vic" Ungasis (Vic Sotto) - the good-looking and smart teacher's pet with a chick-magnet personality. The Escaleras often pick on him during class. Later became a professor of Wanbol University.
 * Liwayway Gawgaw Tapia aka Miss Tapia (Mely Tagasa) - Wanbol University's resident professor who often gets on the Escalera brothers' nerves. Although she admires Joey, Miss Tapia was romantically connected with Mang Temi. Her favorite student is Victorio Ungasis
 * Artemis Batongbuhay aka Mang Temi (Bing Angeles)† - the dark-complexioned operator of the university's cafeteria. His name is a play on the Filipino word "itim" (black or dark), rearranged the 70's Filipino way, "Tim-i" or "Tem-i," in the same manner as words in the vernacular are rearranged. Example: bath = ligo = go-li.
 * Tonette Macho (Anthony Roquel) - the gay student who plays as best friend of the fairest girl in class. He is also the nemesis of the Escalera Brothers.
 * Inang or Aling Jacoba (Dely Atay-Atayan)† - Vic's mother from the town of Tiaong, Quezon. Famous for her term of endearment "Bunsooyy!" whenever addressing Vic. The root word "bunso" is Tagalog for youngest child.
 * Sharon Escalera (Sharon Cuneta) - Tito and Joey's younger sister.
 * Viviana "Bibeth" Belibet (Bibeth Orteza) - Vic's female roommate and fellow student.
 * Ritchie "Kabayo" (Richard Reyes aka Ritchie D'Horsie)† - another fellow student who always copies homeworks from Vic & Bibeth. He is also an accomplice to the Escalera's comedic pranks.
 * Joey Anson (Joey Albert) - a student whom Vic likes.
 * Redford (Redford White)† - Mang Temi's houseboy and the cafeteria's waiter.
 * Jimmy "Big J" (Jimmy Santos) - replaced Redford as Mang Temi's cafeteria waiter.
 * Perfecto "Pekto" Pangkista (Ariel Villasanta) - a fellow Wanbol student and part-time waiter at Mang Temi's canteen who dresses like a 70s punk rocker.
 * Mr. Escalera (Rod Navarro)† - The father of the Escalera siblings.

Films
The series spawned multiple movie incarnations from 1978 to 1987 and a reunion movie in 2008 that depicts the characters 20 years after the end of the original television series:
 * Iskul Bukol the Movie (1978)
 * Iskul Bukol Freshmen (1980)
 * The Best of Iskul Bukol: The Movie (1987)
 * Iskul Bukol 20 Years After (Ungasis and Escaleras Adventure) (2008)

Back to Iskul Bukol
Back to Iskul Bukol is the 1999 TV sequel to the original Iskul Bukol series also formerly aired on IBC and in cooperation with Vintage Television and Viva Television. De Leon is the only member of the original cast to return. He plays an English literature professor who decides to go back to his old school to teach and wreak havoc like in the old days. Things could not get any worse when he finds out that one of his students, Ludwig von Tapia (Jeffrey Tam), is actually Miss Tapia's love child. The series also starred Val Sotto, Marissa Sanchez, Ruby Rodriguez, Patricia Javier, Gian Sotto (as Jigs), Mausi Wohlfarth (as Mumai), Maui Taylor, and Katya Santos. It also featured cameo roles by Bing Angeles (as Mang Temy) and Mely Tagasa (as Miss Tapia). The show ran for two seasons from 1999 to January 8, 2000.

Its canonicity in the official Iskul Bukol timeline is in question despite the appearance of Gian Sotto and Jeffrey Tam in Iskul Bukol 20 Years After.

Iskul Bukol's Influence
In GMA-7 documentary show I-Witness, presenter Jay Taruc revisited Iskul Bukol and the Philippines’ comedy trio (Tito, Vic, and Joey) in a 2007 retrospective episode titled Wanbol University and discovered that TVJ merchandise was still a hit.

Iskul Bukol Mini-Reunion in 2007
An Iskul Bukol mini-reunion was celebrated on June 30, 2007 in the GMA-7 show Eat Bulaga!'s Bulagaan portion. Mely Tagasa, Tito Sotto, Joey de Leon and Vic Sotto appeared, reprising their roles from Iskul Bukol.

Iskul Bukol (TV5 remake)
On December 3, 2010, TV5 executive Percy Intalan announced that Iskul Bukol will be remade as a joint project with APT Entertainment. Fred Lo, Sam Y.G., and Alwyn Uytingco will play the three main characters, with Erika Padilla and Regine Angeles in supporting roles. However, Joey de Leon's son Keempee de Leon, who also appeared with his father in the original sitcom, said the new show will not feature any of the original characters nor anyone related to them, although it will still be set in Wanbol University. He added that the series will have partial influences from Glee and How I Met Your Mother.

The show premiered in May 24, 2011 and ended on September 27 on the same year with a total of 19 episodes.

Cast and Characters

 * Keempee de Leon as Joaquin "Wacky" Roque - the teacher's assistant of Wanbol University. His character is patterned after the original sitcom’s Tonette Macho (Anthony Roquel).
 * Sam Y.G. as Easy Balidosa - one of the nororious twins, the counterpart of Escalera brothers and a student of Wanbol University. His character is patterned after the original sitcom's Joselito "Tito" Escalera (Tito Sotto).
 * Alwyn Uytingco as Chill Balidosa - one of the Balidosa twins and a student of Wanbol University. His character is patterned after the original sitcom's Josemari "Joey" Escalera (Joey de Leon).
 * Fred Lo as Rudolfo "Rude" Valentino - the youngest professor of Wanbol University. He is patterned to Vic Ungasis of the original sitcom.
 * Erika Padilla as Sharon "Shawie" Cunanan - the sporty chic of Wanbol University.
 * Regine Angeles as Barbara "Barbie" Que - the ultra-conservative probinsyana.
 * Jerald Napoles as Vittoria Itor - the student janitor of Wanbol University.
 * Joel Saracho as Ferdinand "Bongbong" Bing - Wanbol University's perfect of discipline and English professor. He is patterned to Miss Tapia from the original sitcom. The classic roles of Miss Tapia and Mang Temi have been rewritten to switch genders forming a male professor, Mr. Bing and a female cafeteria owner, Aning Francia.
 * Tess Antonio as Anita "Aning" Francia - the cafeteria owner of Aning's coffeeteria, a cafeteria near Wanbol University. She is patterned to Mang Temi of the original sitcom. The classic roles of Miss Tapia and Mang Temi have been rewritten to switch genders forming a male professor, Mr. Bing and a female cafeteria owner, Aning Francia.
 * Lao Rodriguez as Petronilio "Pet" Jacob - Aning's assistant and the cafeteria waiter of Aning's coffeeteria.

Iskool Bukol
On November 22, 2016, IBC president and CEO Boots Anson-Roa announced that Iskul Bukol made a comeback, but this time not in Wanbol University because they unveiled the concept of a school-oriented teen sitcom which had a partnership of Secarats Talent Management Services, a line producer of the sequestered network led by the owner and producer Francisco Abuan, Jr. particularly focus on the high school education regulated by the Department of Education (DepEd), a responsible for the K–12 basic education, with a teen demographic of IBC and Secarats-produced content

On November 25, 2016, during the trade launch of IBC at the Bonifacio Global City Open Field in Taguig City, in celebration of its 40th anniversary of Iskul Bukol in 2017, IBC decided to bring back the most popular and trend-setting sitcom in the history of Philippine television, Iskul Bukol was returned and revived on IBC, this time under the new title Iskool Bukol. The school-oriented teen sitcom will be under the production of IBC and Secarats Talent Management Services and regained itself as a revival of the original sitcom Iskul Bukol that will be turned into a school-oriented high school teen sitcom. Featuring the teen comedy trio of today's hottest female teen stars: the Runaway Princess Keith Cruz, the Comedienne Princess Raisa Dayrit and Bida Best 2016 gorgeous second runner-up and the Teen Model Sweetheart Joyce Abestano as their three main high school characters, with Tonton Gutierrez in his very first primetime sitcom in 33 years and will be the role as a father of Keith (Keith) and Anne (Joyce). It premiered on January 7, 2017 on IBC, and worldwide on Global IBC.

The original concept of Iskul Bukol made a comeback, but not in Wanbol University because of the original sitcom for only college and university level at the time (1977-1990), the school-oriented sitcom will now be set in Diliman High School, the fictional public high school for both junior and senior level. As the people who grew up in the '70s and '80s by watching the TV show in order to regain with a teen audience, IBC and Secarats management conceptualized and developed the school-oriented sitcom will be cater to a young audience in the millennial teen demographics were preteens and teens (13- to 19-years-old age), and aimed to target in both junior high school and senior high school. in order to gain a strong audience recall