Lunch Date
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| Lunch Date | |
|---|---|
| 250px 1980s Lunch Date Title Card |
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| Format | variety show |
| Developed by | GMA Network |
| Starring | See hosts |
| Country of origin | Philippines |
| Language(s) | Filipino |
| No. of episodes | n/a |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | multicamera setup |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | GMA Network |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV |
| Original run | March 10, 1986 – March 19, 1993 |
Lunch Date was a Philippine noontime variety show that aired on GMA Network from March 10, 1986 to March 19, 1993.
Its original hosts were Orly Mercado, Rico J. Puno, Toni Rose Gayda and Chiqui Hollmann. The show originally aired from Studio A of the old GMA building in EDSA. It was also the first GMA show to air from GMA Broadway Studios in 1987.
When the show was reformatted after a year, it only retained Gayda and brought in a mix of old and new faces to host the show, including Randy Santiago, Lito Pimentel, Tina Revilla, Pilita Corrales, Louie Heredia, Sheryl Cruz, Jon Santos, Dennis Padilla, Fe Delos Reyes, Keno, Manilyn Reynes, Willie Revillame and Ai Ai de las Alas.
On Lunch Date's last year of airing in 1993, some showbiz personalities guest-hosted, such as Rustom Padilla, Isabel Granada, Samantha Chavez, Gino Padilla, Ogie Alcasid and Geneva Cruz.
Contents |
Hosts
Main Hosts
- Randy Santiago (1986-1993)
- Lito Pimentel (1986-1993)
- Toni Rose Gayda (1986-1993)
- Tina Revilla (1988-1993)
- Pilita Corrales (1988-1993)
- Louie Heredia (1988-1993)
- Sheryl Cruz (1988-1993)
- Jon Santos (1991-1993)
- Dennis Padilla (1991-1993)
- Fe Delos Reyes (1986-1993)
- Keno (1986-1993)
- Manilyn Reynes (1991-1993)
- Willie Revillame (1986-1993)
- Ai Ai delas Alas (1991-1993)
Weekday Co-Hosts
- Rustom Padilla (Monday)
- Isabel Granada (Tuesday)
- Gino Padilla (Wednesday)
- Samantha Chavez (Thursday)
- Ogie Alcasid (Friday)
- Geneva Cruz (Saturday)
Former Hosts
- Orly Mercado (1986-1987)
- Rico J. Puno (1986-1988)
- Chiqui Hollman (1986-1989)
- Verni Varga (1988-1991)
- Mahal (1988-1991)
Segments
Modus Operandi - a daily comedy sketch segment, performed by the hosts and featuring a storyline that runs all week. The storylines provided were mostly spoofs on Pinoy pop culture and everyday life.
Dear Kuya Randy PS Kuya Lito - a twice-a-week segment spoofing drama anthology/advice shows on TV. It is hosted by Randy Santiago and Lito Pimentel. Randy handles the letter-reading portion where actual letter senders send in their hilarious stories while Lito handles the song-and-dance portion where he communicates his advice to the letter senders thru a hilarious rendition of a popular song. The segment was renamed "Dear Kuya Randy" later on after Lito Pimentel left the show in 1991. Guest comedians were taken in to occupy his song-and-dance spots in the portion.
Ulat Panggulat - a twice-a-week news segment where an obnoxious reporter, Jon Baluga (a character developed by Jon Santos), goes anywhere in Metro Manila just to report about anything that is remotely newsworthy. It established Santos' popularity that he later co-starred with Joey de Leon (of Eat Bulaga) in the movie Tangga en Chos.
Bonggang Beautician - a comedy spoof of a beauty pageant, solely dedicated to gay beauticians.
Mr. Dreamboy - inspired from Sheryl Cruz's hit single of the same title, handsome men battled it out for a chance to become a member of GMA's teen variety show That's Entertainment.
Munting Mutya Philippines - a nationwide child-star talent search, where little girls showcase their wit and talent.
Power Words - an inspirational segment usually before the end of the show, where Toni Rose Gayda gave a reflection on the day's featured Bible passage.
Ratings and Awards
Lunch Date was involved in a fierce ratings battle with ABS-CBN's Eat Bulaga, at a time when one of its hosts, Randy Santiago, became very popular, because of his trademark shades. However, after Randy-mania died down, Lunch Date lost its momentum and moved to a distant second behind Bulaga.
Despite this however, rival host Joey de Leon of "Eat Bulaga" managed to guest in one episode of the show to promote "Tangga en Chos", his movie with "Lunch Date" co-host Jon Santos. Jon later guested the following day on "Eat Bulaga" to promote the movie as well.
The show had also won three PMPC Star Awards: two for Tina Revilla ("Best Female TV Host", 1989 and 1991) and one for Rustom Padilla ("Best New Male TV Personality", 1992).
Off-camera, the hosts of "Lunch Date" displayed great camaraderie and friendship, as well as its staff.
Ending
On March 6, 1993, Lunch Date had its last episode after GMA executives decided to reformat the whole show due to the ratings downfall. Only Randy Santiago and Dennis Padilla were left to host GMA's new noontime show, "Salo-Salo Together (SST)" with new batch of personalities.