Sobrang Okay, Pare
Initially, the show’s cast was supposed to be composed of Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez and Jaya with the T.G.I.S. gang (led by Angelu de Leon) as co-hosts. However, only Janno, Ogie and Jaya confirmed their participation in the show. Regine could not devote time to the show because she had prior singing engagements to attend to abroad. The T.G.I.S. gang, on the other hand, was not allowed by the Viva management to do the show because their performing schedule was already fully booked for the year. Instead, the GMA management took in Regine’s sister, Cacai Velasquez, sexy star Amanda Page, and upcoming young stars Gabby Eigenmann (son of character actor Mark Gil) and Bernadette Allyson to join the new group, the latter three were also Viva talents.
SOP first started airing on February 2, 1997, with a live show from the GMA Broadway studios. Regular dancers include the VIP Dancers, Universal Motion Dancers, Abstract Dancers and Kidz at Work; with Al Quinn as director and German Moreno as production consultant. However, the show suffered in comparison to ABS-CBN’s ASAP and even had to endure a lot of criticisms from the entertainment press for using an acronym for the show’s title that sounded like the rival show’s. Despite the effort by the hosts and staff to make the show more exciting for the viewers every Sunday, Sobrang Okey Pare registered low ratings from the start and hardly gained support from the advertisers.
The show was rocked by controversies after they celebrated their first season on air despite low ratings and few advertisers. This started when GMA management called for an audition for a group of new in-house dancers to be known as SOP Dancers. This did not sit well with SOP's resident choreographer, Maribeth Bichara and as a result, she pulled out the VIP Dancers from the show and resigned. SOP co-host Amanda Page also resigned from the show in sympathy for Maribeth and the VIP Dancers.
Another controversy that tainted the show in 1997 was the Rivermaya incident where the band was reportedly forced by a member of the production staff to vacate the stage immediately to make way for SOP's in-house band. An altercation followed, resulting in an injury on one of Rivermaya’s members. The incident was brought to attention by the GMA management and as a result, Al Quinn resigned as the show’s director. Louie Ignacio, a known music video and commercial director, replaced Quinn and immediately made major changes to the show. Radio DJ Mo Twister, commercial model Lalaine Edson and young actor Jake Roxas joined the show as additional co-hosts.
Soon after, Sobrang Okey, Pare quickly caught the attention of the viewers and advertisers and soon was becoming on its way as a threat to the dominance of rival ASAP.
Read more about this topic: SOP (Philippine TV Series), History