SOP (Philippine TV series)

SOP was a Philippine noontime musical variety show aired by GMA Network. The show airs from 12nn-3pm on Sundays. The show was broadcast from Studio 7 at the GMA Network Studio Annex. The show title stands for "Sobrang Okey, Pare!" a Filipino expression which connotes enjoyment and appreciation of a particular thing that catches the imagination of the people. The title was coined by a group of GMA executives (led by Wilma Galvante) in early 1997 who conceptualized an interactive musical-variety show to replace the long-running GMA Supershow.

Spinoffs and later forms of the show include SOP Rules, SOP Gigsters, and SOP Fully Charged.

History

Sobrang Okay, Pare

The show was conceived as early as 1996 to counter the increasing ratings of "GMA Supershow"'s rival ASAP. Initially, the show’s cast was supposed to be composed of Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez and Vina Morales with the T.G.I.S. gang (led by Angelu de Leon) as co-hosts. However, only Janno, Ogie and Vina 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.