Teen Gen is a Philippine television drama series broadcast by GMA Network. The series is a spin-off of the 1990s television series T.G.I.S. Directed by Mark Reyes and Albert Langitan, it stars Angelu de Leon and Bobby Andrews. It premiered on December 16, 2012, on the network's Sunday afternoon line up. The series concluded on June 30, 2013, with a total of 28 episodes.
Angelu de Leon as Ma. Patrice "Peachy" Real-Torres nee da Silva – A main character from TGIS and Growing Up, Peachy was originally slated to marry Wacks during the initial season of Growing Up, but eventually bailed. By the time of the events of Teen Gen, Peachy is a widowed single mother.[1]
Jeric Gonzales as Santiago "Tiago" Torres – Wacks' nephew and Lucho's cousin, Tiago is TG's resident musician. He is depicted as the son of a shipping magnate, but does not let his rich-kid status go to his head. Wacks often calls on him to rein in Lucho's bad behavior.[2][3]
Gianna Revilla as Madison Avenida – One of the more popular girls in school, Madison is every bit a trendsetter and claims to have followers on Twitter and Instagram. She is one of the campus A-listers, but gradually hangs out with the other female characters.[4]
Abel Estanislao as Jose Vicente "JV" Cortez - One of the four TG boys, JV is a young man from the province. He often has a penchant for romantic gestures.
Sunyee Maluche as Andrea "Drew" Remulla
Seth Isay as Carlitos "Itos" Buenavidez Jr. – Lucho's best friend and one of the four TG boys, Itos is the athletic type and tries to have his way with women.[5] Isay left the show in late 2012, citing personal reasons. His character was written off as having signed up for a soccer league in the US.[6]
Mikoy Morales as Xavier "Xavi" de Leon - Itos' "replacement" in the TG quartet, Xavi is depicted as a suave, debonair young man. He was dumped from the clique years before because of differences with the other members (especially Lucho), but they patch things up. Over the course of the show, he gradually works with Madison to try getting JV and Drew together.
GMA Network and Viva Television greenlit the creation of a youth-oriented show for a Saturday afternoon time slot, which had a non-existent audience market, in 1995. Screenwriter Kit Villanueva-Langit and producers Veronique del Rosario-Corpus and Cely Santiago hit on the idea for T.G.I.S., with Mark Reyes as director. The show lasted for over 100 episodes, and led to a feature film and a spin-off series, Growing Up, featuring most of the original cast members depicted as moving on to college.
Kit Villanueva-Langit, began developing the series mid-2012, under the title TGIS New Generation. The title eventually changed to Teen Gen as the series' creator and director, Mark Reyes and the production team wanted the series to have a fresh start stating they "didn't want to look back, instead move forward."[7]
Auditions for the cast took place at GMA Network Center in Quezon City in September 2012.[8] Mark Reyes, Kit Villanueva-Langit and series' executive producer Jan Navarro served as the casting panel. The cast was finalized in October 2012.[9]T.G.I.S. alumni and loveteam Angelu de Leon and Bobby Andrews were the first two actors to be cast reprising their original characters Peachy and Wacks, respectively. Protégé: The Battle For The Big Artista Break winners, Jeric Gonzales and Thea Tolentino, commercial models Dianne Hernandez and Juancho Trivino were chosen for the roles of Lyca and Lucho, respectively. Gianna Revilla, Gab de Leon and Arkin Magalona - all children of Philippine celebrities - auditioned and landed roles.[10]
More changes occurred to the series' story lines during the casting process. The production team found that they had to adjust the characters they had written to suit the actors. Following the rumors of other T.G.I.S. alumni appearing on the show, Reyes confirmed that Michael Flores, Bernadette Allyson, Ciara Sotto and Rica Peralejo would be returning in recurring roles for a few episodes as their original characters. However, only the first two indeed appeared before the camera - circumstances prevented Sotto and Peralejo's cameo.
The production began on November 25, 2012. Most of the series' scenes were shot on location in a private subdivision in Quezon City.[11]
Albert Langitan formally took over directorial duties at the start of the second season.[12] The same season, Seth Isay confirmed his departure from the show, citing personal reasons for his decision.[13] Another Protégé season 2 alumnus Mikoy Morales joined the cast in the early part of season two and was promoted to series regular for the series' third season.
In May 2013, the network renewed the series for a shorter third season, comprising only two episodes. However, GMA management shortly announced that Teen Gen would be cancelled. Officials explained that the series, along with Party Pilipinas on May 18, 2013, were axed to make way for a new show.[14]
According to AGB Nielsen Philippines' Mega Manila household television ratings, the pilot episode of Teen Gen earned a 9.1% rating.[15] The final episode scored an 8.6% rating.[16]