TV shows today’s generation failed to see

(Second of two parts)

When Tisoy folded up in 1969, Nick Lizaso returned to the academe and taught at San Beda College. He only went back to television when the old ABS-CBN opened another station, Channel 4, which put up a lot of local productions, one of which was the Saturday night drama anthology Salaghati, which featured local adaptations of literary classics and Hollywood movie greats. Nick Lizaso was tapped to direct this series – until he was pulled out of it to direct the late Charito Solis in the drama series Obra Maestra on Channel 2.

Obra Maestra marked the return of Ms. Solis to ABS-CBN. In the mid-‘60s, she had done The Charito Solis Show, another drama anthology, for the station. For her TV comeback, the network executives asked her to choose from among ABS-CBN’s stable of directors. At the ABS-CBN preview room, she watched various drama programs – some already in the can and others in their unedited versions.

One unfinished work that caught her interest was Salamin ng Buhay, which featured Fred Galang and Marissa Delgado as husband and wife, but with Marissa going astray. The story had a rural setting and Charito was impressed with the details of the production because it even had a carabao in it – a big deal in those days since all drama series back then were confined within the studio premises. She asked for the name of the director of Salamin ng Buhay (which actually was never aired) and it turned out to be Nick Lizaso, who was immediately asked to report to the executive offices upstairs.

He’ll never forget the beautiful sight that greeted him when he entered the room of one of the studio bosses. There was Charito Solis, the drama empress, in a lovely pink dress that complemented her pinkish skin.

Immediately, Nick and Charito knew they would get along well together and, in fact, were raring to roll up their sleeves and start working at once. But first, they had to find a nice house for Ms. Solis. It turned out that Charito had invested in a company – actually a movie outfit – and when it closed shop, she lost her house and vehicles, which were all under the company’s name.

When Charito got herself settled in a rented home, she began sending for Nick and together they would go through every sequence of the Obra Maestra script they were taping for the week.

Nick would come to Charito’s house in the morning and leave at 2 a.m. That was how thoroughly they worked on the script. Charito would deliver the lines and if these did not suit her, they would rework the dialogues.

Sometimes they fought and argued – with Charito walking out on Nick and retreating to her bedroom. She would only come out when her anger had simmered down. Often she would tell him, "Mas mabuti na dito na tayo sa bahay ko mag-away rather than during the taping. I can argue with you here because this is my house. On the set, you are god."

But for all those fights and hard work, Nick was rewarded with delicious meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, he had his fill of Ms. Solis’ famous callos and bangus sardines.

When Charito would report to the set of Obra Maestra, she already knew what to do – her lines and even her blocking and that saved a lot of time for everyone.

Charito Solis required absolute professionalism – and silence especially during the take. Nick remembers how Armida Siguion- Reyna, then just starting to become a famous TV personality on the strength of Aawitan Kita, would drop by the set of Obra Maestra to quietly observe La Solis at work.

Although it featured a lot of original works by Filipino scriptwriters, Obra Maestra also did a number of adaptations – the most memorable of which was Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, which was transported to a local setting by writer Ninotcha Rosca. From medieval Japan, she changed the period to turn-of-the-century Philippines. For the outdoor scenes (a rarity then in drama anthologies) that featured grand horse-drawn carriages, Nick Lizaso borrowed the various equipment of the ABS-CBN news department for his 16 mm shots.

Obra Maestr‘s adaptation of Rashomon featured as guest stars Ronald Remy, Dindo Fernando, Joone Gamboa and Nanding Fernandez.

For the series’ local adaptation of Euripides’ Medea, Ms. Solis, of course, was cast as the vindictive female lead and with guest stars Lou Salvador Jr. in the Jason part and Baby O’Brien as his new bride.

Then, there was The Visit with Nestor de Villa and even Wuthering Heights with Angelo Castro Jr. in a Heathcliff-inspired role.

More popularly known as an award-winning newscaster among the present generation, Angelo back then was working with ABS-CBN’s marketing department. But with his theater background, he would come out on TV from time to time (and later in the movies) and, during martial law, was even cast as Bong in the weekly sitcom Baltic & Co.

Nick could never forget the time he instructed Angelo to kiss Charito Solis on the lips in Obra Maestra’s version of Wuthering Heights. Angelo felt uncomfortable – no, not because he was intimidated kissing a great actress like Charito. It turned out that Angelo thought all along – and so did everyone else – that Charito was Nick’s girlfriend. Apparently, people in the business that time mistook their closeness for something else. But there was nothing romantic there, just pure friendship – Nick clarifies today.

When it was pointed out to Angelo that he need not worry about stepping on somebody else’s feelings, he quickly took out his toothbrush and brushed his teeth vigorously for the kissing scene with the legendary actress.

That incident is still memorable to Nick. But more unforgettable for him were the golden years of television when drama anthologies regularly featured literary works – both local and foreign. For this he has to thank the late Jimmy Navarro (former ABS-CBN executive and father of singer Leah Navarro) who – Nick claims – understood and appreciated literature.

Today, Nick – and I myself – could only wish that literature still had a venue in local television to introduce these great written masterpieces to a generation that, sadly, no longer reads.