SST: Salo-Salo Together
SST: Salo-Salo Together (transl. SST: Banquet Together) is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. It premiered on March 20, 1993 replacing Lunch Date. The show concluded on June 30, 1995 with a total of 684 episodes. It was replaced by Eat Bulaga! in its timeslot.
| SST: Salo-Salo Together | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Genre | Variety show |
| Country of origin | Philippines |
| Original language(s) | Tagalog |
| No. of episodes | 684 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Wilma Galvante |
| Production location(s) |
|
| Camera setup | Multiple-camera setup |
| Running time | 90–150 minutes |
| Production company(s) | GMA Entertainment TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | GMA Network |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | March 20, 1993 – June 30, 1995 |
History
SST's first aired on March 20, 1993 as a replacement for Lunch Date, hosted by Randy Santiago, Dennis Padilla, and Smokey Manaloto with Liezl Martinez, Anjanette Abayari, Joy Ortega and Giselle Sanchez as co-hosts. In less than six months after it aired, SST started to overtake its arch-rival, Eat Bulaga! (ABS-CBN) in the ratings by providing fresh interactive segments like "Grabe!" (a contest where live studio audience join the hosts of SST in a dare), "Knock Knock Hello!" (where SST wall clocks were given out to a lucky household member whose home was posted with an SST sticker), "Sari-Sari Stories" (a weekly comedy skit where SST hosts spoof a certain movie or Pinoy pop culture) and "Ano ka Hello?" (where SST hosts call out a lucky viewer and ask them questions about what they just saw in a particular episode). Moreover, SST hosts like Dennis, Smokey, Anjanette, Joy and Giselle became contract stars of Viva Films, where they have appeared separately in numerous movies. A free SST Sticker can be given to the audience on every weekdays.
Shortly before SST celebrated its first year on television, co-host Joy Ortega left the show because she could not take the intrigues thrown at her. She was subsequently replaced by Ai-Ai delas Alas who immediately blended beautifully with the other co-hosts, despite the fact that during the show's "Sari-Sari Stories" segment she always plays the oppressed character. Main host Randy Santiago also started extra work for the show as the main director, with Cesar Cosme as 2nd unit director. Soon after, SST gave a break to other newcomers in showbiz like Bayani Agbayani (who, like Ai-ai was always oppressed during the "Sari-Sari" segment), and Bernadette Allyson (who was introduced as VJ Berna).
However while it was amidst by high ratings at that time, it started as a blind item as 1994 was about to end, until showbiz news had leaked out that "SST" was going to go off the air to give way to its rival noontime show "Eat Bulaga!" at the 12 pm slot, after "Bulaga!" itself had decided to move to GMA Network following their contract renegotiations with its previous home network, ABS-CBN bogged down, when Eat Bulaga! producer TAPE Inc. rejected the deal of ABS-CBN to buy the airing rights of the noontime show from TAPE. During "SST"'s New Year episode on December 31, 1994, the announcement of the new variety show's move to GMA was officially made by main hosts Randy Santiago and Dennis Padilla. The "SST" hosts and talents were devastated because they felt the management did not give them a chance to prove that they could carry the noontime show to new heights. At the same time, they were satisfied because the GMA management decided to keep the show by moving "SST" to an earlier time slot to serve as a pre-programming to Eat Bulaga!. SST aired its final noontime episode on January 27, 1995. On January 30, 1995, SST was reformatted as a morning talk show, with its timeslot at 10:30 am. Entertainment writer Giovanni Calvo joined the "SST gang" as the segment host for "Katok Mga Misis!", dishing out the latest rumors in show business. However, "SST" was not able to dislodge ABS-CBN's "Teysi ng Tahanan" from the top spot and its ratings suffered.
On June 30, 1995, "SST" was cancelled after GMA executives decided to make the segment "Katok Mga Misis!" into a full-length program. The late Giovanni Calvo hosted the show along with his co-host Ali Sotto.
Post SST & SST Reunions
There have been some instances where some of the SST hosts worked again together in separate movies and TV projects after the show's axing in 1995.
Randy Santiago returned to noontime hosting in 1996 via ABS-CBN's 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila where he reunited with former writer-turned-comedian Bayani Agbayani. The two later on became hosts of MTB (starting with Magandang Tanghali Bayan and Masayang Tanghali Bayan) from 1998 until 2004. Ai-Ai delas Alas and Dennis Padilla later on rejoined the two hosts on MTB from 2001 until the show's axing in 2004. In 2005, Randy and Ai-Ai headlined the weekend primetime sitcom My Only Juan. In 2006, Randy also became ABS-CBN's resident director for another weekend sitcom Aalog-Alog. He was also able to direct his former co-hosts Giselle Sanchez and Dennis Padilla in the afternoon sitcom Parekoy in 2008.
Anjanette Abayari quietly left showbiz after her arrest in Guam due to shabu possession while her loveteam in the show, Smokey Manaloto, headlined ABC-5 (now TV5's) gag show Tropang Trumpo with his co-stars Michael V. and Ogie Alcasid left the show. Smokey is now a resident character actor for ABS-CBN, appearing in various drama shows for the network.
In 2010, Liezl Martinez, Joy Ortega, Giselle Sanchez and Smokey Manaloto reunited under the Salo Salo Together (SST) Family banner when they joined the GMA game show Family Feud hosted by Dingdong Dantes.
Joy Ortega quit showbiz after the show and now married.
Giselle Sanchez is still active in both movies and television and now married.
Liezl Martinez retired in showbiz and married to actor director Albert Martinez, and she had 3 children. Liezl Martinez died on March 14, 2015, due to battling a breast cancer.
Giovanni Calvo later became a radio host and sadly, he died in 2001 due to heart attack or a stroke.
Ai-Ai delas Alas is currently still active in showbiz, her recent blockbuster movie was Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat in 2010, and certified blockbuster hit Enteng Ng Ina Mo with her co-star bossing Vic Sotto. After 16 years with ABS-CBN, Ai-Ai went back to GMA 7 in 2015 where she is now currently hosting the Sunday noontime show Sunday PinaSaya, with occasional appearances in various GMA teleseryes.
Dennis Padilla has evolved from a comic actor to a versatile actor, appearing in various genres for movies and TV.
Bayani Agbayani became a breakout star when he moved to ABS-CBN in 1996. His notable appearances were in Kaya ni Mister, Kaya ni Misis, Super Laff In and MTB. In 2000, he was launched as a lead comic actor via Mana-Mana, Tiba-Tiba and has had his share of lead roles in both TV and movies ever since. In 2009, Bayani briefly left ABS-CBN for GMA but later on, went to TV5 in 2011 and went back to ABS-CBN where he has settled since 2015.
Hosts
- Randy Santiago (1993–1995)
- Dennis Padilla (1993–1995)
- Smokey Manaloto (1993–1995)
- Liezl Martinez (1993–1995)
- Anjanette Abayari (1993–1995)
- Joy Ortega (1993–1994)
- Giselle Sanchez (1993–1994)
- Ai-Ai delas Alas (1994–1995)[1]
- Bayani Agbayani (1994–1995)
- Bernadette Allyson (1994–1995)
- Giovanni Calvo (1995)
Segments
- Ano Ka Hello?
- GMA Rainbow Princess
- Grabe!
- Kape Muna
- Katok Mga Misis!
- Knock Knock Hello
- M.R.S.: Musika Ni Randy Santiago
- Me & My Mom
- SST Dream Girl Beauty Pageant
- SST Music Videos
- Sari-Sari Stories
- Secret
References
- "Balik Kapuso Ai-Ai delas Alas returns to GMA". Retrieved May 25, 2020.