Coco Martin and Iza Calzado appear in the respective finale and premiere teaser of ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Mars Ravelo’s Darna.’ ABS-CBN
MANILA — In back-to-back announcements Friday night, “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” and “Mars Ravelo’s Darna” revealed their respective end and start dates, marking the end of an era for the now-iconic hero cop and the return to TV of a pop culture icon.
At the end of its July 22 episode, “Ang Probinsyano” showed a teaser kicking off its three-week countdown to its finale, with lead star and director Coco Martin bidding farewell and expressing gratitude to viewers.
“Malungkot man na tayo’y maghihiwalay, pero walang hanggang pagpapasalamat ang aming nararamdaman. Nagbago man ang mundo, nandiyan pa rin kayo. Kahit man po matapos ang teleseryeng ‘to, hinding hindi po matatapos ang pagmamahal namin sa inyo,” he said.
The country’s longest running drama series, “Ang Probinsyano” was the consistent No. 1 TV program in the Philippines for five years until ABS-CBN’s forced broadcast shutdown in mid-2020. Migrating to digital platforms, the series steadily regained its viewership over the past two years, crossing 300,000 concurrent viewers on YouTube alone in recent weeks.
With the exit of Cardo comes the arrival of Darna, the beloved Mars Ravelo character to be portrayed by Jane de Leon in ABS-CBN’s TV adaptation.
Alongside the confirmation of “Ang Probinsyano’s” finale, ABS-CBN also announced the premiere date of “Darna”: August 15, Monday.
The new trailer of the “Darna” also gave a new glimpse of Iza Calzado as the first Darna and Narda’s mother, Leonor; as well as Janella Salvador as Darna’s snake-haired nemesis Valentina. In addition to acclaimed filmmaker Chito S. Roño and Avel Sunpongco, a third director, Benedict Mique, was also named in the preview.
Its broadcast platforms were also detailed: Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, Jeepney TV, A2Z, TV5, iWantTFC, and TFC.
Darna’s nearing flight comes three years after de Leon was introduced as the lead actress in the ABS-CBN series, which hurdled production delays primarily due to the coronavirus pandemic.