It was 2005, the year when GMA Network was at its strongest as the most-watched tv network in Mega Manila. In the primetime race, ABS-CBN was overwhelmingly defeated, as its Kapuso rival maintained its devastating lead.
One small-budgeted show, however, was able to narrow down the Kapuso Network’s gaping advantage–the heavy drama, Mga Anghel Na Walang Langit.
The creation of Mga Anghel na Walang Langit was not even planned, until a few weeks before its airing. Dubbed as a ‘miracle show’, the primetime series gathered some of the network’s new child stars to play in a story that revolves around a group of unfortunate children, and how society abused and exploited their situation and innocence.
Among those children tapped to lead the show, were Carl John Barrameda, John Manalo, Nikki Bagaporo, Sharlene San Pedro, and Miles Ocampo–all of whom would become successful teen stars, a years later.
On its debut, Mga Anghel Na Walang Langit went head-to-head, with then long-time top-rater, Extra Challenge, which reigned on its time slots for months already. Getting neutralized by a “rushed” and unplanned, let alone, low-budgeted kiddie Kapamilya soap, seemingly didn’t make sense to GMA then.
And while the show ultimately failed to topple the Kapuso primetime reality series, it made ABS-CBN close in on GMA-7 on the said timeslot, and thereby allowed succeeding programs, to easily take-off and eventually defeat their Kapuso rivals. One of those succeeding programs–Gulong ng Palad–ultimately dislodged Extra Challenge and made it bid farewell on-air in 2006.
As for Mga Anghel na Walang Langit’s case, it was able to score wins in the AGB Mega Manila scorecards, when it confronted the GMA-7 action-fantasy series, Sugo, which starred Richard Gutierrez, as the title role.
The show served as Gutierrez’s sophomore headliner on primetime, after the massive success of Mulawin, which he starred with Angel Locsin a year earlier. For its January 31, 2006 episode, for example, Mga Anghel Na Walang Langit was triumphant in claiming its timeslot from Extra Challenge.
he Kapamilya primetime series emerged victorious in both the Metro and Mega Manila, having posted 29.3, and 31% household ratings respectively, besting out Sugo‘s 25.7% in both bailiwick areas. Both shows were already on their final few weeks, having also debuted almost exactly the same quarter in 2005.
