Teen Gen

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 TGIS, with Mark Reyes as director. The show lasted for over 100 episodes, and led to a feature film and a Primetime show, Growing Up featuring most of the original cast members depicted as moving on to college.

Because of the growing clamor to revive TGIS, the network came up with the idea to create a spin-off, with two leading characters from the original series brought back to be part of a new cast.[12] TGIS original headwriter, Kit Villanueva-Langit, began developing the spin-off series mid-2012, under the title "TGIS New Generation". The title eventually changed to Teen Gen as show creator/director Mark Reyes and the whole production team wanted the show to have a fresh start and "[...] we don't want to look back, but to move forward."[13]

Auditions for the new cast took place at GMA Network Center in Quezon City in September 2012.[14] Mark Reyes, Kit Villanueva-Langit and series' executive producer Jan Navarro served as the casting panel. The casting was finalized in October 2012.[15] TGIS 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 prominent local showbiz celebrities - auditioned and landed roles.[16]

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 TGIS 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.[17]

In an interview on April 4, 2013, Mark Reyes announced that he was leaving the show for a while to concentrate on his directorial job for the primetime series Love & Lies.[18] Albert Langitan formally took over directorial duties at the start of the second season.[19] The same season, Seth Isay confirmed his departure from the show, citing personal reasons for his decision.[20] 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 show's third season.

In May 2013, the network renewed the show for a shorter third season, comprising only two episodes. However, GMA management shortly announced that Teen Gen would be cancelled. Officials explained that the show, along with Party Pilipinas on May 18, 2013, were axed to make way for a new show.[21]

According to AGB Nielsen Philippines' Mega Manila household television ratings, the pilot episode of Teen Gen earned a 9.1% rating,[22] while the final episode scored an 8.6% rating.[23]

• Teen Gen at IMDb