''First '' () is a 2021

Philippine television drama Philippine television drama, also known as ''teleserye'' is a form of melodramatic, serialized, televised fiction in the Philippines. ''Teleserye'' is derived from two Filipino words: "tele", short for "''telebisyón''" (television), and "''se ...

romance comedy series broadcast by

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

. Directed by L.A. Madridejos, it stars Sanya Lopez in the title role. It premiered on March 15, 2021 on the network's Telebabad line up. The series concluded on July 2, 2021 with a total of 78 episodes. A sequel, '' First Lady'' aired in 2022. The series is streaming online on YouTube.

Cast and characters

;Lead cast * Sanya Lopez as Melody Reyes-Acosta ;Supporting cast * Gabby Concepcion as Glenn Francisco Acosta * Pancho Magno as Conrad Enriquez * Cassy Legaspi as Nina Acosta * Joaquin Domagoso as Jonas Clarito * Sandy Andolong as Edna Reyes * Gardo Versoza as Luis Prado * Maxine Medina as Lorraine Prado * Boboy Garovillo as Florencio Reyes * Pilar Pilapil as Blessilda "Blessie" Acosta * Kakai Bautista as Pepita San Jose * Cai Cortez as Norma Robles * Analyn Barro as Gemmalyn Rose "Gemrose" Reyes * Thou Reyes as Yessey Reyes * Patricia Coma as Nicole Acosta * Clarence Delgado as Nathan Acosta * Thia Thomalla as Valerie "Val" Cañete * Jon Lucas as Titus de Villa * Glenda Garcia as Marni Tupaz * Anjo Damiles as Jasper Agcaoili * Kiel Rodriguez as Paul Librada * Jerick Dolormente as Lloyd Reyes * Hailey Mendes as Charlotte "Charlie" Barboa ;Guest cast * Boots Anson-Roa as Diane Carlos * Jean Garcia as Christine Acosta * Andre Paras as Alexander Carlos * Tommy Abuel as Anthony Carlos * Allen Dizon as Subido * Mikoy Morales as Jaime * Jenzel Angeles as Paige *

Lovely Rivero Gineb Macalinao (born May 15, 1969) known as Lovely Rivero, is a Filipino actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the tra ...

as Viola * Frances Makil-Ignacio as Rosales * Wilma Doesnt as Matilda * Issa Litton as Helena Buenaventura * Michael Roy Jornales as Danilo Garcia * Dennis Marasigan as Ezekiel Lopez * Muriel Lomadilla as Beverly "Bevs" Oliveros * Rollie Inocencio as Pedrito Conde * Nicki Morena as Aila * Julius Miguel as Osmond Buenaventura * Atak as Impak * Cecile Paz as Jess * Chinggay Datu as Kathy Baluyot * Lourdes Conde Serrano as Lourdes * Michael Flores as Allan Buenaventura * Marnie Lapus as Mercedeta "Mercy" L. Primavera * Luis Hontiveros as Jason * Teresa Loyzaga as Alessandra "Sandra" Robles * Polo Ravales as Secretary Ordoñez

Casting

In November 2019,

Marian Rivera Marian Rivera Gràcia-Dantes (; born 12 August 1984) is a Filipinos, Filipino actress, television host, model and entrepreneur. She is known for her portrayals of Hero, heroines and roles in Romance film, romantic dramas. Her accolades includ ...

was hired to portray the role of First . Rivera left the series in September 2020, due to the safety protocols of the series' filming. Sanya Lopez was later hired as the replacement in October 2020. Actor Kelvin Miranda was also initially hired for the role of Jonas Clarito. He was pulled out from the series to appear in the drama series '' The Lost Recipe''. Actor Joaquin Domagoso served as his replacement.

Production

Principal photography commenced on March 10, 2020. Filming was halted on March 15, 2020, due to the

enhanced community quarantine in Luzon The enhanced community quarantine in Luzon was a series of stay-at-home orders and ''cordon sanitaire (medicine), cordon sanitaire'' measures implemented by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EI ...

caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Filming was continued in November 2020. Filming concluded in May 2021.

Ratings

According to

AGB Nielsen Philippines AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines, commonly called AGB Nielsen, or AGB Nielsen Philippines, under The Nielsen Company is a global leader in audience measurement, market research firms, and data analytics, with a focus on media in the Phi ...

' Nationwide Urban Television Audience Measurement People in television homes, the pilot episode of ''First '' earned a 23% rating. The final episode scored a 19.2% rating.

Accolades

References

External links

* * 2021 Philippine television series debuts 2021 Philippine television series endings Filipino-language television shows GMA Network drama series Long stubs with short prose Philippine political television series Philippine romantic comedy television series Television productions postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Television series about nannies Television series by GMA Entertainment Group Television shows set in the Philippines {{Philippines-romance-tv-prog-stub