S Files

History

S-Files premiered on June 7, 1998 with Paolo Bediones and Lyn Ching as the hosts. Originally intended as a Saturday afternoon talk show, GMA decided at the last minute to put the show on a Sunday afternoon slot (which belonged to Startalk), pitting it against the more established Showbiz Lingo Plus of ABS-CBN. With Paolo and Lyn's refreshing on-screen chemistry, S-Files managed to hold its own against Showbiz Lingo Plus and, in less than a year, it won the award for Best Talk Show at the 1999 PMPC TV Star Awards.

Drama actress Janice de Belen came on board in 2001 as Paolo's new co-host after Lyn Ching got married and concentrated on her job as a news anchor for GMA News and Public Affairs and as a host of Unang Hirit. Actor and celebrity sportsman Richard Gomez was added to the roster of hosts in 2002 when he transferred networks from ABS-CBN to GMA. Later that same year, Richard's best friend, actor/politician Joey Marquez was included in the S-Files roster of hosts after he successfully pinch-hit for Paolo Bediones when Paolo went to the US to interview some Hollywood celebrities to be featured on the show.

In 2004, Janice left the show to concentrate more on her hosting job at GMA's daily morning show, Sis. There were rumors that she was booted out of S-Files primarily because whenever the talk show reports some controversies involving her close friends, she gets affected. One example was during the Kris Aquino-Joey Marquez controversy in October 2003 where the whole show became Joey's venue to air his side of the issue. Janice did not show up on that episode out of sympathy for her friend Kris, who hosts S-Files rival show The Buzz. Pia Guanio, who was fast making a name as a segment anchor of Showbiz Time (now retitled as Chika Minute) on GMA's news program 24 Oras, was named as Janice's replacement.

S-Files and The Buzz exchanged ratings. In 2005 S-Files came out with a higher rating than The Buzz. From July to September 2006, The Buzz was once again able to regain and sustain its lead against S-Files. GMA Network management was rumored to have considered a switch of timeslot against Startalk, another showbiz-oriented talk show from the same network aired on Saturdays. The network is also said to have considered replacing it by Showbiz Stripped, a more serious showbiz-oriented program aired every Saturday night. Neither of these were found true and are believed to have been made up by the critics of the show.

In 2006, John Lapus, Kris Aquino's close friend and former showbiz reporter on The Buzz, moved to GMA and was officially cast on S-Files.

The show aired its final episode on April 22, 2007 after almost nine years on the air because of its poor ratings. It was replaced by Showbiz Central.

Criticism

The show received criticism from viewers and entertainment press who are mostly followers and publicists of the rival show The Buzz and its hosts. It was said to have literally copied its format, including the voice-over style of Boy Abunda.

Host