Two years after playing the role of a veterinarian in That's My Doc, award-winning actor Aga Muhlach comes back on television as a real estate developer on ABS-CBN's newest romantic-comedy weekend series M3 (Malay Mo Ma-develop).
Aga said it took him a while to do another TV series because he was waiting for the right project.
"For the longest time, ino-offer talaga sa akin na gumawa ng drama ng soap, which I think na hindi ko dapat gawin. Bukod sa inaalagaan ko pa ang mga pelikula na dapat kong gawin, gusto ko talagang gumawa ng TV [show]. After a while, I had to, you know, parang medyo mag-even out ng konti. Then, we tried to do nga this series na may istoryang sinusundan," he said during the press conference of the show last June 23 at the Dolphy Theater inside ABS-CBN compound.
Unlike his previous TV shows, the former Oki Doki Doc star said that M3 is a program that has a continuous story that viewers can follow every Saturday.
Aga explained, "We made a point na ang istorya namin maayos talaga. 'Yon nga ang sinasabi kanina about the sitcom, 'yong mga slapstick, mga adlib, inalis namin lahat. So, what's important here is when people watch the show, may istorya silang magandang susundan—whether maiyak sila o matuwa sila. 'Yon ang istoryang susundan nila every week."
Veteran actor Noel Trinidad, who portrays the character of Aga's grandfather on the show, says M3 veers away from the usual slapstick comedy on sitcoms.
He says, "While it's comedy, mayroon ding heart-warming moments na mag-iisip ka and hopefully mag-iisip ang audience, tatamaan. Hindi lang ito 'yong comedy. Ito, nadagdagan ng, hindi naman iyakan o drama, kundi ng mga heart-warming scenes."
Then, he related what he always looks forward to on the show, "Actually, ang favorite moment ko dito, 'yong sa role ko, is 'yong quiet moments namin ni Aga—as lolo and apo na nag-uusap ng serious conversation."
Aga agreed by saying that the show's production team always does something to end an episode so the audience will wait for the next episode the following week.
He said, "If you start doing adlibs or slapstick or kung anu-anong ganun na naman, parang may feeling ang tao na, 'Okay lang kung hindi namin mapanood next week or sa susunod na dalawang linggo. Babalikan na lang namin siya after three weeks'...parang ganun. Parang ang gusto naming mangyari, we present a really nice story, nice theme na talagang susundan nila weekly. That got me really excited kaya nandito ako ngayon."
M3 is about the story of JM (played by Aga) and Kring-Kring (played by Ai-Ai) who have a conflicting lifestyles. JM is a good-looking and successful real estate developer who remains a bachelor at the age of 38. He's a lolo's boy who stays away from commitments. Kring-Kring, on the other hand, is a simple mother who is willing to do everything just to give her son (played by Jairus Aquino) a better life.
Also included in the cast are young actresses Megan Young, Niña Jose, and Mika dela Cruz, and TV host-comedian Jojo Alejar. M3 will be directed by award-winning director Jeffrey Jeturian.
M3 or Malay Mo Ma-develop will start airing every Saturday night starting July 3 on ABS-CBN.