Lovingly Yours, Helen

Lovingly Yours, Helen
Genre	Drama, anthology
Created by	Hyper-Visions Productions, Inc.
Directed by	various directors
Starring	Helen Vela (1980–1992) Princess Punzalan (1992–1996) Helen Gamboa Boots Anson-Roa
Country of origin	Philippines
No. of seasons	16
Production
Executive producer(s)	Redgie Acuña-Magno
Producer(s)	Helen Vela (1980–1992) Princess Punzalan (1992–1996)
Running time	90 minutes (Sunday)
Release
Original network	GMA Network (1980–1984, 1986–1996) Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (1984–1986)
Picture format	480i SDTV
Original release	September 7, 1980 (1980-09-07) – September 1, 1996 (1996-09-01)

Lovingly Yours, Helen was a Sunday afternoon program aired on GMA Network from 1980 to 1984 and 1986 to 1996. From 1984 to 1986, the show was transferred to Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (now occupied by ABS-CBN), then returned to GMA Network in April 1986, when BBC went off the air after People Power Revolution, a few months before the resurrection of ABS-CBN. It was also the second longest running drama anthology in Philippine Television predated Maalaala Mo Kaya (ABS-CBN) and the now defunct Coney Reyes on Camera (RPN and ABS-CBN).

Lovingly Yours, Helen evolved into a television drama anthology from a daily counseling program on radio with the same title, originally aired on GMA's AM station DZBB. It was presented by television/radio personality Helen Vela. Each episode is based on the letter sender's life stories sent by viewers. This format also served as a template of other drama anthologies aired on Philippine television.

The show's radio version (counselling program) continued to air on weekdays even as the show's TV counterpart (drama anthology) was being produced. Just as with the TV version, the radio show moved to BBC's FM station DWOK-FM (now MOR 101.9 For Life! owned by ABS-CBN) in 1984, and returned to DZBB in 1986.

Music theme

The opening theme for the show was the instrumental version of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest co-winner Un Jour, Un Enfant by Paul Mauriat. "Ballade pour Adeline," composed and written by Paul de Senneville, was always used as background music while Helen Vela delivered the narration and her final advice to the letter-sender.

As Lovingly Yours, Helen

In 1980, the program transformed from a radio program to a television drama anthology. Among some of the stars appeared on this program's episodes are: Nora Aunor, Christopher de Leon, Vilma Santos, Sheryl Cruz, Manilyn Reynes, Aga Muhlach, Maricel Soriano, Romnick Sarmenta, Sharon Cuneta, Tonton Gutierrez, Mary Walter, Bong Revilla, Jr. and Kris Aquino. A rare episode in the drama series was also shown sometime in 1990 when Helen Vela acted alongside close friends Coney Reyes, Vilma Santos and Tina Revilla-Valencia.

Lovingly Yours: The Movie

In 1984, due to immense popularity of the program, Lovingly Yours, Helen was turned into a four-part anthology movie. The first episode was a horror-drama which starred Julie Vega, Anita Linda and Coney Reyes (billed as Coney Reyes-Mumar). The second episode was a drama that starred Vivian Foz and Ariosto Reyes Jr. The third episode was about a gay father and his adopted daughter (Janice de Belen, Johnny Wilson, Carmi Martin and Ricky Davao), and the last was a comedy-drama about a comedian whose career was about to be faded, with Chiquito, Sheryl Cruz, Jimmy Santos, Tommy Angeles, and Odette Khan. Helen Vela appeared in the first, middle and last parts of the movie as narrator.

As Lovingly Yours

In 1992, after the death of the host, Princess Punzalan (her daughter, and ex-wife of TV personality Willie Revillame) took over her late mother's hosting responsibilities. The program continued to become the top weekend afternoon anthology on TV. On the last years of airing, Helen Gamboa and Boots Anson-Roa took over hosting chores. This time, Princess played protagonist/central roles.

One of its notable episodes during the time after Helen's death was Princess Punzalan's own life story.

Lovingly Yours: The Classics

Reruns of the most memorable episodes of Lovingly Yours, Helen were shown after its last episode on September 1, 1996. It was replaced on November 10 that same year by Anna Karenina, a weekly soap opera jointly produced by Viva Television and GMA 7.

16th Anniversary and Farewell Episode

After 16 years, Lovingly Yours bowed out of Philippine television with a special thanksgiving dinner show and tribute to Helen Vela. During the dinner, an awarding ceremony was given to the producers and staff who already worked for the program. A special presentation features a video clip of Helen's performance (with Coney Reyes, Tina Revilla, and Vilma Santos), who sang "A Friend" by Keno on Vilma! in 1989.