John en Marsha (partially found Filipino sitcom; 1973-1990)

The cast of John en Marsha.

Status: Partially Found

John en Marsha is a Filipino sitcom aired on Radio Philippines Network (RPN-9). Revolving around the Puruntong family, the sitcom mainly stars the renowned comedian Dolphy, along with Nida Blanca, Rolly Quizon, Dely Atay-atayan, and Maricel Soriano. The first iteration ran from November 22, 1973^[1] to December 1977 and the second iteration ran from July 1980 to March 19, 1990^[2], making it one of the longest-running Philippine television shows of all time. The show was popular among Filipinos as it resulted in several movies being made in the following years when it aired. Even today, the show remains to be one of the most iconic and remarkable shows of Philippine television.

The show, however, unfortunately remains lost. According to Radio Philippines Network themselves, only 87 episodes out of its 17 years of airing were kept in their archives. Currently, search efforts are currently being headed by journalist Jerome Villanueva which started back in May 2024 via the Facebook group John en Marsha.^[3]

Plot

Nida Blanca plays Marsha Jones, the daughter of the wealthy Doña Delilah, played by Dely Atay-atayan. She marries the poor John H. Puruntong, played by Dolphy. Other cast members include Delilah’s maid Matutina (played by Evelyn Bontogon-Guerrero), their sons Rolly J. Puruntong (played by Rolly Quizon) and John-John J. Puruntong (played by Atong Redillas), their daughter Shirley J. Puruntong (played by Maricel Soriano; later replaced by Sheryl Cruz), Rolly’s wife Madel Puruntong (played by Madel de Leon) and their daughter Joanna Marie (played by Kennely Ann Lacia Binay), along with Shirley’s suitor and neighborhood storekeeper Isko (played by Isko Salvador).

The story revolves around the Puruntong family. Marsha’s mother Doña Delilah frequently visits their house along with her housemaid/sidekick Matutina. Delilah frequently criticizes John and even though they struggle with their budget, the latter always rejects Delilah’s financial assistance, leading to the comedic exchange of insults between the two. The episode ends with Delilah uttering this iconic catchphrase, "Kaya ikaw, John, magsumikap ka!" ("Therefore, John, you must work hard!").

Availability

In 2008, Paragon Home Video released an 18-volume DVD of the show, however it was incomplete and only select episodes were included on the DVD.^[4] Some episodes from this DVD were soon uploaded to YouTube. The films "John & Marsha '80" and "Da Best of John & Marsha Sa Pelikula Part II: A Tribute to Ading Fernando" are also lost. In May 2024, journalist Jerome Villanueva officially started the hunt for the sitcom. At the same time, RPN sealed partnership with Aliw Channel 23 for the latter to air both classic RPN programs John en Marsha and Buddy en Sol in the future.

On May 1, 2024, Radio Philippines Network started uploading John en Marsha episodes^[5], and there they stated that they only have 87 episodes in their archives. As of now, 21 episodes are currently uploaded on YouTube, 4 of them are rare and aren’t uploaded on the DVD.