Josélito "Tito" Escalera (Tito Sotto) - one half of the Escalera brothers, who plots harebrained schemes in every episode.
Josémari "Joey" Escalera (Joey de Leon) - the other Escalera sibling. Miss Tapia has a crush on him.
Victorio "Vic" Ungasis (Vic Sotto) - the good-looking and smart teacher's pet with a "chick magnet" personality. The Escaleras often pick on him during class. Later, he became a professor at Wanbol University.
Liwayway Gawgaw Tapia, a.k.a., Miss Tapia (Mely Tagasa) - Wanbol University's professor who often gets on the Escalera brothers' nerves. Although she admires Joey Escalera, Miss Tapia was romantically connected with Mang Tem-i. Vic is her favorite student. Miss Tapia was originally a character in the GMA sitcom Baltic & Co. (1974-1976), also portrayed by Tagasa. Baltic & Co. is based on the newspaper comic strip of the same title created by Roni Santigo. Baltic & Co. and Iskul Bukol are unrelated media franchises.
Artemis Batongbuhay, a.k.a., Mang Tem-i (Bing Angeles) - the dark-complexioned operator of the university's cafeteria. His name is a vesre on the Filipino word "itim" (black or dark), "tim-i" or "tem-i."
Tonette Macho (Anthony Roquel) - the gay student who plays as best friend of the fairest girl in class (Mary and Joey Anson). He is also the nemesis of the Escalera Brothers.
Aling Jacoba or Inang (Dely Atay-Atayan) - Vic's mother from the town of Tiaong, Quezon. Famous for her term of endearment "bunsooyy!" whenever addressing Vic. The root word "bunso" is Tagalog for youngest child.
Sharon Escalera (Sharon Cuneta) - younger sister of Tito and Joey.
Richie "Kabayo" (Richie Reyes) - a fellow student who always copies homework from Vic & Bibeth. He is also an accomplice to the Escalera's comedic pranks.
Redford (Redford White) - Mang Tem-i's houseboy and the cafeteria's waiter. The character was replaced by Jimmy "Big J" (Jimmy Santos) after the departure of White from the series.
Jimmy "Big J" (Jimmy Santos) - replacement of Redford at Mang Tem-i's cafeteria.
Perfecto "Pekto" Pangkista (Ariel Villasanta) - a fellow Wanbol student and part-time waiter at Mang Tem-i's canteen who dresses like a 1970s punk rocker.
Don José Escalera (Rod Navarro) - father of the Escalera siblings.
Back to Iskul Bukol is a Philippine television sitcom series broadcast by IBC. The series is sequel to Iskul Bukol. Directed by Soxie Topacio, it stars Joey de Leon, Mely Tagasa, Bing Angeles, Val Sotto, Marissa Sanchez, Ruby Rodriguez, Patricia Javier, Gian Sotto, Mausi Wohlfarth, Maui Taylor and Katya Santos. It aired from 1999 to January 8, 2000. De Leon's character, Joey Escalera, is now an English literature professor who decides to go back to Wanbol University to teach and wreak havoc like in the old days. Things could not get any worse when he finds out that one of his students, Ludwig von Tapia (Jeffrey Tam), is actually his and Miss Tapia's love child.
Its canonicity in the Iskul Bukol timeline is in question with the appearance of Gian Sotto and Jeffrey Tam in Iskul Bukol 20 Years After.
May 24 (2011-05-24) – September 27, 2011 (2011-09-27)
Iskul Bukol: Eskwelang Kwela 'To! is a Philippine television sitcom series broadcast by TV5. The series is based on the 1978 Philippine television sitcom of the same title. Directed by Soxie Topacio and Dante Nico Garcia, it stars Fred Lo, Sam Y.G., Alwin Uytingco, Erika Padilla and Regine Angeles in supporting roles.[2][3] It aired from May 24 to September 27, 2011, replacing Hap-ier Together and was replaced by Flames of Desire. The remake would not feature any character from the original series, although it would still be set in Wanbol University. He added that the remake would have partial influences from Glee and How I Met Your Mother.[4]
The eponymous opening theme song was composed by Joey de Leon and Vic Sotto, inspired by Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up”. A full version of the theme song was released as single by Tito, Vic & Joey in 1979 and featured in the trio’s Sgt. Pepe (Tito, Vic & Joey, Vol. IV) album. The trio also released an album in 1980 entitled Iskul Bukol, featuring the logo of the television series on its cover.
A Iskul Bukol mini-reunion was celebrated on June 30, 2007 in the GMA Network show Eat Bulaga!'s Bulagaan portion. Mely Tagasa, Tito Sotto, Joey de Leon and Vic Sotto appeared, reprising their roles from Iskul Bukol.
Influence
In the GMA Networkdocumentary show I-Witness, presenter Jay Taruc revisited Iskul Bukol and the Philippines’ comedy trio (Tito, Vic, and Joey) in a 2007 retrospective episode titled "Wanbol University" and discovered that TVJ merchandise was still a hit.[5]
