Why Eat Bulaga is a Tough Show to Beat?

Willie Revillame may be rejoicing these days because after Wowowee was axed, ABS-CBN continues to juggle and haggle on its afternoon programming. For me as a viewer, I don’t think that this has something to do with Willie’s absence. He has gone overboard when he was at the top that most viewers wouldn’t want to see him at the same timeslot or on any Kapamilya shows ever again. There may those die hard fans and people whom he was able to help in the past, but who will ever forget the painful marks that so many hopeful lives were killed in the tragedy that happened on the first anniversary of Willie’s defunct show. Wowowee will always be remembered for that tragedy no matter how they try to cover it up.

Robin Padilla emerged as a star and brought the ratings of Wowowee to its peak when he was tapped as guest host. This may be because nobody expected him to be good or many people were interested to find out how he would fit in to this kind of show where he had to do things that he has never done on TV before. It was an added treat that as he continues to do his hosting stint, his off screen romance with co-host Mariel Rodriguez starts to develop on screen.

Wowowee should have ended after Robin bid farewell to his hosting stint that lasted for two weeks. Now the public knows that ABS-CBN tried to woo Willie to come back, and this is a major turn off to their loyal viewers because this is a strong sign that they don’t really care what most of their consumers think and feel. It is a good thing that fate had it that Willie and the network did not come into any kind of agreement, which paved the way for the instant creation of Pilipinas, Win na Win and for Willie to do the rounds of interviews to lambast the station that made him who he is today.

So what is wrong with PWNW that despite the team-up of Robin Padilla and Kris Aquino as main hosts, the show was not able to deliver as expected? First off, this is not Kris Aquino’s forte. She can stand on her own and do the whole show even without Robin and the other co-hosts. By placing her amidst talents who are not as good as her and as not as spontaneous as her, her co-hosts, including Robin, were left with nothing more to say but raise their hands to act the PWNW hand signal to cue in for commercials.

Eat Bulaga is tough to beat. The show has remained at the top even though they don’t have big stars as co-hosts, aside from the trio of Tito, Vic and Joey. Most TV viewers look at this show as family. I have grown up watching this show. The only thing that will make me stop watching Eat Bulaga is the retirement of its three main hosts because it would no longer be the same. There may be times that I’d try watching other shows, like what I’ve done when Robin Padilla was a guest host at Wowowee or during the opening of PWNW. But if I’m not satisfied with the other choices, I’d rather stick it out with Eat Bulaga.

Creating a show that would match Eat Bulaga is something that must be done, researched and evaluated for months or years, and not for some weeks after the negotiations with the original host of Wowowee has failed.

Kris Aquino is undergoing some marital blues, and this is not the perfect time to see her doing a very happy show for the family. The Robin-Mariel love angle is no longer interesting. So what if they are lovers now? They are no longer teenagers who can make gazillion of fans scream whenever one is holding the hands of the other, not even when Robin professes his love for Mariel on national TV. We have seen Robin act this way before. He should be given a new partner, so that people will tune in to find out if he’s going to fall anew or if he has indeed found his true love with Mariel.

Kris and Robin should have been given different shows. Everything that may remind people about Wowowee, from the stage, to games, look of the dancers and ways how the show is executed, should have been all scrapped. PWNW looked like a rehashed Wowowee without anything new but the two main hosts.

Now that Edu Manzano is set to do a comeback at the timeslot where he started to get endeared to many local viewers’ hearts at the other channel, ABS-CBN is scrambling its lineup as if this is an easy game of mix and match. They have promoted Showtime to fill in the noontime block, but I don’t think that this is a wise move because in reality, this is a weak show that gained great ratings in the past because GMA 7 cannot create a good show that would match such. They were able to tap into the goldmine when they placed movies to be pitted against Showtime. If Showtime couldn’t win the ratings game against the most crappy of GMA films or the oldest Michael V movie, how else can it fare when pitted against the longest running noontime show on TV?

As for now, I will continue watching Eat Bulaga whenever I have time, but peek into Showtime every once in a while because they got Ryan Bang as guest-judge. ABS-CBN needs all the luck in the world to be able to come up with a show that can really topple or just make the rival show a little nervous.

All My Most Hated TV Actors in One Kapamilya Show

Wow, ABS CBN really impressed me this time. I saw the write-ups at the very controversial PEP of the upcoming show about the pocketbook stories turned into TV series. I just can't believe that they have included all the stars that I hate seeing on TV in that show. This doesn't include Roxanne Guinoo, by the way, because she seems nice. I think that her showbiz career is being slowed down by her craziness when it comes to love.

The other casts of the show include ABS CBN's pet, Jake Cuenca. More actors deserve the kind of roles this one is getting. And the network is keeping him uber busy these days, with Tayong Dalawa, movie and this soon to be shown flop series. And the greater news is that Jake will be paired with Cristine Reyes. Again, there are many original Kapamilya stars who deserve the roles that she has been getting. This girl feels that she is already a big star. There was a time when she made an act ala-Heart Evangelista, by not accepting a role for an afternoon series because she wants her show to be on primetime. Who watched Eva Fonda? Raise your hands. Okay, one, two…

Valerie Concepcion, who likes this girl? Raise your hands. One… No more? Enough said.

And drum roll, Mariel Rodriguez. Well, at least this girl is no longer acting as if we are not aware that she is a bitch. She entered the PBB house as a sweet and bubbly girl. And she came out as herself, someone who hates the masses, loves to curse and loves talking about people behind their backs. I am beginning to like her actually because she is no longer pretending. She is naughty and sometimes bad, but she is no longer acting as if she's sweet.

So who is excited about this show? Raise your hands. Pssst (T2 mode). This is another suicidal move for ABS CBN. It would have been better if they casted the original PBB Season 1 housemates. This could be a reunion project and sort of thawing phase for their frozen careers.

WHY DO ABS-CBN'S RATINGS KEEP ON PLUNGING DOWN?

I've long wanted to do this. I even wanted to e-mail this to ABS-CBN's bigwigs. Kapal no? =) But the fact is, I am a customer and I want to get what I want. And ABS-CBN is not giving it to me. But do not get me wrong, I happened to switch channels last Sunday because ABS was showing a boxing match of I-don't-really-care who. And God, SOP sucks! They've got no stars. And even the established singers like Ogie and Janno cannot get their notes right. I promise never to watch SOP ever again! And as much as I love to hate ABS-CBN, I cannot transform as a Kapuso either. They are lucky to have good show formats, except for SOP! But star-wise and quality-wise, they still cannot compete with ABS-CBN.

So without further ado, allow me to rant and rant and rant...

Kapamilya ako, but I'm no longer watching most of their shows. I don't know what's gotten on their bigwigs' heads but they are no longer fighting to win. Why do its ratings keep on plunging down when they literally have all the big stars? Here are my thoughts about it.

1. They keep on acquiring 'unwanted' stars. Not because Angel Locsin became the queen of GMA soaps means that the Kapamilya viewers will accept her with open arms. I'd rather see Roxanne Guinoo or Kristine Hermosa on Lobo than the ex-Kapuso star. And the same sentiment also goes to 'kairita' Valerie Concepcion and Cristine Reyes.

Valerie should have been loyal to GMA. The network didn't let her down when she became an unwed teenage mom. As for Cristine, she doesn't have the charisma to be a big star. If ABS wants a sexy star, pick someone from your frozen delight beauties and I'm sure that they'll perform even better than this one.

And oh, is Ara Mina still on ABS? She was on her way down. Gravity seems to keep on pulling her down because of her not-so-nice-to-look-at extremely big boobies. She should have stick with GMA. At least there, they provide work for those who are loyal to them, even though they no longer have the spotlight on them. Just look at the old That's Entertainment stars resurfacing on GMA shows. And other stars like Antonio Aquitania and Wendell Ramos are still active despite the fact that they are maturing and are not as hot as before.

I pity the child star, I think her name used to be Charming when she was on GMA. She was already getting enough exposure. If her manager really cares for her, she should have let the child stay with GMA. She's barely visible now at ABS.

Other stars who should repent and seek GMA's mercy are Long Mejia and Dennis Padilla. They had everything going well for them until they were tempted to jump fences and forgot about gratitude. They were funny. But ABS doesn't have shows to accommodate their talents. I didn't include Dagul here because he still has Going Bulilit. But he could have more had he opted to stay a Kapuso. And Brod Pete could thrive wherever he chooses to. He will shine as a comedian or as a writer whether he's with GMA, ABS, even TV5 or RPN 9 or NBN 4, simply because he is genuinely funny.

And I will not forget to mention Jake Cuenca. This 'yabang' looking guy even became 'Palos' when the then frozen star Jericho Rosales could have done better justice to the role.

The only welcome addition to this roster is Billy Crawford. He shined better when he transferred to ABS. He needed the exposure because he needs to be seen as much as possible by the viewers abroad. And this guy is indeed talented, makes me want to open the TV again whenever he's on.

2. Speaking of freezer, ABS does not care about their talents. If they are no longer bringing in the cash as they used to, the network will freeze their careers until the damage becomes irreparable. And what does this say about them? It is fair enough that they are not the one using the Kapuso tagline because they've got no heart. They don't deserve being called Kapamilya either. What suits them best is Kanegosyo. I pity the stars who have dreamt of becoming big only to be stuck on the rut.

Other worthwhile stars opted to find other gigs at other networks. Kapamilya should have given Charlene Gonzales a better show. People love her. ABS is nuts to let her go so easy.

Sandara Park was brought to stardom by ABS. But the network also brought her to star-doom. This girl was unique in many ways that she could have been given roles where she would excel. But nope, they let her star lose its glow until she decided to go back to her home country. Hopefully, she will become big there that ABS will realize what a gem they had easily let go. Just look at how they are trying to rush deals for the soon to be Hollywood-bound Charice? She was being groomed then by ABS to be frozen. But thanks to YouTube, this young girl's life was changed forever.

Where is Geoff Eigenman? This actor has a lot of potential other than hosting ASAP segments. He is not just given the right roles. No thanks to the surge of the ex-PBB hunky English-speaking stars. They are getting all the attention. John Avila became the dubbed Kapitan Boom. I wonder how they will remedy Will Devaugn's twisted tongue on the next Judy Ann soap. You already have Sam Milby. This guy is really talented so I have no objections with the attention that he is being given. But enough of his likes already. Masakit sa tenga. Sam just became an exception because he sings really well. And who will ever forget the lines, "I never… said… that I-lahv-you."

3. The horrors of Wowowee. This show should have been suspended from the time it caused a lot of deaths. Willie should have been made liable for all those lives. Whatever they say, it is a fact that the pre-taped shows of Wowowee before the incident happened showed Willie encouraging people to keep on coming to the venue. No one even cared to flash updates or caution that it will be safer for other people to stay at home because of the crowd buildup. ABS wanted good TV. And the hoards of people who flocked the venue may be it. They were not prepared that they would become the news itself. And as a sign of respect to all the deaths that was caused by the network's inefficiency, Wowowee should have been cancelled.

4. The horrors of Mariel Rodriguez. She exposed her real self on her PBB stint. She was far too different from what she's projecting on TV. She thinks that the masa and she referred to the Wowowee crowd as mabaho. She thinks that showbiz is baduy. And she curses so much, I don't think she's suitable to be watched by children. But she's still not being dumped by the network on the freezer. If only this is the 'Apprentice,' I'd tell Mariel, 'You're fired.' She will never recover from her blunders. No one will ever forget her real self. And as part of the masa crowd, if she doesn't like us, we don't like her either.

5. The news and current affairs. How do you expect us to keep up with the ever changing hosts and formats of the shows on this department? You started the early morning news/talk show format on Philippine TV. But you don't show any mercy for the likes of Tin-Tin Bersola among so many others being axed on the show without any replacement for the lost job. With these kinds of shows on TV, I think that viewers have to develop certain level of leaning and association with the programs that they choose to watch. It is better to trust old friends in this regard. You'll have better confidence in learning from the shows that have been around for a long time.

And this is what GMA is good at. They don't just cancel a show in this department just because it didn't get the desired rating for a month or so. Look at where "Imbestigador," "I-Witness," "Wish Ko Lang," just to name a few, are now. These shows are still being watched because like the real sense of "Kapamilya," hindi tayo basta iniwan na lang ng mga shows na to. I cannot cite same samples for ABS-CBN. Yeah, TV Patrol has been around for the longest time. But they were not sensitive to its original hosts. The show was transferred to Korina Sanchez, right? Then it was given to the then new-transferee from the other network. I cannot really understand if ABS even knows the meaning of compassion.

The same feeling goes for Magandang Gabi Bayan. It was a good show. It was better than the one with Kuya Kim now where he's really trying hard to be Steve Irwin. Had MGB been retained, it will still dominate the 6PM Saturday timeslot. Yeah, its ratings may fluctuate from time to time. Pero babalik-balikan pa rin yun ng mga tunay na kapamilya. But the damage has been done and it's getting too hard to repair.

(I'll have a part two on this. I still have much more to rant about. And the second part will focus on the drama block.)

to be continued...