WHAT'S worse than Charlie Sheen ranting on the air vs 2-1/2 Men producers and his ex-wives?
This:
I don't know how TV5 management can allow Revillame to return to the air with the way he shot his mouth off. I'd lose all respect for the network's owner Manuel V. Pangilinan, if Revillame's allowed to get away with what he said tonight. Just how low will you allow your company go? This is certainly not the way to make your climb to be best network in the country.
And honestly, Mr. Pangilinan and other TV5 network bosses...is Revillame really worth all that trouble he brings you? Tsk, tsk.
Meanwhile here's the press statement of Unilever on Willing Willie and similar live game shows on TV:
Unilever Press Statement on its sponsorship of live game shows on TV
Other advertisers which earlier pulled out from Willing Willie here.
Kudos to Dennis Garcia who started the ball rolling by publishing all the brands which advertise on Willing Willie and calling for an ad boycott. To everyone who also helped push the ad boycott by writing to the show's advertisers, congratulations!
I will sleep well tonight knowing that 'people power' helped push Willing Willie off the air! Yahoo! ;p
Cheers to the best news ever! ‘Willing Willie’ to go off air for 2 weeks, Revillame says Woot-woot! ;p
Showing posts with label TV5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV5. Show all posts
April 08, 2011
DISGUSTING!
THAT was the first word that came to mind as I watched a six-year-old boy nicknamed Jan-Jan sexually gyrating like a macho dancer in Willie Revillame’s show on TV5, much to the delight of the host and the audience.
I couldn’t even watch the entire video clip, which has been making the rounds of the social-networking sites via YouTube because it was just so sick and tasteless.
Most of my friends know I’m virtually unshockable, and hardly disturbed at the ordinarily offensive items; being a journalist often makes one jaded about these matters. But seeing Jan-Jan perform in such a manner in exchange for P10,000, to help his family, just crossed the line for me.
What was worse was after Jan-Jan completed the deed, Revillame, in his trademark maniacal evil laugh, egged the little boy to do it again. “Umiiyak pa ’yan!” he shouted into his mic, so entertained by the little boy’s conduct on the air.
Then His Majesty’s Crassness added, in all the wisdom he could muster: “Ganyan na ho ang hirap ng buhay ng tao...siyempre nagsasayaw siya bilang macho dancer sa edad n’yang ’yan para sa mahal niyang pamilya.” He was hysterically amused, and the audience, too, lapped it all up wildly clapping their hands and loudly cheering.
What a sick, sick world we live in.
But I can’t lay the entire blame on TV5 alone. In its quest for more advertisers and profit, it has tapped into the Filipino masses’ penchant for banal mediocre entertainment. It’s not alone. All the other TV networks do the same.
Aside from Willing Willie, you have Eat Bulaga and its vapid hosts and half-naked dancing girls on GMA. While I haven’t watched Happy Yipee Yehey—ABS-CBN’s new noon-time variety show—I’ve read that it’s basically a reincarnation of Wowowee, the old show which was headlined by Revillame.
What has happened to network TV programming?
When I was a young kid growing up in the ’70s, our variety shows were smart, funny and really showcased the best in Filipino talent.
At noontime, I watched Student Canteen with hosts Eddie Ilarde, Pepe Pimentel, Helen Vela, Coney Reyes and Bobby Ledesma. I remember its hugely successful talent contest—“Search for the Student Canteener”—which attracted quite a number of amateur singers who could really wow the audience on sheer voice quality. (If I’m not mistaken, Marco Sison was one of the contest’s winners.)
In the evening, there were dancing shows like Discorama or Penthouse 7, where the latest dance crazes were featured. After each dance, all youngsters like myself would get up, and follow Mike Monserrat or RayAn Fuentes as they showed us how to do the dance steps.
Then there were also game shows like Spin-a-Win, a takeoff from the US game show Wheel of Fortune, where contestants had to spin a wheel, guess a letter, and guess the word or phrase on the huge standing board, in exchange for money and prizes.
We also had IQ 7, where Bong Barrameda (remember him?) was king. It was a quiz show whose contestants had to be challenged in general knowledge (history, math, civics, geography, etc.) and also trivia. I remember racking my brain, as well, trying to answer each difficult question before the buzzer sounded.
All these shows were fun and entertaining, and even educational. The hosts were all decent, well-educated and well-mannered. They treated contestants and guests like the respected/respectable human beings they were.
Their hosting skills were considered topnotch. They were articulate (it didn’t matter whether they spoke in English or Filipino) and asked intelligent questions of their guests. They certainly didn’t need any scantily clad girls prancing in the background to attract more followers to their shows. It was just sheer talent and excellent hosting that reigned supreme on national TV.
When the ’80s rolled in, suddenly there was an explosion of off-color jokes and men gyrating like macho dancers on TV. (Thank you, Eat Bulaga, for showing the way.)
Idiotic games in exchange for money became the norm. Any remaining iota of decency was tossed out the window as ill-mannered hosts who poked cruel fun at guests or contestants were everywhere.
I have friends in the TV industry who justify shows like Willing Willie. They tell me, that’s the kind of entertainment the masses want these days.
The audience, they say, want to identify with TV hosts who are as ill-mannered and uneducated as they are, but who give them hope for a better future. They are poor and don’t know any better.
So the parents allow their kid to perform like a macho dancer trying to attract a homosexual client, and they, the TV network, and the audience doesn’t see anything wrong with it. They don’t feel the child has been abused, and wonder what all the fuss is about. All the parents know is that the kid won a huge amount of cash—P10,000—in exchange for that performance which, to them, was cute.
So it’s not only that Philippine TV has changed but also we the audience have changed. Our once erudite taste for classy TV programming has shifted to base mediocrity. And since that is what the audience demands, that is what the TV networks will continue to feed us.
Yes, I would agree that it’s probably due to the worsening state of education in the country, and the growing poverty in our midst. And for TV networks, the bottomline IS their bottomline. They need advertisers to survive.
It’s all about the big bucks, really. After all, TV networks aren’t in the business of changing the viewing habits of televiewers, or educating them in the finer things in life. They just want to follow an easy, tried-and-tested formula for their shows so they can get the advertisers.
I can understand the financials. All TV networks need the revenue to survive the competition. But what about honor and decency, and making a difference? Don’t these matter anymore?
If we are to grow as a nation of honorable, respectable citizens, I think our TV networks need to come onboard that train, as well. They can’t wiggle their way out of this one and say, they’re already doing their patriotic duty by producing kick-ass news programs and talk shows. They have to change the way they entertain as well.
As I told a friend working in the industry recently, if TV networks continue to feed crap to their audience, then that is what they get—a crappy audience.
(Originally published in the BusinessMirror on April 1, 2011. My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of said paper. Photo from www.pinoyamsbisyoso.com)
I couldn’t even watch the entire video clip, which has been making the rounds of the social-networking sites via YouTube because it was just so sick and tasteless.
Most of my friends know I’m virtually unshockable, and hardly disturbed at the ordinarily offensive items; being a journalist often makes one jaded about these matters. But seeing Jan-Jan perform in such a manner in exchange for P10,000, to help his family, just crossed the line for me.
What was worse was after Jan-Jan completed the deed, Revillame, in his trademark maniacal evil laugh, egged the little boy to do it again. “Umiiyak pa ’yan!” he shouted into his mic, so entertained by the little boy’s conduct on the air.
Then His Majesty’s Crassness added, in all the wisdom he could muster: “Ganyan na ho ang hirap ng buhay ng tao...siyempre nagsasayaw siya bilang macho dancer sa edad n’yang ’yan para sa mahal niyang pamilya.” He was hysterically amused, and the audience, too, lapped it all up wildly clapping their hands and loudly cheering.
What a sick, sick world we live in.
But I can’t lay the entire blame on TV5 alone. In its quest for more advertisers and profit, it has tapped into the Filipino masses’ penchant for banal mediocre entertainment. It’s not alone. All the other TV networks do the same.
Aside from Willing Willie, you have Eat Bulaga and its vapid hosts and half-naked dancing girls on GMA. While I haven’t watched Happy Yipee Yehey—ABS-CBN’s new noon-time variety show—I’ve read that it’s basically a reincarnation of Wowowee, the old show which was headlined by Revillame.
What has happened to network TV programming?
When I was a young kid growing up in the ’70s, our variety shows were smart, funny and really showcased the best in Filipino talent.
At noontime, I watched Student Canteen with hosts Eddie Ilarde, Pepe Pimentel, Helen Vela, Coney Reyes and Bobby Ledesma. I remember its hugely successful talent contest—“Search for the Student Canteener”—which attracted quite a number of amateur singers who could really wow the audience on sheer voice quality. (If I’m not mistaken, Marco Sison was one of the contest’s winners.)
In the evening, there were dancing shows like Discorama or Penthouse 7, where the latest dance crazes were featured. After each dance, all youngsters like myself would get up, and follow Mike Monserrat or RayAn Fuentes as they showed us how to do the dance steps.
Then there were also game shows like Spin-a-Win, a takeoff from the US game show Wheel of Fortune, where contestants had to spin a wheel, guess a letter, and guess the word or phrase on the huge standing board, in exchange for money and prizes.
We also had IQ 7, where Bong Barrameda (remember him?) was king. It was a quiz show whose contestants had to be challenged in general knowledge (history, math, civics, geography, etc.) and also trivia. I remember racking my brain, as well, trying to answer each difficult question before the buzzer sounded.
All these shows were fun and entertaining, and even educational. The hosts were all decent, well-educated and well-mannered. They treated contestants and guests like the respected/respectable human beings they were.
Their hosting skills were considered topnotch. They were articulate (it didn’t matter whether they spoke in English or Filipino) and asked intelligent questions of their guests. They certainly didn’t need any scantily clad girls prancing in the background to attract more followers to their shows. It was just sheer talent and excellent hosting that reigned supreme on national TV.
When the ’80s rolled in, suddenly there was an explosion of off-color jokes and men gyrating like macho dancers on TV. (Thank you, Eat Bulaga, for showing the way.)
Idiotic games in exchange for money became the norm. Any remaining iota of decency was tossed out the window as ill-mannered hosts who poked cruel fun at guests or contestants were everywhere.
I have friends in the TV industry who justify shows like Willing Willie. They tell me, that’s the kind of entertainment the masses want these days.
The audience, they say, want to identify with TV hosts who are as ill-mannered and uneducated as they are, but who give them hope for a better future. They are poor and don’t know any better.
So the parents allow their kid to perform like a macho dancer trying to attract a homosexual client, and they, the TV network, and the audience doesn’t see anything wrong with it. They don’t feel the child has been abused, and wonder what all the fuss is about. All the parents know is that the kid won a huge amount of cash—P10,000—in exchange for that performance which, to them, was cute.
So it’s not only that Philippine TV has changed but also we the audience have changed. Our once erudite taste for classy TV programming has shifted to base mediocrity. And since that is what the audience demands, that is what the TV networks will continue to feed us.
Yes, I would agree that it’s probably due to the worsening state of education in the country, and the growing poverty in our midst. And for TV networks, the bottomline IS their bottomline. They need advertisers to survive.
It’s all about the big bucks, really. After all, TV networks aren’t in the business of changing the viewing habits of televiewers, or educating them in the finer things in life. They just want to follow an easy, tried-and-tested formula for their shows so they can get the advertisers.
I can understand the financials. All TV networks need the revenue to survive the competition. But what about honor and decency, and making a difference? Don’t these matter anymore?
If we are to grow as a nation of honorable, respectable citizens, I think our TV networks need to come onboard that train, as well. They can’t wiggle their way out of this one and say, they’re already doing their patriotic duty by producing kick-ass news programs and talk shows. They have to change the way they entertain as well.
As I told a friend working in the industry recently, if TV networks continue to feed crap to their audience, then that is what they get—a crappy audience.
(Originally published in the BusinessMirror on April 1, 2011. My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of said paper. Photo from www.pinoyamsbisyoso.com)
November 24, 2008
La Greta is back!
(Gretchen Barretto's debut as a game show host. Apologies for the blurriness of the TV grabs.) JUST when we all thought it was safe to watch free TV, well now, who shows up on the new TV5 but La Greta herself, hosting her own game show called, you better sit down now, You and Me against the World! Hahaha! I just love the tongue-in-cheek humor of the producers of the show, although the jury is still out regarding the show's merits.
So who said Gretchen was already separated from her significant other/momma's boy Tonyboy Cojuangco, owner of the broadcast station out in the boonies of Novaliches? (Okay, okay, there are no mountains in Novaliches, but I'm from Q.C., and even I think Novaliches is pretty far.)
And yet, who does she have as a first celebrity guest on the show but none other than John Estrada, the has-been artista who briefly regained fame after a photo of him and La Greta smooching in a party that was captured on his cellphone circulated around the Internet! My, my, TV5 is definitely pushing the envelope, not to mention Tonyboy's buttons, in drumming up interest in this show. (Then again, if the rumors are true that La Greta and he are no longer an item, he couldn't care less who she has on her show right?)
The other guest celebrity was Lucy Torres Gomez, wife of another has-been artista Richard Gomez. (She who gained notoriety way back when for her, errr, shopping habits.) Boring! although she had on a pretty cute green outfit. W/c we can't say of the host herself who wore an awful pink frou-frou dress! Ayayay! According to our TV5 source, the dress – designed by Ivar Aseron – actually looked gorgeous up close, but as we've seen, didn't make the same transitition to the tube. It made Gretchen look hideously fat! or pregnant. Take your pick. Tsk, tsk.
Now back to the show itself, I personally found it sooooo long. I think 30 minutes is enough for a game show, unless it's Jeopardy or Price is Right. And the level of challenge was very low. You can't actually lose on this show whether you're a contestant or an audience member.
As far as I can tell, the object of the game is for the contestant to win a million pesos. There are two contestants who may or may not team up in answering questions asked by the host. They have to correctly guess the answer of the audience which represent "the world." At the show's beginning, the two contestants can team up, and give the same answer. If they do, they both win P20,000. If they choose to answer separately, the winner only gets P10,000. If they don't guess the answer of "the world" correctly, the audience wins their own pot. Then, in the next portion, the two contestants play off against each other until either of them win P100,000. Whoever wins the most money or reaches P100,000 wins the next round. The one with the least money leaves. The winner of this round then moves on to the next round and asked another set of questions. Confusing? You betcha. I didn't bother to find out how the show ended.
To be fair, La Greta is a good host. She's bright and funny, and knows how to play to the audience, both in the studio and at home. I found myself actually laughing at some of her potshots at Estrada, and her other witty remarks. But she is out of her element here. Perhaps TV5 should give her a showbiz gossip show instead.
I think she will be much more at ease hosting a talk show, and interviewing fellow celebrities. Her knowledge about the inner workings of the business and possibly tidbits about the celebrities themselves will serve her best. Now as to what format of such a showbiz show would be, well maybe it can be a cross between Chelsea Lately, David Letterman, and Entertainment Tonight. No grand productions like that idiotic lie detector stunt on another TV station's show, but maybe just straight celebrity interviews. We want the dirt.
As to You and Me Against the World, this is just the first episode so it could get better in the next few weeks (it plays every Sunday at 7 pm.) I was just waiting for it to get more exciting but sadly, it didn't deliver. There were no cliff-hanging moments where you think either of the contestant will lose. Unless I misunderstood the game mechanics, from what I've seen so far, no one goes home a loser. Everyone wins some money in the end. So there's no tension. No tension, no excitement.
Still, let's give the producers an A for effort for conceiving this new game show. After all, there is a dearth of originality out there. And I'd also clap for La Greta. Her social climbing ways aside, she did manage to hold her own as a host. Kudos.
August 13, 2008
Aiming to be no. 2
Alternative fare for TV5
By Marinel Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:56:00 08/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Newly refurbished Channel TV5’s initial broadcast on Saturday night had none of the telenovelas and noontime variety shows commonly seen on ABS-CBN and GMA 7.
“It’s the risk we decided to take. We wanted to give people an alternative to the current fare,” said TV5 CEO Christopher Sy during the network’s launch last Thursday in Greenhills, San Juan. “If we would come up with shows with just the same format, wala rin kaming pinagkaiba. ”
Sy added that the network will first concentrate on strengthening its prime time block, which is from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Click here for the rest.)
Channel 5? Buhay pa ba 'yan?!?!
Geez, the last time I watched Channel 5 (then called ABC 5), it was a program on short features/docus on the Guimaras oil spill. Even then, management did a bang-up job of showing these films, with one filmmaker even crying "Censorship!".
On the other hand, my friend always watches ABC 5 because she doesn't have ANC on her cable TV (ay pobrecita, her condo only has Global Destiny kasi), and she only watches newscasts in English. Sushal! (to quote Chuvaness).
I dunno lang ha, pero as I read through the program list of TV5, there was nothing in there that excited me. Another teen show? another reality TV show (can anything be better than Celebrity Apprentice? Survivor? Amzing Race?)? and more dancing (Lucy Torres, di ka pa ba napapagod?)!
(Growing up, I watched excellent English-language TV shows like Charlie's Angels. Notice my Farrah Fawcett twang when I speak? hahaha! Photo from the web)If I were to program the shows of TV5, I would get all the excellent canned TV programs in the States. There's a great demand for them on cable TV, and if I recall correctly, Channel 7 made its mark in the '70s exactly because of that...by offering an all-English lineup of canned TV shows from the States. Growing up we had Charlie's Angels, Donnie and Marie Show, Dynasty, Knot's Landing (I didn't like Dallas much), and my Pop had his Combat...brrraaap!
If TV5 offers shows like these, not only will the network entertain us, it will also educate people to learn to speak better English. When ABS-CBN started programming in Filipino, well, there went the neighborhood. Sadly, I listen to kids now and they can't even speak one line in straight English. While we did speak English at home, and in school, my language skills were definitely honed as well watching TV programs in English. (Kaya nga me American twang ako ala Farrah Fawcett pag nag-i-ingles e...char!)
Government made such a mistake in pushing for bilingual education (WTF is Hekasi?!?!), Generation Y lost its ear for English. Now that they all want to be call center agents, they have to pay to learn to speak the language. Anovayan?!?! People who claim to be nationalistic say teachers should teach all school subjects in Filipino. Ngek! I speak English and that doesn't make me less of a Filipino than the next guy who speaks straight Filipino!
So I wish the kids these days will have a TV network they can turn to to watch Sesame Street and fun cartoons in English, while we adults will have excellent English-language (not necessarily American) shows like Weeds, Burn Notice, House, Brothers and Sisters, Lipstick Jungle, Entourage, the David Letterman Show, Conan O'Brien, etc. Make these great shows, even those showing on cable TV, available to the masses, and propagate the use of English!
Is it expensive to bring in canned TV shows? Of course! But I predict an influx of massive advertising if TV5 starts offering them. Leave the dancing2 and the crying2/screaming2 TV programs to the experts. Listen up, Tonyboy, if you haven't learned this yet from your years as a businessman, go for the niche market!
'Yun lang pow.
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