Is there life after noon? Pinoy noontime shows, a national pastime By Malou liWanag–aguilaR | aJPRess
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WAS born in the 70s, when most parents would force their kids to stay in the house during afternoons for their siesta. I even remember my Yaya Lina locking the front gate to make sure that my siblings and I wouldn’t sneak out and go biking around the neighborhood. So we stayed inside and pretended to sleep. But Yaya Lina was a fan of Ate Guy, the Superstar Nora Aunor, so most of the time she’s watching television, hoping that she’d catch a glimpse of her idol appearing in the noontime shows. Most of the time, she’d let me stay and watch. Years later and a thousand miles away from the Philippines, I found myself doing the same thing I was doing with Yaya Lina – getting hooked on watching noontime shows – and realized I wasn’t alone. Noontime shows have become part of Pinoy pop culture. In a 2006 report, “The Religion of Noontime Shows,” Carmela Fonbuena of Newsbreak described what exactly it is. “The noontime show starts with a production number and then mix talent searches and game throughout the show,” Fonbuena wrote. “They are basically variety shows and you can trace their format to the vaudeville shows of pre-television age.” Different but the same If my memory serves me right, the first noontime I remember really watching was Student Canteen. It is, according to sources, the first and original, longest-running noontime show on Philippine television that ran for 30 years in different decades (the current longest-running variety noontime show in the country to date is Eat! Bulaga, which runs on the local channel GMA 7). As years passed, other variety noontime shows emerged – Kalatog Pinggan, Kwarta O Kahon, Lunch Date, ‘Sang Linggo nAPO Sila and MTB. Noontime shows have also been a vehicle for many undiscovered talents who are now big stars. Eat! Bulaga produced child celebrity
and now popular artist Aiza Seguerra, as well as Jericho Rosales, who is now a leading talent of ABS-CBN. Every show would like to think that they stand out from the rest of the competition with new segments, contests, promos and numbers, but as Fonbuena wrote, “the reality is that noontime shows in Philippine television are mere copies of each other.” Shows usually have their own versions of similarly themed contests and talent searches, as well as games that draw the masses to flock studios, in the hope of getting a piece of the prizes. However, the only change one will notice is the technology—with the affordability of TV sets. On a personal experience I know this to be true, because back home, our household had three to four TV sets, while my uncle next door had five. You’d even be surprised that even the family who earns way below the minimum wage can afford their own set. Just like being at home It’s funny to think that when I was still in the Philippines, there was a point when I stopped watching noontime shows because I had no time. Sometimes, when time permits, I would be able to catch a few minutes of it during the weekends. Yet, when I got transferred to the United States for work, I didn’t expect to see familiar faces on my mother’s TV screen. Yes, there it was, staring me in the face – Wowowee. Mom subscribes to The Filipino Channel, so it was basically an all-Filipino show festival day after day. She often also keeps the TV open even when she’s asleep.
My sister, who lives on the second floor of the same building, on the other hand, tapes the show when she’s at work so she can watch the show when she gets back. Even my friend, Cheekee, who lives in Vallejo, swears that her parents and auntie makes it a point to watch Eat! Bulaga (they subscribe to GMA Pinoy TV), and says that it’s great entertainment for them. My mom agrees. The success of Wowowee in the US and other parts of the world where TFC is available, has earned host Willie “Papi” Revillame the distinction of being a celebrity envoy for tourism in connection with the Department of Tourism’s program. Filipinos abroad are now invited to visit the country and watch Wowowee live. Also, Filipinos seem to have a certain attraction to real-life drama, as most contestants in the shows’ game segments have their own sad story to tell. “Gusto ko pong makatulong sa mga magulang ko, (I want to be able to help my parents),” said one young girl when asked what she would do with her cash prize if she won. Playing up the emotions of viewers is part and parcel of the noontime shows’ ratings game, and competition is fierce. But for most of us who haven’t had the chance to visit home, Wowowee or Eat! Bulaga are the closest we can be to the Philippines. So it’s almost like being back home, I mused to myself. Well, almost – but at this point, the TV is on again – and Wowowee’s on. g
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