Watch Me Entertain Myself!

Sacha Guitry once said, "You can pretend to be serious, but you can't pretend to be witty." Oh yes, I'm the great pretender.
(pilot episode: 20 January 2004)

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Booboo Tube

(I would like to thank Migs and Cris2 for pointing out my inaccurate memories regarding a couple of shows. Thanks guys! The following episode of The McVie Show thus has been re-edited accordingly.)

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Last night Leigh and I bumped into Joey C., distinguished creative director of a top ad agency, Ricky V., sought-after photographer turned TV commercial director, and Jessica Zafra, queen of all media. We joined them for dinner at Serendra. There we got to reminiscing about unforgettable moments in Philippine television. We bemoaned that none of them was on YouTube. Future generations of Pinoy couch potatoes should know them to appreciate efforts of television past and to get a sense of history and continuity. Kris Aquino and ilk must be immortalized!

So we identified those moments; obviously the moments we knew betrayed our ages. Below are some in no particular order:

Kris Aquino’s swan song-and-dive – It was for a production number of GMA Supershow. She was singing and dancing as she walked down a flight of stairs on stage. Suddenly she disappeared off camera. Turned out she fell through a weak portion of the set. Media frenzy followed. (At that time her mother was still president.)

Divina Valencia drives home her point to Rey de la Cruz – In the showbiz program Rumors, Facts and Humor, they had as panel guests Ms. Divina Valencia, aging actress, and Dr. Rey dela Cruz, then-hot talent manager of many bold starlets. I don’t remember what the two were arguing about, but at a certain point Divina got so peeved that, to shut up Rey who was still talking, she grabbed a microphone and hit him on the head. On live television. A hasty commercial break followed.

Inday Badiday, outed! – Before The Buzz, before S-Files, there was SeeTrue, the mother of showbiz gossip shows hosted by the late Inday Badiday. She then followed it up with Eye-2-Eye, her public service program where poor people could go on-air to ask for help from kind-hearted viewers. One time Inday Badiday had as guest a special child; he was crying and obviously disoriented by the studio set-up:
Inday: “Kilala mo ba ako?” (“Do you know who I am?”)
Kid (sobbing): “Opo.” (“Yes, ma’am.”)
Inday: “O, sino ako?” (“Well, who am I then?”)
Kid (still sobbing): “Bakla po.” (“You are gay, ma’am.”)
And the director mercifully cut to a commercial.

Joe Quirino introduces Jean SaburitSeeing Stars with Joe Quirino was one of the longest-running variety shows on television. The host was known for inviting the prettiest female celebrities as guests. One time Joe Q was going to introduce an up-and-coming actress. Unfortunately he read the cue-card wrong. So he said: “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Jean Saburat!” with matching flourish.

Alma Moreno guests dead people – Nora Aunor was a guest in Alma Moreno’s show Lovli-Ness, but true to form she was extremely late for the show. When she finally arrived to do her song number, Alma introduced her this way: “Ladies and gentlemen, the late Nora Aunor!”

Ricky Belmonte introduces a band – I don’t remember the show, but it could be Seeing Stars with Joe Quirino. Anyway, actor Ricky Belmonte introduced a band by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the band who call themselves—” and stopped. He forgot the band’s name. So he turned to one of the band members and asked, “And what do you call themselves?”

Eat Bulaga contestant reveals the ingredient for a long-lasting marriage – In one of their game portions, Joey de Leon asked the female contestant, “What is the common name of sodium chloride? Clue! It is what you put on your husband’s eggs every morning.” Flustered, the woman answered, “Uhm, powder?” (The anecdote is funnier in Filipino.)

Do you know of any other unforgettable moments in Philippine television? Do tell! And if you know anyone who has copies of the above-mentioned moments, please, please, puh-leez ask them to upload them to YouTube and tell us about it. Now na!

10 comments:

migs, the manila gay guy said...

Corrections!

The pukupukan ng mic episode happened in Rumors, Facts, and Humor -- not See True.

The "Bakla po" episode also did not happen in See True but in Eye-to-eye.

Hahaha!

Anonymous said...

Ngayon ko lang nalaman yung tungkol kay Kris aquino. hahahaha.

At natatandaan ko yung pukpukan ng mikropono ni divina valencia ha. napamura nanay ko nun.

Anonymous said...

hi. i distinctly remember kris aquino's "swan dive". it was not in that's entertainment though -- it's in gma supershow, while she was promoting pido and dida with the late rene requiestas.

Nelson said...

Oh I remember that Divina Valencia episode--I was so shocked that she hammered the mic over Rey de la Cruz's head--on LIVE TV!!!

I remember Janice Hurado being part of that panel, looking shocked as hell....

Anonymous said...

divina was insulting dr. rey de la cruz' latest discoveries, saying they looked, and most probably were, prostitutes. dr. rey retorted : "bakit divina, saan ka ba nanggaling??" then yun na, pinukpuk na.

joelmcvie said...

JONMANILA: Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!! There should be a whole seperate category for Melanie Marquez.

joelmcvie said...

JONMANILA: Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!! There should be a whole seperate category for Melanie Marquez.

Anonymous said...

ohmigoodness, that kris aquino swan dive i can still remember clearly - and i was just a little girl then! :D sobrang nakakatawa, bigla syang nawala!

Anonymous said...

Yah tama, k melanie memorable yung, dont judge my bro (joey marquez) because he is not a booK!

Unknown said...

in runs in the family... during the time richard gomez was still with abs, he guested in the buzz.kris was interviewing him while joshua kept running in and out of the set, on live tv.

sa gitna ng interview, tumatakbo si joshua across the screen tapos biglang nawala... he fell off the stage! goma could barely control his laughter :)