ABS-CBN Game Shows a Celebrity Overkill

Since its premiere, ABS-CBN’s version of ‘Family Feud’ has been criticized for relying too much on celebrities, a trend that was previously established in the network’s other game shows. (Screenshot courtesy of ABS-CBN Entertainment Official YouTube)

What happened to the phrase ‘In the Service of the Filipino’?

For many years, ABS-CBN has been able to live up to its iconic slogan by delivering quality programs and services to all Filipinos, both in the Philippines and abroad. However, not all programs are fulfilling its vision.

ABS-CBN’s recent game shows, in particular, are defying the standards that the network set in the early 1990s. Just ask ‘Family Feud’.

Ever since the franchised game show made a well-publicized comeback in early April, ABS-CBN made numerous changes that did not sit well with the loyal viewers from the ABC 5 and GMA days. The most radical of these changes were that of the teams involved, where instead of family members, celebrities from a particular show or group would participate.

With all these revisions in the game’s format, one would rather consider ABS-CBN’s version of ‘Family Feud’ as more of a spinoff rather than a true franchise. Perhaps the name ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ could be more appropriate.

This is not the first time that ABS-CBN frequently used its celebrities in their game shows. Recently, ‘The Singing Bee’, ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ and ‘Celebrity Playtime’ were known to utilize celebrities more often than not.

With that being said, the Kapamilya network’s regular use of celebrities in their game shows is an insult to what the network stood for. Yes they may be convincing Filipinos to buy a TVPlus digibox or be admired with their love teams such as KathNiel or LizQuen, but an opportunity for them to play games for cash prizes is not in their vocabulary.

While they do give chances to ordinary people in their talent shows (e.g. ‘It’s Showtime’, ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’), it’s not quite the same as giving a jackpot prize to a deserving game show winner. It’s a shame that despite all the revenue they have in their pocket, they don’t seem to share it unless a major calamity happens.

ABS-CBN may be called the Kapamilya network, but this act is not a family-friendly one. Too bad.

It remains to be seen if ABS-CBN will be able to give their loyal viewers a chance to play for cash prizes on ‘Family Feud’ and future game shows. Until then, the best course of action is for the viewers to tune out if it continues to favor celebrities.

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Family Feud Moves to ABS-CBN

The Filipino franchise of ‘Family Feud’ is going Kapamilya.

Just recently, ABS-CBN announced that they will acquire the rights to produce and broadcast the hit game show ‘Family Feud’. The said game show is the latest in the Kapamilya network’s series of foreign franchise acquisitions dating back to 2005.

Soon after, it was revealed that Luis Manzano will host the said game show. Afterwards, he announced on the March 20 episode of ‘ASAP’ that the premiere date of ‘Family Feud’ will be on April 9, Saturday, and will air on weekends.

The Filipino franchise of ‘Family Feud’ joins a rare list of programs that were aired on three different networks. The original version, hosted by Ogie Alcasid, aired on ABC 5 (now TV5) from 2001-02, then the subsequent editions, hosted by Richard Gomez, Dingdong Dantes and Edu Manzano, aired on GMA from 2008-11.

In addition, ‘Family Feud’ is the third game show franchise to air on both ABC 5/TV5 and ABS-CBN. The others are ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘The Price is Right’.

‘Family Feud’ on ABS-CBN will replace ‘Celebrity Playtime’, another game show hosted by Luis Manzano. Its timeslot is yet to be determined.

It will be interesting to see how ABS-CBN’s own take on ‘Family Feud’ will live up to the standards set by both ABC 5 and GMA. But considering the streak of success that ABS-CBN has enjoyed of late, getting some good viewership should not be a problem.