Laff Camera Action Premiere Fails to Pay Off

There’s nothing to laugh about on GMA these days.

Last Saturday, GMA’s newest comedy game show ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ officially premiered on the network’s Sabado Star Power block. Hosted by Betong and Sheena Halili, the show features two aspiring teams of comedians in a showcase of unscripted and improvisational comedy (sample video from episode 1 below).

A lot was expected on ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’, considering its purpose of putting up-and-coming comedians on the spotlight. Unfortunately, the show’s debut episode failed to impress the entire nation, as it scored a paltry 8.2%.

The initial performance of ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ was similar to the finale of its predecessor ‘CelebriTV’, in which it scored an 8.1% rating. At this point, it’s hard to fathom why the 4:30 p.m. timeslot on Saturdays is a bane for the Kapuso network, and why GMA was not willing to pit ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ with ABS-CBN’s ‘Family Feud’.

Any critical viewer knows that ‘Family Feud”s overreliance on celebrities as its contestants does more harm than good. If GMA were smart and daring enough, they would have placed ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ (whose purpose is different from ‘Family Feud’) opposite the former, in hopes of drawing any disgruntled viewer who doesn’t like ABS-CBN’s ‘un-Kapamilya’ act.

But as it turned out, GMA is not willing to make that possible, all because of ratings. ABS-CBN’s obsessive celebrity approach to game shows continues to pay off no matter the harm it causes, and thus GMA wants nothing to do with this matchup.

With episode 1 behind them, GMA can only hope that ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ will show some semblance of improvement. Given ABS-CBN’s more impressive afternoon and beyond lineup, it will not be an easy task, but with smart promotional strategies, it should pay off.

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Bubble Gang Parodies Eat Bulaga’s Kalyeserye

Juancho Trivino and Denise Barbacena as Albert and Badel, aka the AlBad tandem. (Photo credit: GMA Network/Bubble Gang Official Twitter)

‘Bubble Gang”s list of parodies continue to grow.

Just recently, the long-running GMA gag show capitalized on the popularity of ‘Eat Bulaga”s Kalyeserye by creating a parody called ‘Istambay-serye’. In the skit ‘Istambay sa Looban’, Denise Barbacena and Juancho Trivino were cast as Badel and Albert, respectively, and the tandem were dubbed as AlBad.

The duo spoofed the mannerisms of the AlDub (Alden Richards and Maine ‘Yaya Dub’ Mendoza) tandem, from the ‘pabebe wave’ to the use of Dubsmash. Even Lolo Nidoro/Antoinetta (Betong), a parody of Lola Nidora (Wally Bayola), was introduced to give Badel and Albert some trouble.

Though the ‘Istambay-serye’ became the main focus of the skit, Michael V, Sef Cadayona and Antonio Aquitania continue to narrate the story via a song, with the squatters interrupting in between. This unique wrinkle helps ‘Istambay sa Looban’ maintain its unconventional style.

Within weeks, the AlBad tandem became successful, and AlDub fans gave the parody mostly positive reviews. AlBad even plans to spoof the AlDub-starred commercials in future episodes.

The skit only shows that after 20 years, ‘Bubble Gang’ continues to be the ultimate source for the best pop culture parodies. And speaking of 20 years, please stand by for a future article that will commemorate the show’s 20th anniversary.

A New Opponent for Marc Logan on GMA

ABS-CBN News’ resident humorist Marc Logan has a new rival coming up.

In response to Logan’s popular blooper show ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’, GMA announced a new show with a similar premise. Titled ‘Sabado-Badoo’, the upcoming comedy show will be hosted by Sef Cadayona and Betong Sumaya, and is scheduled to air beginning this Saturday.

‘Sabado-Badoo’ will showcase a wide variety of videos that are presented in a humorous manner. These will be shown in a variety of ways, from countdowns to mashups of other videos.

Unlike ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’, which occasionally presents straight-up blooper reels of ABS-CBN programs and Star Cinema films, ‘Sabado-Badoo’ is expected to feature more serious takes from classic GMA programs. It is up to Sef and Betong to make a humorous comment with regards to the scenes in question.

This is not the first time that GMA produced a blooper-oriented comedy program. The popular mid-2000s program ‘Bitoy’s Funniest Videos’, hosted by Michael V., featured a similar formula and scope as ‘Sabado-Badoo’.

Unlike ‘BFV’, however, a more daunting test awaits ‘Sabado-Badoo’. Since premiering in August of last year, ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’ consistently ranks among the top-rated programs in the country, and several of its blooper reels (e.g. ‘Crazy Beautiful You’) have trended on Twitter.

That said, Marc Logan’s wit and experience in the industry will be a major challenge to the young duo of Sef Cadayona and Betong Sumaya. Although the two have blossomed individually in programs such as the long-running gag show ‘Bubble Gang’, presenting a program of this magnitude is virtually new territory for them.

Still, GMA is confident that Sef and Betong will deliver their chops well on ‘Sabado-Badoo’. After all, a stint in hosting will boost their resumes in the industry.

‘Sabado-Badoo’ premieres this Saturday after ’24 Oras Weekend’ on GMA’s Sabado Star Power.