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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The End of CelebriTV?

Tomorrow afternoon could be the last time ‘CelebriTV’ will ever air on GMA.

The official teaser released today (see below) gave no indication that it will be the final episode for the GMA talk show. But as GMA announced the premiere date and timeslot for ‘Laff, Camera, Action’ (May 28, every Saturday afternoon), it was clear that the network has no choice but to close the curtain on ‘CelebriTV’.

‘CelebriTV’ first premiered on September 19, 2015, with Joey de Leon, Lolit Solis and Ai-ai de las Alas as hosts. It replaced ‘Startalk’, who had been on the air for 20 years but whose ratings were on the decline due to changing preferences in showbiz news reporting.

Originally, ‘CelebriTV’ was tagged as the weekly ‘trend-tertainment news’ and ‘comedy talk show’. Soon after, however, game show elements were added, possibly in an attempt to curb the increasing ratings of ABS-CBN game shows ‘Celebrity Playtime’ and ‘Family Feud’.

It backfired, and ‘CelebriTV’, like the final few years of ‘Startalk’, stumbled in the ratings. Not even a brief timeslot switch with ‘Imbestigador’ helped matters.

Overall, ‘CelebriTV’ will have a total of 35 episodes and eight months to its resume. Considering its performance, it was not bad, but it was not impressive either.

The truth is, showbiz talk shows are no longer viable. ABS-CBN knew what was coming when they finally pulled the plug on ‘The Buzz’ last year, however, GMA insisted that they are still worth watching, which is why they decided to create ‘CelebriTV’ in an attempt to revive its declining appeal.

Unfortunately, it didn’t, and GMA painfully realized it. Now they have no choice but to say goodbye to the format that once infiltrated the airwaves for several decades.

So come this Saturday, sit back, watch and enjoy what could be the curtain call for ‘CelebriTV’. It’s going to be a fun farewell, even if it will not make an impact in the ratings.