Overexposed Luis Manzano Finally Gets a Break

Luis Manzano had a three-year stretch of near non-stop hosting commitments which made him overexposed on TV for a long period. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

Thank goodness it’s over.

For much of the last three years, Luis Manzano became a part of every household thanks to a multitude of hosting commitments he accepted during that span. Whether it’s a game show or a talent show, it seems like viewers can’t get enough of this popular Kapamilya host.

Luis’ lengthy run began on October 26, 2014, when he joined Toni Gonzaga to host ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ season 2. The season ran for 36 episodes, concluding on March 1, 2015.

At the tail end of ‘The Voice of the Philippines” run, Luis accepted the job as host of the new season of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’. Running from February 9, 2015 until March 4, 2016, the fifth season of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ aired a total of 278 episodes.

Next up for Luis was ‘The Voice Kids’ season 2, which ran from June 6 to August 30, 2015. A total of 26 episodes were aired during that season.

On November 14, 2015, Luis replaced Billy Crawford as host of ‘Celebrity Playtime’, and was present for the game show’s final 41 episodes. Then on January 23, 2016, Luis and Billy joined forces to host the fifth season of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’, which ran for 35 episodes until May 22, 2016.

By that point, signs of overexposure become more evident for Luis. Unfortunately for the viewers, ABS-CBN is not yet finished with him.

April 9, 2016 saw Luis take over as host of the newly-acquired ‘Family Feud’ franchise, and he presided on all of its 111 episodes. A few months later, on July 18, 2016, Luis returned to host the second season of ‘Minute to Win It’, adding another 208 episodes to his resume.

And if that is not enough, another run as host of ‘The Voice Kids’ awaited Luis. From May 28 to August 28, 2016, Luis was the presenter on all 28 episodes of ‘The Voice Kids” third season.

Finally on April 16, 2017, Luis accepted another hosting stint within ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ franchise. This time, he became the host of ‘The Voice Teens’, which has now aired seven episodes and counting.

This does not include his additional responsibility as one of the hosts of ‘ASAP’. That said, for all intents and purposes, ‘ASAP’ will not be added in this count.

It was clear that ABS-CBN is paying the price for their overreliance on Luis Manzano. Overall, the host accumulated a total of 770 episodes within nine shows (as of May 7, 2017) in a span of 925 days, which speaks of how ABS-CBN became too dependent on this star hosting-wise.

While ratings for Luis’ nine shows were not a problem, it is ABS-CBN’s utilization that became a dilemma. Let’s face it, they have a deep plethora of talent who can be just as proficient in hosting, yet they stuck with Luis for some reason because, he’s the only guy they can depend on to deliver a good show.

Now that Luis is freed of the burden of hosting too many shows on a daily basis, the time is definitely now for ABS-CBN to develop more hosts. After all, there are plenty in the pipeline so why not breed at least one or two of them to relieve some pressure on the veterans.

For now, Luis Manzano can breathe easily. A period of less strenuous activity is all he needs at this point.

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Evaluating Celebrity Playtime’s Ratings Post-Billy Crawford

Two timeslot changes and two different hosts have affected the ratings of ‘Celebrity Playtime’. (Logo courtesy of ABS-CBN)

‘Celebrity Playtime’ had an interesting November, so to speak.

On November 14, ‘Celebrity Playtime’ was moved from its usual 6:00 p.m. slot to 10:30 p.m. to give way to ‘Dance Kids’, leading to the departure of host Billy Crawford in favor of Luis Manzano. The following week, however, it traded timeslots with ‘Failon Ngayon’, and now the show airs at 4:00 p.m.

The November 14 episode of ‘Celebrity Playtime’ was clearly affected with the move to late nights, as it managed only an 8.3% rating in Kantar. In contrast, the November 7 episode of ‘Celebrity Playtime’, featuring the final appearance of Billy Crawford as host, earned an impressive 25.9% rating.

When the show moved to late afternoons, ratings improved slightly. The most recent episode of ‘Celebrity Playtime’ earned a 14.7% rating (there was no episode on November 28 due to the UAAP men’s basketball finals).

For whatever reason, fans of the show were still trying to get used to the changes. The disparity in viewing figures have been crucial in the fluctuating ratings of ‘Celebrity Playtime’; typically primetime attracts higher viewership than the afternoon and late night slots.

Nevertheless, ABS-CBN hopes that ‘Celebrity Playtime’ will adjust well with a new host and a slot in the late afternoons. While the ratings will never be as high as they were during its primetime days, the network should be satisfied with just winning the current timeslot.

New Host, New Timeslot for Celebrity Playtime

In addition to ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’, Luis Manzano will now host ‘Celebrity Playtime’, replacing Billy Crawford. Luis debuts on the show starting this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

‘Celebrity Playtime’ is on the move.

Starting this Saturday, ‘Celebrity Playtime’ will now be seen at 10:30 p.m., right after ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar’. The timeslot change meant that the show will go up against GMA’s ‘Celebrity Bluff’, a game show that ABS-CBN tried to at least emulate when they conceived ‘Celebrity Playtime’.

Its original timeslot will now be occupied by ‘Dance Kids’, a new kid’s talent show hosted by Alex Gonzaga and Robi Domingo. Meanwhile, ‘Celebrity Playtime’ will take over the timeslot of ‘Banana Split’, who moved to Sunday afternoons under the new name of ‘Banana Sundae’.

That is not the only change for the show, however. Due to ABS-CBN’s policy of not allowing its talents to appear on consecutive programs, erstwhile host Billy Crawford has decided to relinquish his duty as host of ‘Celebrity Playtime’, and cede the role to Luis Manzano.

The decision makes sense, since Crawford is already hosting ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar’, the show that precedes ‘Celebrity Playtime’. Appearing in consecutive programs may not be helpful to viewers at all for fear of overexposure, hence a strict rule that is implemented by ABS-CBN to all its talents.

Here is the new schedule on ABS-CBN every Saturday night:

6:15 p.m. – Dance Kids

7:00 p.m. – Home Sweetie Home

7:45 p.m. – Maalaala Mo Kaya

9:30 p.m. – Your Face Sounds Familiar

10:30 p.m. – Celebrity Playtime

11:00 p.m. – The Bottomline with Boy Abunda

Now that ‘Celebrity Playtime’ is moving to a later timeslot, viewers should look forward to its long-awaited rivalry with ‘Celebrity Bluff’. The latter show is now on its third year, and has survived competition from ABS-CBN’s reality and talent shows despite the huge odds.

That said, viewers of ‘Celebrity Bluff’ should finally welcome a more equally imposing challenger. ‘Celebrity Playtime’ may be fairly new to many, but it’s also gaining its own following the same way that ‘Celebrity Bluff’ is doing, so let’s see if they’re up to the task of keeping up with the latter.