Banana Sundae to Answer Sunday PinaSaya Next Week

‘Banana Split’ will be rebranded as ‘Banana Sundae’ starting this Sunday, airing alongside ‘ASAP’. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

The second longest-running active gag show on Philippine television is moving to a new timeslot.

Starting this Sunday, ‘Banana Split’ will now be renamed as ‘Banana Sundae’. Its gag show in front of a live audience approach will be retained, except that it will now be seen on a more viewer-accessible Sunday afternoon slot.

Most of the show’s cast will be carried over from ‘Banana Split’, with a few additions. Jessy Mendiola and Pokwang will now join ‘Banana Sundae’ alongside established mainstays such as Angelica Panganiban, Jason Gainza, John Prats, Pooh and Ryan Bang.

Even though ‘Banana Split’ was holding its own every Saturday night for the past several years, it is clear that the show’s appeal was severely affected by the reality and talent shows that preceded it. For example, ‘Banana Split”s final Saturday episode was aired a few minutes before midnight, due to the lengthy first-part finale of ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ and ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar’.

Even worse for ABS-CBN was the success of ‘ASAP”s latest rival ‘Sunday PinaSaya’, whose new comedic approach provided a livelier alternative to ‘ASAP”s concert-based format. As the long-running ‘ASAP’ lost ground to a new, more entertaining rival, plus the recent lack of attention towards ‘Banana Split’, ABS-CBN decided to make a move.

Thus came the rebrand of ‘Banana Split’ into ‘Banana Sundae’. With the move to Sunday afternoons, ABS-CBN hopes that ‘Banana Sundae’ will appease the demands of viewers who crave for a comedy show that will answer ‘Sunday PinaSaya’.

‘Banana Sundae’ is not expected to directly compete with ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ though, as ABS-CBN has no plans of moving ‘ASAP’ to a later timeslot the same way GMA did with ‘Sunday All-Stars’. The most likely destination of the show is the timeslot currently occupied by ‘Kapamilya Mega Blockbusters’, unless ABS-CBN slightly changes its plans.

Either way, ‘Banana Split’ will now move to Sunday afternoons. And loyal viewers should get more excited now that it airs on a more accessible timeslot.

‘Banana Sundae’ airs every Sunday starting November 15, with the timeslot to be determined.

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Controversial PBB Season to End Sunday; StarStruck to Revive Anew

Good news for the critics of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’.

‘Pinoy Big Brother: All In’, by far ranked as one of the most controversial seasons in the history of the series, will end its run by crowning a grand winner at this Sunday’s ‘Big Night’ inside Resorts World Manila. Prior to the event, however, there will be another eviction night on Saturday to determine the final four contestants, that is if Big Brother can make yet another twist.

As of August 21, only five contestants remain inside the Big Brother house. They are: Jane Oineza, Loisa Andalo, Maris Racal, Vickie Rushton, and Daniel Matsunaga.

All of the remaining contestants, save for Matsunaga, were part of the original cast of housemates that were introduced on April 27. Meanwhile, Matsunaga only entered as a housemate on May 17.

The latest season of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ will always be remembered for some of these moments:

1. Netizens’ cries of ‘scripted’ amid the selection of celebrities for ‘All In’

2. The Jayme Jalandoni nude painting task that drew the ire of the MTRCB and various women’s groups

3. Fifth Pagotan’s bisexual revelation

4. Alex Gonzaga’s journey from host to housemate and then to houseguest

5. Nichole Baranda’s controversial ‘middle finger’ photo

6. Overrealiance on houseguests (e.g. ex-housemates Robi Domingo, John Prats) for ratings purposes

7. Cess Visitacion’s forced eviction for numerous violations

Overall, the latest season of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ has controversy written all over it. Still, except more shocking twists and turns as ‘All In’ wraps up this Sunday.

Meanwhile…

GMA Plans Another Season of StarStruck

‘StarStruck’, long considered to be ‘dead’ thanks to the emergence of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’, is currently being revived by GMA Network for a sixth season.

The reality talent search series was last seen in 2010,  when the group of Sarah Lahbati, Rocco Nacino and Sef Cadayona led the way. However, that proved to be ‘StarStruck”s last season to date, as ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ and other reality shows on ABS-CBN began to gain headway over GMA’s later reality programs.

Then in August of this year, teasers for ‘StarStruck’ began to air on the network during commercials, featuring the phrase ‘DBS AGAIN’. Clearly, they are referring to ‘StarStruck”s slogan which is ‘Dream, Believe, Survive’.

Anyone who grew sick and tired of ‘Pinoy Big Brother”s antics and twists will look forward to ‘StarStruck”s return. After all, they were the original reality artista search on Philippine television. Not even PBB can attest to ‘StarStruck”s reputation in building future stars.

‘StarStruck’ is definitely a great first step in restoring the reputation of the GMA Artist Center, which has been severely rocked by numerous rumors and controversies. But first, they must restructure GMAAC’s management in order to make it run efficiently, otherwise the upcoming season of ‘StarStruck’ will be a total joke.

Amy Perez Returning to ABS-CBN?; Other Notes

A few weeks ago, Amy Perez left TV5 amid a reported fallout between her and the producers of the talk show ‘Face to Face‘. It was reported that a four-a-week taping schedule of the program did not sit well with Perez, who was recovering from the recent birth of her son, thus her decision to leave. Just days after officially departing the Kapatid network, it was reported that Perez will rejoin ABS-CBN and will host ‘The Singing Bee‘ with Roderick Paulate.

Perez and Paulate were no strangers as co-hosts; they hosted the popular ‘Pera o Bayong’ contest on the defunct noontime show ‘Magandang Tanghali, Bayan’. After the demise of the show, both remained active in the industry as freelance artists, until Perez decided to step aside in order to raise her children.

Accordingly Perez chose to return to ABS-CBN for the sake of her health, rather than the financial security she used to enjoy with TV5. The relaxed taping schedule of ‘The Singing Bee’ should aid in her return to full health, and in the process give her more time with her children.

‘The Singing Bee’, a game show where contestants try to remember the missing lyrics to a particular song, was hosted by Cesar Montano and ran from 2008 to 2010. The game show is expected to fill the timeslot vacated by the defunct talk show ‘Showbiz Inside Report‘, although its airing date is yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, a new season of ‘I Dare You’ aired last Saturday night. The program, hosted by John Prats, Deniesse Joaquin, Robi Domingo and Melai Cantiveros, features celebrity guests who were dared to experience the life of an average Filipino. The second season will now see the celebrity and the average Filipino accomplish tasks together in order to help the latter’s community. ‘I Dare You’ took over the timeslot vacated by ‘The Voice of the Philippines’, who will undergo a brief hiatus before its second season.