Is ‘Medyo Late Night’ Returning to TV5?

Signs of ‘The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A.”s return to TV5 were first revealed on the show’s Facebook account. (Photo credit: The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A. Official Facebook)

It’s been awhile since ‘The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A.’ went on air.

Jojo Alejar’s late-night show was last seen on GMA in December of last year, before taking its supposed periodical season hiatus. However, GMA decided not to renew its blocktime deal with JojoATV Productions, producers of the said show, without giving any reason behind it.

The departure of ‘Medyo Late Night’ from GMA leaves ‘The Tim Yap Show’ as the only remaining late-night weekday talk show of the network (the latter also airs on a seasonal basis). Meanwhile, the whereabouts of ‘Medyo Late Night”s new home were being revealed early this month.

On the Facebook page of ‘The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A.’, clues regarding the show’s possible return to TV5 were given in the cover photo. Hints of a red necktie and the word ‘Kapatid’ suggest that TV5 may once again play host to Jojo Alejar’s talk show.

The possibility of a return to TV5 was also fueled by the fact that Alejar continues to appear on the said network’s shows despite ‘Medyo Late Night”s brief stint with GMA. Alejar currently appears on the sitcom ‘Mac and Chiz’.

If it’s true that ‘Medyo Late Night’ will return to TV5 this year, the development should help the network’s programming a lot. The former Karunungan, Balita at Opinyon (KBO) block has been airing reruns for the past several months, and with irrelevance and repetition creeping over TV5’s late-night slot, it is time for a change of direction.

Replacing the defunct KBO block with ‘Medyo Late Night’ may be the tonic TV5 desperately needed in order to improve its shallow late-night lineup. And it should benefit them.

It remains to be seen if ‘Medyo Late Night’ will indeed rejoin TV5, but for a network so desperate to get rid of something irrelevant, this is the way to do it.

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Coming Soon: Confessions of a Torpe, Plus Other TV5 Updates

Both Ogie Alcasid and Alice Dixson will be part of ‘Confessions of a Torpe’, slated to launch this March 3.

Last October, TV5 decided to distinguish themselves from its competitors by airing a more light-hearted primetime comedy and drama series ‘Madam Chairman’. This March, the Kapatid network is set to introduce a similarly-themed series as a worthy follow-up.

Enter ‘Confessions of a Torpe’, a series topbilled by Ogie Alcasid, Bayani Agbayani, Gelli de Belen, Wendell Ramos, Plita Corrales, Alice Dixson, Jojo Alejar, Albie Casino, and Mark Neumann. This will be Alcasid’s first weeknight primetime series as a Kapatid; his intended first series ‘The Gift’ was shelved for the time being. Alcasid, de Belen and Ramos are also part of the gag show ‘Tropa Mo Ko Unli’, while Neumann and Dixson recently starred in the Studio5 original ‘Lady Next Door’. ‘Confessions of a Torpe’ debuts this March 3.

The departure of ‘What’s Up Doods?’ enabled News5 to fill the 10:30 slot with a pair of documentaries. First aired was ‘Kaya’, hosted by News5 executives Patrick Paez and Luchi Cruz-Valdes. The two-parter, aired last February 8 and 15, tackled issues such as stem cell treatment and the impending worldwide disaster that may affect the Earth. Tonight, another documentary called ‘Yaman ng Bayan’ will focus on the country’s natural resources and the responsibility that comes through it. The documentary will be hosted by Interaksyon.com editor-in-chief Roby Alampay.

And on the ‘Karunungan, Balita at Opinyon’ block, ‘Bigtime’ will take over the slot vacated by ‘Dayo’. Aired every Thursday before ‘Pilipinas News’ and hosted by Twink Macaraig, ‘Bigtime’ will focus on various individuals as they share their hard work and triumph, as well as secrets to their success.

Meanwhile, starting February 24, ‘Aksyon’ and ‘Pilipinas News’ will now be broadcast inside a newly-built virtual studio at the TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong. In addition, the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics will be aired Monday midnight on TV5 and its affiliates. And finally, the U.S. NCAA March Madness is coming to TV5 this March, with further details coming in future articles.

It has been said that the only way TV5 can be relevant today is when they introduce alternatives to already established norms in television viewership. So far, it has paid off despite committing several missteps. And with more alternative programs coming in the succeeding weeks, expect TV5 to expand its effort in bringing a different kind of programming to more knowledgeable viewers.

‘Banana Nite’ Absent from ABS-CBN Last Night

The popular ‘Ihaw Na’ skit featuring Jayson Gainza in a parody of Boy Abunda did not air as ‘Banana Nite’ was ‘replaced’ by ‘O Shopping’.

It was around 11:15 p.m., and ABS-CBN was about to wrap up their late night newscast ‘Bandila’. I was expecting to see ‘Banana Nite’ go on-air. But instead something else happened on the Kapamilya network.

Last night the spinoff to the popular gag show ‘Banana Split’ did not air as expected, and was replaced by the ‘O Shopping’ infomercials. ABS-CBN did not specify the reason as to why ‘Banana Nite’ was replaced by ‘O Shopping’ in its timeslot.

The reported absence of ‘Banana Nite’ coincided with rival GMA welcoming the late night talk show ‘The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A.’ to its fold. Jojo Alejar’s show runs back-to-back with ‘The Tim Yap Show’ every late night, though because of GMA’s public affairs programs, they were not able to air opposite the timeslot that ‘Banana Nite’ typically occupies. In addition, its absence also came at a not-so opportune time; female cast members Sunshine Garcia, Aiko Climaco and Jef Gaitan were featured in FHM Philippines’ January 2014 issue.

Apparently, despite rave reviews on the skit ‘Ihaw Na’ starring Jayson Gainza in a parody of ‘Bandila’ anchor Boy Abunda, ‘Banana Nite’ has not been faring well in the ratings, although it has nothing to do with its timeslot. Let’s face it, ABS-CBN did a great job moving their current affairs programs (now ‘Pinoy True Stories’) to the late afternoon slot. And while GMA’s public affairs programs have been beating ‘Banana Nite’ in its timeslot, when compared to ‘Pinoy True Stories’, the numbers favor the latter.

‘Banana Nite’ was a wonderful experiment for ABS-CBN with regards to late night entertainment. Unfortunately, its unscheduled absence remains a mystery.

Jojo A is Back, But Edu Manzano is Not

The last time viewers saw Jojo Alejar on television, TV5 was on the verge of a programming makeover. The Kapatid network revamped its lineup last September in hopes of attracting younger and socially conscious audiences. And one of the programs that were victims of the shakeup was ‘The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A.’ Tonight, the said program returns to a new home.

Jojo Alejar’s late night talk show will air on the GMA Network every weeknights. This is the show’s second stint with the Kapuso group, having first aired on QTV (now GMA News TV) from 2007-08. It also brought Jojo Alejar back to his original network, having first starred as a cast member of German Moreno’s variety show ‘That’s Entertainment’ in the late 1980s.

Like the previous incarnations, the show will feature the All the Way Band, which has backed up Alejar’s late night show from its RJTV 29 years. However, the program will only run for 30 minutes, unlike the customary one hour it was allotted during its previous stop at TV5, due to the presence of another late night talk show in ‘The Tim Yap Show’.

But while Jojo Alejar is returning with his late night talk show, Edu Manzano’s ‘What’s Up Doods?’ looks to be on the way out. Most viewers pointed out that a sudden change in format and schedule, lack of advertising money and low viewership figures were the reasons why ‘What’s Up Doods?’ was being considered a candidate for cancellation.

Edu Manzano’s talk show started off on a promising note, as it aired after ‘Killer Karaoke’. In its first few episodes Manzano interviewed the likes of Georgina Wilson, Jinri Park and Ramon Bautista, not to mention several players of La Salle and UST at the height of the UAAP Finals. In addition, the early episodes of ‘What’s Up Doods?’ included gags pitting Manzano and a special guest lampooning various aspects of pop culture and society.

However, the new PBA season and the entry of the British-Filipino quintet called ‘Juan Direction’ bumped ‘What’s Up Doods?’ to a late-night timeslot. Eventually the show abandoned its skits and decided to concentrate mainly on interviews with special guests. As a result, it alienated some viewers and caused advertisers to pull out. And for the past few weeks, ‘What’s Up Doods?’ was pre-empted for other programs and aired reruns.

‘What’s Up Doods?’ was a decently good concept for ‘Weekend Do It Better’. But it lacks the energy and liveliness that ‘Medyo Late Night’ enjoys. And with ‘Juan Direction’ and ‘SPINNation’ enjoying high viewership numbers, it appears that Edu Manzano’s talk show will be axed soon in favor of both programs airing back-to-back.

As for ‘Medyo Late Night’, good luck with the show’s re-debut on GMA. I’m sure Jojo A will enjoy his homecoming on the Kapuso network.

Igan is No Talk Show Host

 

In contrast to Arnold Clavio’s jovial look on this TV billboard for ‘Tonight with Arnold Clavio’, some episodes continue to display his more serious news reporting side in the midst of national issues.

Since Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) ravaged much of Visayas last week, the GMA News TV program ‘Tonight with Arnold Clavio‘ went serious in discussing the typhoon. The TWAC band was not present, and neither were the assigned special guests. The last two TWAC episodes went with a news reporting approach, featuring interviews with various experts.  Turns out I was not a fan of the more serious version of TWAC.

Arnold Clavio, the program’s host, is better suited as a news anchor than a talk show host. The reason why News TV decided to assign Clavio to a talk show was to showcase his fun side. But as it turns out, his heart remains news reporting, and in some episodes of TWAC, he decided to eschew the program’s talk show approach for serious news reporting, especially during nationwide disasters and conflicts.

In my opinion, GMA made the wrong decision. TWAC may be on the air for three years now, but it’s hard to fathom why Clavio continues to move back to his news anchor persona when his self-titled program was designed mainly as a late night talk show a la ‘Tonight Show with Jay Leno‘. ‘Tonight with Arnold Clavio’ is a joke, and it deserves to be axed.

If GMA were to produce its own late night talk show, why not bring back Jojo Alejar and his ‘Medyo Late Night’ band? Ever since Jojo A. and his late night talk show took a bow on TV5 last September, the television industry is still searching for a new weeknight talk show featuring monologues and special guests. Even though TV5’s ‘What’s Up, Doods?’ with Edu Manzano qualifies as such, it only airs once a week. And television programs of late portray a more serious tone than in previous years. So the need for such a talk show becomes even more pronounced.

In the meantime, ‘Tonight with Arnold Clavio’ will remain on the air, because ‘Igan’ is such a popular figure of late in the world of broadcast journalism. Popular with the fact that he grilled Janet Lim-Napoles’ lawyer Alfredo Villamor on ‘Unang Hirit’, which of course was criticized on social media and even earned him an MTRCB warning. But for some reason TWAC has become an exhibition for Clavio’s two personas: one as a jovial talk show host, and the other as a no-nonsense news anchor. And the clash of two worlds is not good for television.

TV5’s New Programs for October (Part I)

Last month, TV5 brought in its first wave of new and returning programs as part of its restructuring process. These programs began to air on the weekend of September 14-15 on what became known as ‘Weekend Do It Better’. This October, TV5 will continue its restructuring with the introduction of new programs on the weeknight slot, with the hopes of attracting younger and more socially conscious viewers. For Part I, I will discuss News5‘s newest programs.

The new News5 programming block will be dubbed as ‘KBO’ (Karunungan, Balita, Opinyon), which will start airing on October 14 at 10:00 p.m.. On Mondays, Paolo Bediones will host ‘Demolition Job’, a program which he will challenge and refute some commonly accepted facts. On Tuesdays, Cheryl Cosim will host ‘Numero’, a program similar in scope with the former but with the use of statistics as proof. On Wednesdays, Lourd de Veyra will host ‘History’, a program which will feature history lessons as told by Lourd himself. On Thursdays, Atty. Teresa Licaros will host ‘Dayo’, a program which will tell stories about the plight of Overseas Filipino Workers. And on Fridays, Paolo Bediones returns to host ‘Astig’, a program featuring interesting sports stories.

The ‘KBO’ block will be followed by the late night news broadcast ‘Pilipinas News‘ with anchors Paolo Bediones, Cheri Mercado and Jove Francisco, and ‘Reaksyon’ with News5 head Luchi Cruz-Valdes.

One program that was axed to make way for these news programs happen to be the late night talk show ‘The Medyo Late Night Show with Jojo A.’. The program, through its various incarnations, has been airing on TV5 since 2009. However, with the anticipated programming shakeup, Jojo Alejar and his All the Way Band finally decided to bid goodbye to their loyal viewers last September 27, after a four-year run. Following the final airing of ‘Medyo Late Night’, AksyonTV original programs began to air on TV5 primarily to fill in programming hours, but will only been seen on an interim basis while the aforementioned ‘KBO’ block is being prepared for launch. As for ‘Medyo Late Night’, it remains to be seen whether it will be brought back sometime in the future.

Meanwhile, the morning news program ‘Good Morning Club‘ will also be revamped to include new hosts and segments. The new hosts will include Radyo5’s ‘Punto Asintado’ tandem of Erwin Tulfo and Martin Andanar, ‘Tropa Mo Ko Unli’ star Tuesday Vargas, and News5 anchor Twink Macaraig. The newly-reformatted ‘GMC’ will also be shortened to two hours as opposed to three on the other competing morning shows, and will be divided into segments in order to provide information to a specific audience, and not just to the general public.

These new program offerings of News5 are also expected to air on sister network AksyonTV, though it has not been confirmed at the moment. In the meantime, TV5’s new entertainment programs will be discussed in Part II.