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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Kris Aquino Leaves ABS-CBN, to Join APT Entertainment

The fate of Kris Aquino’s entertainment future has been confirmed.

‘The Queen of All Media’ announced on her Instagram yesterday that she is officially done as an ABS-CBN talent. In addition, Kris announced that she will work on a new project with ‘Eat Bulaga’ producer Tony Tuviera.

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In response, ABS-CBN issued this statement:

“We thank Kris for the many years that she has been a Kapamilya bringing joy, hope, and inspiration to our viewers worldwide. She will always be a Kapamilya and we wish her well in her new journey.”

Kris Aquino had been a part of ABS-CBN for 20 years, having hosted numerous talk shows (e.g. ‘The Buzz’, ‘Kris TV’) and game shows (e.g. ‘Game KNB’, ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’), played the role of judge in ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’, and acted on several dramas (e.g. ‘Hiram’, ‘Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo’) and movies (e.g. ‘Sukob’, ‘Feng Shui’). Her long and distinguished service on the said network attracted not only fans, but also critics alike.

Kris’ most recent project with ABS-CBN, ‘Kris TV’, ended last April, as she struggled with health issues in the show’s final months. After that, Kris went on a well-deserved vacation, before returning home to decide her fate as a talent.

On July 1, Kris made an unexpected appearance on GMA’s now-defunct talk show ‘Yan ang Morning’. Despite the guesting, she remained mum over her next move.

Initially, Kris talked to ABS-CBN with regards to a possible new project. But in the end, she decided to hook up with Tony Tuviera for a different TV project, which could be her first outside ABS-CBN since GMA’s ‘Startalk’ 21 years ago.

It remains to be seen, however, if the said new project will indeed air on GMA (APT’s current shows ‘Calle Siete’, ‘Eat Bulaga’ and ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ all currently air on GMA). Regardless, let’s just hope that Kris can stay healthy while continuing to do what she loves best: entertaining the viewers.

ABS-CBN Game Shows a Celebrity Overkill

Since its premiere, ABS-CBN’s version of ‘Family Feud’ has been criticized for relying too much on celebrities, a trend that was previously established in the network’s other game shows. (Screenshot courtesy of ABS-CBN Entertainment Official YouTube)

What happened to the phrase ‘In the Service of the Filipino’?

For many years, ABS-CBN has been able to live up to its iconic slogan by delivering quality programs and services to all Filipinos, both in the Philippines and abroad. However, not all programs are fulfilling its vision.

ABS-CBN’s recent game shows, in particular, are defying the standards that the network set in the early 1990s. Just ask ‘Family Feud’.

Ever since the franchised game show made a well-publicized comeback in early April, ABS-CBN made numerous changes that did not sit well with the loyal viewers from the ABC 5 and GMA days. The most radical of these changes were that of the teams involved, where instead of family members, celebrities from a particular show or group would participate.

With all these revisions in the game’s format, one would rather consider ABS-CBN’s version of ‘Family Feud’ as more of a spinoff rather than a true franchise. Perhaps the name ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ could be more appropriate.

This is not the first time that ABS-CBN frequently used its celebrities in their game shows. Recently, ‘The Singing Bee’, ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ and ‘Celebrity Playtime’ were known to utilize celebrities more often than not.

With that being said, the Kapamilya network’s regular use of celebrities in their game shows is an insult to what the network stood for. Yes they may be convincing Filipinos to buy a TVPlus digibox or be admired with their love teams such as KathNiel or LizQuen, but an opportunity for them to play games for cash prizes is not in their vocabulary.

While they do give chances to ordinary people in their talent shows (e.g. ‘It’s Showtime’, ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’), it’s not quite the same as giving a jackpot prize to a deserving game show winner. It’s a shame that despite all the revenue they have in their pocket, they don’t seem to share it unless a major calamity happens.

ABS-CBN may be called the Kapamilya network, but this act is not a family-friendly one. Too bad.

It remains to be seen if ABS-CBN will be able to give their loyal viewers a chance to play for cash prizes on ‘Family Feud’ and future game shows. Until then, the best course of action is for the viewers to tune out if it continues to favor celebrities.

My Super D Premiere Leads to Late-Afternoon Shakeup

It’s going to be an afternoon of change for ABS-CBN next week.

On Monday, April 18, the superhero drama series ‘My Super D’ will officially premiere on the Primetime Bida block. That was the good news.

The bad news, there are no free slots for ‘My Super D’ on the current Primetime Bida lineup. Its intended replacement, ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’, has not announced a final episode date due to its impressively high ratings, and ABS-CBN has no intention of replacing it at this point.

So where does ‘My Super D’ end up? Luckily, ABS-CBN freed up one slot for the upcoming series when it announced that ‘Game ng Bayan’ will air its final episode tomorrow afternoon.

The sudden cancellation of ‘Game ng Bayan’ came barely a month after it premiered to replace ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’. Clearly, ABS-CBN knew what was coming, as ‘Game ng Bayan’ not only struggled in the ratings, but also became a logistical nightmare for the network.

With ‘Game ng Bayan”s cancellation now official, its old timeslot will now be filled by ‘We Will Survive’, the drama series starring Melai Cantiveros and Pokwang. It will still face GMA’s ‘Wowowin’, but not all areas will receive ‘We Will Survive’, which is a problem for ABS-CBN’s Regional Network Group.

Whether or not ABS-CBN will keep ‘We Will Survive’ on the Primetime Bida slot or move it to Kapamilya Gold remains to be seen. However, they need to find a way to make the broadcasts of ‘We Will Survive’ as simultaneous as possible, so as not to sacrifice its decently good ratings.

Going back to ‘My Super D’, this superhero drama series follows the footsteps of fellow ABS-CBN original creations such as ‘Super Inggo’, ‘My Little Juan’ and ‘Juan Dela Cruz’. With each of these series becoming successful hits for the network, the pressure is now on ‘My Super D’ to deliver similar results.

In ‘My Super D’, Dominic Ochoa will play the titular superhero role as Super D. He will be supported by Marco Masa and Bianca Manalo, who will play the role of son and wife respectively.

Joining them in the series are Atoy Co, Ryan Rems, Myrtle Sarrosa, Jef Gaitan, Louie Domingo, Marina Benipayo, Bong Regala, Jason Francisco, Marvin Agustin, Noni Buencamino and Ronaldo Valdez. It will be directed by Frasco Mortiz and Lino Cayetano.

With these changes now official, the question is, can ‘My Super D’ fly higher than ‘Wowowin’? And can ‘Wowowin’ be able to stave off this new threat?

We’ll find out.

‘My Super D’ premieres this Monday, and airs weeknights before ‘TV Patrol’.

ABS-CBN Pulls the Plug on Kapamilya Deal or No Deal

‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ ends its latest run tomorrow afternoon. Whether or not the show will be cancelled or go on another hiatus remains to be seen. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

Is this the end for ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’?

Tomorrow, the said game show will air what appears to be its series finale, in order to give way to a new game show in ‘Game ng Bayan’. An uncertain future now awaits ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’, as ABS-CBN remains unsure if this will be another temporary hiatus or a permanent vacation.

‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’, a Filipino franchise of Endemol-owned ‘Deal or No Deal’, has been airing on and off for 10 years, and has a total of five seasons and 875 episodes under their belt. These totals overall helped ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ become one of the country’s longest-running game shows.

Over the years, the show endured numerous format changes and two different hosts (Kris Aquino and Luis Manzano), but its popularity never wavered. The most recent edition of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ took them to various barangays in the country, and residents there had the opportunity to play for P1 million, and a chance to either ‘deal or no deal’ with the banker.

Unfortunately for ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’, GMA’s recent decision to extend ‘Wowowin’ by 30 minutes caught ABS-CBN by surprise. Ratings for the show suddenly plummeted against ‘Wowowin’, and it became clear that ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal”s lengthy run is nearing its end.

Which leads to the impending finale of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’. If this is indeed the last dance, then what a run it has been, but if ABS-CBN has a surprise in store, then brace for it.

As for its replacement ‘Game ng Bayan’ (to be hosted by Robin Padilla and Alex Gonzaga), they will endure a huge weight on their shoulders. It will not be easy equaling the success of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’, but if they can make it as interesting as possible, they could be just as successful.

So long, ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’. Thanks for all the memories.

In 100 Words: Mixed Results for Wowowin’s New 90-Minute Format

Not even an additional 30 minutes helped ‘Wowowin’ in the national ratings. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

An extended running time for ‘Wowowin’ did not result in improved ratings.

Kantar’s national ratings for February 15 showed that ‘Wowowin’ earned a 14.6% rating. The show managed to beat ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ (11.1%), but still fell short to its regular rival ‘Pasion de Amor’ (18.1%).

The pattern continued over the next two days, as ‘Wowowin’ (16% & 15.3% respectively) won over ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ (12% & 10.9%), but lost to ‘Pasion de Amor’ (18.2% & 17.4%). While AGB Nielsen’s Mega Manila ratings indicate a decisive victory for ‘Wowowin’, the national ratings speak otherwise.

With ‘Pasion de Amor’ down to its final week (more on that in next week’s article), there is still hope for ‘Wowowin’ to catch up. But as ABS-CBN prepares for its replacement, things don’t seem to look so good for Willie Revillame on primetime.