Bubble Gang 20th Anniversary Special This Friday

The logo for the 20th anniversary season of ‘Bubble Gang’. The anniversary special airs this Friday on GMA. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

The 20th anniversary of ‘Bubble Gang’ will be celebrated this Friday.

For this year, the annual ‘Bubble Gang’ anniversary special will be treated as a documentary, produced by none other than the GMA News and Public Affairs department. The documentary will highlight the rich history of the 20-year-old gag show, featuring interviews from past and present cast members, as well as behind-the-scenes personnel.

As always, the special will not be complete without the trademark sketches that have made ‘Bubble Gang’ so endearing. The skits will not only feature the current cast, but also some of the former mainstays as well.

Currently one of the country’s longest-running programs, ‘Bubble Gang’ first premiered on October 20, 1995. The show has attracted a loyal following over the years, and continues to gain new fans as technology and popular culture evolved.

One of the show’s driving forces is Michael V, who along with Antonio Aquitania, has been part of ‘Bubble Gang’ since its first episode. Bitoy is currently the show’s creative director, formulating most of the show’s endearing skits.

Just recently, Michael V released ‘The Bubble Bible’, a book that features humorous quotes from some of Bitoy’s memorable ‘Bubble Gang’ characters. In essence, ‘The Bubble Bible’ was considered a tribute to the entertainer who has made ‘Bubble Gang’ the country’s longest-running gag show, and a culmination of the show’s 20th year.

‘Bubble Gang”s other current cast members include Boy 2 Quizon, Betong Sumaya, Mikael Daez, Paolo Contis, Sef Cadayona, Rufa Mae Quinto, Chariz Solomon, Jackie Rice, Sam Pinto, Gwen Zamora, Max Collins and Andrea Torres. Supporting players include Diego Llorico, Mykah, Moymoy Palaboy, Denise Barbacena, RJ Padilla, Arny Ross, Joyce Ching, Jan Manual and Juancho Trivino.

To date, ‘Bubble Gang’ has aired 1,003 episodes during its 20-year history. The documentary this Friday will be the show’s 1,004th.

The hashtag for this year’s anniversary special will be #IMBG20. For those unaware of how ‘Bubble Gang’ started, this should help them understand how it all began, and how it evolved into the gag show it is today.

The ‘Bubble Gang’ 20th anniversary documentary airs this Friday after ‘Beautiful Strangers’.

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New Bubble Gang Open & Segments

The ‘new’ OBB screenshot of Bubble Gang, without Ogie Alcasid. Photo credit: Official Bubble Gang Facebook

Last night launched a new era in the 18-year history of ‘Bubble Gang‘. For the past two weeks the OBBs were cut short following the news of Ogie Alcasid‘s departure from GMA and subsequent move to TV5. Despite Alcasid’s impending departure, his images remained on the commercial banners although he never appeared in any of the skits. However, a ‘new’ opening billboard was launched last night, this time without any mention of Alcasid in the list of cast members.

The ‘new’ OBB was simply a tweak of the gangster-inspired OBB used throughout the 17th season of Bubble Gang. It also introduced Betong Sumaya, Sef Cadayona and Chariz Solomon as new cast members of the show, although during the past several months they have been appearing regularly on the show. Michael V is now introduced first, followed by the other remaining mainstays of the show.

In addition, a revised I-Pad graphic was used in video transitions from one sketch to another. Among the new segments featured in the I-Pad transition were ‘Aling Mary’, ‘Tata Lino’ and ‘The Adventures of Rufa Mae Kwento’. Gone were the sketches featuring Alcasid such as ‘Cheche Bureche’, ‘Pick-Up Lines’, and ‘Balitang News’.

Last night’s episode also saw the return of the popular ‘IyoTube’ series. This time the comedy duo Moymoy Palaboy mimed to the tune of ‘Gentlemen’ by Psy. In one of the final segments of the show, the new featured players were again put to the test in the ‘Bagong Gang’ sketch, this time with special guest Paolo Contis testing the comedic abilities of the new players.

The ‘new’ OBB and commercial banner of Bubble Gang is only expected to last two months, with Season 18 about to commence in mid-October.

Boy Pick-Up Gives Up

Two weeks ago, Boy Pick-Up (Ogie Alcasid) suffered his first defeat to Boy Basag (Ogie Alcasid) in Bubble Gang‘s ‘Pick-Up Lines’ sketch. I even predicted that the sketch will be put to pasture after that. But last night the sketch made its return, with Boy Pick-Up given a chance to redeem himself.

This time Boy Pick-Up had to go through the eliminations. His opponent was Push-Back (Boy 2 Quizon), who brought along Sukli and Bagoong (Moymoy Palaboy) as his back-ups. Like the previous sketch, Boy Back-Up (Eri Neeman) did not accompany Boy Pick-Up, instead Boy Bakla (Diego Llorico) subbed in. In another surprise move, MC Bits (Michael V) introduced a different moderator named Inday Why (Ellen Adarna). Throughout the sketch, the erstwhile moderator Neneng B (Sam Pinto) was seen in the background near Boy Pick-Up.

Like in the previous editions, the eliminations start with a game of rock-paper-scissors, something Boy Pick-Up wasn’t familiar with. Two rounds of play commenced, with Push-Back and Boy Pick-Up taking turns. But instead of the familiar ‘Bakit?’, ‘Why?’ was used throughout the pick-up rounds, hence the new moderator’s name. As expected, Boy Pick-Up won the eliminations, giving him an opportunity to redeem himself against Boy Basag, who was joined by his back-up Bisugo (Betong Sumaya).

As expected Boy Basag chose Boy Pick-Up to go first. But like in the previous sketch, no one from the audience were enthusiastic of Boy Pick-Up’s line, while Boy Basag’s was given a round of approval. After only one round, Boy Pick-Up made a surprising decision to quit, saying he does not have any more pick-up lines to offer. Eventually Boy Basag was named the winner, but not before grilling Boy Bakla with an embarrassing pick-up line.

Again I would reiterate that this sketch had run its course. The writers at Bubble Gang had finally made the realization. By telling the story about Boy Pick-Up’s ‘resignation’ from the competition, they also hastened the sketch’s ‘retirement’. For the past few days since Boy Pick-Up’s first loss I thought about the sketch as a ticking time bomb, knowing that the last few sketches will give an idea on how Boy Pick-Up would finally call it a career. Also with regards to Boy Basag, I think he became a perfect foil to the popular Boy Pick-Up, but had he been brought along earlier in last year’s Boy Pick-Up: The Movie instead of Bagwis (Dennis Trillo), it would have made sense. Still, it didn’t mask the fact that the sketch’s days were being numbered.

While I contemplate about the ‘Pick-Up Lines’ sketch and its ‘retirement’, why not you view the clip from last night below.