Why Jackpot En Poy Only Makes Eat Bulaga Worse?

For 37 years, ‘Eat Bulaga’ was known for its innovative and groundbreaking segments.

Some of their most famous portions have become synonymous with the show; examples include Little Miss Philippines, That’s My Boy, Laban o Bawi, Pinoy Henyo and Juan for All, All for Juan. However, they recently took a further step back by introducing this ridiculous segment.

Earlier this year, ‘Eat Bulaga’ brought the game of rock-paper-scissors (or in Filipino, Jack en Poy) to the show and billed it as the ‘most serious’ game ever. Enter the infamous Jackpot En Poy segment.

In this game, four people who represent a particular color section of the audience (red, green, yellow, blue) go one-on-one in the game of rock-paper-scissors. The first round winners then face off in the finals, after which that round’s winner gets a chance to play in the jackpot round against a select team of ‘Eat Bulaga’ hosts, each with a particular prize money allotted to them.

To make the game ‘serious’, ‘Eat Bulaga’ brought in Gov Lloyd as its ‘referee’, while a guest judge takes a look at violations that took place during the segment. Initially, Jose Manalo, Paolo Ballesteros, Wally Bayola and Maine Mendoza were brought in as ‘judges’, but after only a few episodes, they were reassigned to do another segment.

While the Jackpot En Poy segment typically used regular audience members as players, the more recent episodes featured none other than guest celebrities from different fields. For instance, the March 25 installment of Jackpot En Poy saw Senators Sonny Angara, JV Ejercito, Gringo Honasan and Manny Pacquiao play the said game.

Maraming Salamat sa mga Senator na nakilaro sa amin ngayong tanghalian sa Jackpot En Poy! pic.twitter.com/qF89uk3yIg

— Eat Bulaga (@EatBulaga) March 25, 2017

Despite its ‘serious’ yet ‘entertaining’ nature, the segment proved to be ‘Eat Bulaga”s weakest and most desperate segment yet. Let’s face it, rock-paper-scissors is a simple game, but once ‘Eat Bulaga’ added some shenanigans to make it appear like it was innovated, this act only alienated a more vocal section of the audience.

It is no secret that the ratings of ‘Eat Bulaga’ continues to fall with each episode. The fact of the matter is, this noontime show is now on the twilight of its run, and with ‘It’s Showtime”s emergence, it appears that the torch has finally been passed.

Sorry, Jackpot En Poy, but this segment does not deserve a place on ‘Eat Bulaga’ lore. Let’s just hope that it will be good riddance to this simple yet ridiculous skit.

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1995 Flashback: Eat Bulaga Goes from 2 to 7

‘Eat Bulaga’ found a new lease in life upon moving to the GMA Network in January 1995. (Photo credit:  friedchickenbyaspineda.blogspot.com)

1995 was a memorable year in Philippine television. As part of a year-long special, From the Tube will look back at a year full of historical debuts, unforgettable moments, and celebrated feats in the history of television in the country.

The longest-running noontime variety show in the country found a new home twenty years ago.

On January 28, 1995, ‘Eat Bulaga’ premiered on GMA with a special live episode held at the now-Smart Araneta Coliseum. The change in network came after negotiations between producers TAPE, Inc. and ABS-CBN bogged down.

In the months leading to its departure, ABS-CBN proposed a deal that would transfer ‘Eat Bulaga”s rights to the Lopez-owned network. When it became clear that TAPE would not accept the deal, ABS-CBN dropped ‘Eat Bulaga’ and fellow TAPE-produced shows ‘Valiente’ and ‘Okay Ka Fairy Ko’ from its lineup.

ABS-CBN then responded by moving its erstwhile Sunday show ‘Sa Linggo nAPO Sila’ to weekdays under the name ”Sang Linggo nAPO Sila’. The newly-rebranded variety show made its debut on February 6, 1995, but lasted only three years.

It was with the Kapuso network where ‘Eat Bulaga’ found its greatest success. The show became the launching pad for the careers of the Sexbomb Dancers, comedians and current hosts Allan K, Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola, and the youngest talk show host today in Ryzza Mae Dizon.

‘Eat Bulaga”s GMA years also featured several memorable gimmicks. Among those that stood out were ‘Laban o Bawi’, a game segment that gives the audience a chance to win P1 million, and ‘Pinoy Henyo’, a guessing game between two individuals.

But perhaps the most crowning achievement of ‘Eat Bulaga”s tenure with GMA was its charity work. The show found new ways to interact with its audience via the on-location segment ‘Juan for All, All for Juan: Bayanihan Op D Pipol’, the ‘Plastic ni Juan’ project, and the ‘EB Scholar’ initiative.

Today, ‘Eat Bulaga’ maintains its stature as the top noontime show in the country, regardless of rival. The cast and crew may have changed over the years, but one thing’s for sure: Tito, Vic and Joey will always be there to give some laughter and entertainment to viewers.

Throwback: Battle of the Brains in 1994

Before David Celdran toured the world in a suit on ANC’s ‘Executive Class’, he was a young and fresh-faced host of one of the longest-running quiz shows on Philippine television.

The 1990s will always be remembered for ‘Battle of the Brains’, a quiz show pitting public and private students from the elementary, high school, and college levels. The program was a fixture on RPN-9 every Saturday morning, and the now-defunct retail giant Uniwide Sales was its major sponsor.

The popularity and success of the program led to an equally successful parody called ‘Battle of the Brainless’. The skit was featured on ABC-5’s ‘Tropang Trumpo’, and was later revived on the renamed TV5 via the gag show ‘Tropa Mo Ko (Unli/Nice Di Ba)’.

Back in 1994, the college grand finals of ‘Battle of the Brains’ was held at the Philippine International Convention Center. The contestants were Giovanni Claveria of Don Bosco Technical School, Oliver Tungol of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Alfonso Gonzales of the University of the Philippines-Los Banos.

The three-part series of videos, the entirety of which run for over 45 minutes, can be viewed below.

‘Battle of the Brains’ would survive into the new millennium, albeit with a new sponsor in AMA Computer College and a new network in PTV-4, before leaving the airwaves in 2001. Meanwhile, David Celdran became a news anchor on the ABS-CBN News Channel, and as mentioned earlier, he is currently the host of ‘Executive Class’.

Unfortunately, programming changes, changing demographics and budget concerns would take the steam out of this type of game show. The last of these programs, GMA’s ‘Digital LG Quiz’, bowed out in 2004.

Although Eat Bulaga attempted to revive this format with the elementary, high school and college editions of the popular ‘Pinoy Henyo’ game, they were essentially segments of the long-running noontime variety show, and not standalone programs like ‘Battle of the Brains’ and ‘Digital LG Quiz’.

No one knows when will this type of game show returns, considering the frequency of the big stations to air Tagalized movies and teleserye re-runs. But one thing is for sure: ‘Battle of the Brains’ was a great show, and will never be replaced.