The longest-running noontime show in the country, Eat Bulaga, recently underwent a transformation that sparked an uproar, and consequently, a mutiny by its main talents — the triumvirate of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon.
Eat Bulaga is a national staple when it comes to TV entertainment, and its durability is without a doubt, an amazing feat! Imagine being on air for 44 years, which practically is 81 percent of my lifetime!
So I grew up with Eat Bulaga, even though I am not a fan, especially with the TVJ trio. But there is no escaping this show, especially before the digital age descended upon us, and social media became the new platform for entertainment.
In those years in the 80s up to the early 2000s, Eat Bulaga spawned segment after segment that became so popular because it catered to our inanity and whims of shallow, hysterical theatrics, and it was successful perhaps because we needed it as our catharsis in our everyday misery.
Eat Bulaga became our national pastime also because we were made to feel good about ourselves in large part due to instant gratification of cash and incentives, and the chance to shine on National TV with our looks and talents. It was an avenue of promise and opportunity, not to mention, a therapy for our overworked and stressed souls.
It was, for all intent and purpose, a part of our daily lives meant to provide merriment while we suspend our mundane existence.
So what happened? Why did TVJ stage a breakaway?
It was said that the management wanted to refresh the show, and make it more attuned with the times, but still with TVJ as an integral part of the program.
But then, TVJ is that typical dinosaur who believes they are most dominant and therefore resistant to change.
The trio does not want change, maybe because they believe that TVJ made Eat Bulaga.
But did they?
Or is it the other way around, and is more accurate to say that Eat Bulaga MADE TVJ?
Because as I saw history right before my very eyes, I know personally how the show managed to achieve endurance not because of TVJ, but because of creative segments like Little Miss Philippines, Mr. Pogi, Bulagaan, Pinoy Henyo, Laban o Bawi, All for Juan and Aldub that managed to capture our need for thrill, delight, and attention.
Also, the show thrived, not because of TVJ but because of the rise of new talents OTHER than them, such as Aiza Seguerra, Coney Reyes-Mumar, Toni Rose Gayda, Christine Jacob, Allan K, Sex Bomb Dancers, JoWaPao and Alden and Maine.
Sure, TVJ may have had a hand in the creative development of the segments as well as in honing the talents, and they really loomed larger than life in Eat Bulaga.
That is a fact.
But it is also factual to say that Eat Bulaga was the one who gambled on them, and they are now who they are because Eat Bulaga was their daily platform and center stage.
And so we have this chicken-or-egg conundrum of who really made who.
And I dare Reiterate this — TVJ may have created Eat Bulaga from their imagination, but it was Eat Bulaga that really made TVJ who they are now.
And Eat Bulaga will survive, and continue to enliven us, even without TVJ.
Mark my word.