Alyssa A.

Fuentebella

E01

December 16, 2011

Daydreamer In a world of poverty, the Filipinos dreams of acquiring fame as well as the entertainment offered by the trends in the Philippine media has long been lingering around; but does this make the Filipinos lives any better? Philippine television, the most influential form of entertainment among the Filipinos, has been a staple in the Filipinos daily life. In fact, it is the most popular form of media through which any commoner can actually be aware of his/her surroundings as well as be entertained with what that black box has to offer; but what exactly does it offer? On of the most the most popular shows in Philippine television today are the variety shows. Noontime game shows like Happy, Yipee, Yehey of ABS-CBN as well as Eat Bulaga of GMA7 specifically cater to the masses, the majority of the Filipino people. On the surface, it seems that these giant networks seem to change hundreds of lives with the huge sums of prizes they offer in their game shows. With this in mind, patronizers of the shows swell in number, which is equivalently saying that a lot of sponsors await the shows, thus raking in a huge sum of money. That is why, a few years ago, when there was a conflict between ABS-CBN and its most priced game show host Willie Revillame, which led to the disbandment of the game show Wowowee, the Network and its management was greatly disconcerted. Truly, Wowowee was raking in a huge sum of money, and an immediate reformatting of the game show was an option that pulled down the network even greater. Pilipinas Win na Win, which replaced Wowowee, did not click to the masses despite Kris Aquino and Robin Padilla trying to draw attention to the show. Obviously, it was just a way for the network to recover from humiliation as well as financial loss. Therefore, after five months of trying hard, the show was cancelled and another reformatting was not imperceptible. With the onset of February 2011, Happy, Yipee, Yehey found its way on Philippine television despite

criticisms of being as overrated as the cancelled variety show, and for ten months now, it is staring a new craze in the ordinary Filipinos daily life. However, this is not the only genre of television show that captured the Filipinos interests At the onset of the 1990s Mexicanovelas as well as Japanese animated series were a hit. In the early 2000s, the Philippine drama has started a mania for heavy dramas such as Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggang which starred Claudine Barreto. Also, who would forget Pangako Sayo starring Kristine Hermosa and Jericho Rosales? After all, it did become a craze, not only nationally but internationally as well! Added to this, the Korean craze started to cast its spell among the Filipinos, which heightened the Filipinos colonial mentality as well as lack of nationalism. One could just imagine the effect of the Korean fever now that it has been perpetuating on Philippine soil for almost a decade. Koreanovelas like Boys Over Flowers starring Lee Min-Ho and Ku Hye-sun have struck the Filipino fans in 2009. Now, after two years, reruns are still on in different channelsthats how influential koreannovelas are. Since 2005, franchising of international television shows became popular among the TV networks. Some of those shows are ABS-CBNs franchise of Deal or no Deal, Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right and GMA7s franchise of Pinoy Idol, Family Feud, and Survivor. Undoubtedly, the most popular of those imports, which now runs for almost seven years, is ABSCBNs Pinoy Big Brother. Every year, thousands line up in auditions just to get one of those few coveted slots that the reality TV show offers. In 2007, a new fad started as networks geared up on remaking the popular mexicanovelas and koreanovelas. GMA7, for instance, revived Marimar starring Marian Rivera and Dingong Dantes. ABS-CBN, on the other hand, would not yield from its rival, thereby remaking the koreanovela My Girl starring Kim Chui and Gerald Anderson. There is too much change in the Philippine TVits a trend, they say. But can we truly say that this change is a development that consequently promises a better future for the Filipino people?

From variety shows to reality shows, there is no other reason why the Filipino people patronize them but because of the life-changing as well as the desirable things on Philippine TV that the masses would want to experience as well. In variety shows, an ordinary person can acquire a house and lot. In foreign telenovelas, one can aspire to live in such beautiful places, which can never be found in the Philippines. In remaking the foreign telenovelas, one can feel the drama in a Philippine setting with an additional Filipino taste which makes the shows even more realistic for the masses. Therefore, the masses stay tuned on those shows in the hope of one day experiencing such a probable fantasy. Same thing goes for the reality shows where a boy or girl-next-door could be tomorrows rising stara probable fantasy as well. In this world of poverty and hardships, it is inevitable for an ordinary Filipino to dream for a better life. Most Filipinos may not have a good life, but it is those dreams that make them endure the challenges of life with a hopeful smile. In watching television, specifically the trends on Philippine television, the Filipinos can dream with their eyes wide-open. It would then be a question of how they could pass through the thin layer of glass.