More playful National Geographic Channel

“STREET Smart” host Mitzi Borromeo says her show “seeks to marry culture and science.”

National Geographic Channel’s three-episode “Street Smart” pilot series, which just ran its course, was well-received by Filipino viewers who normally root for telenovelas and variety shows. What could have piqued their interest?

Jude Turcuato, Philippine territory director of Fox International Channels, pointed to a different menu in what he called the first culture and science docu of its kind in the country. The idea was to educate viewers outside current affairs.

The pilot series was sort of a guinea pig, Turcuato said, and it has drawn a “hit list” of subsequent topics. The succeeding docus, he believed, would not be as difficult.

Turcuato admitted that the brand National Geographic sounds so “exclusive” and “intimidating” that viewers have the preconceived idea that its programs are difficult to comprehend. “But the channel [known for upscale programs] is a lot more colorful now, a lot more playful,” he told the Inquirer. “I think it’s the outcome of the realization that we have to make NGC more relatable to non-intellectuals.”

Cheeky, endearing

Tempting as it is to associate the show with the man on the street (as the title suggests), the subsequent series, as the pilot did, will solicit opinions from experts on top of the unwitting interview subject – the man on the street. The show is meant to uncover little-known facts about everyday life. The first series was all about food.

Former ANC news anchor Mitzi Borromeo, docu series host, said there’s a certain “cheekiness” to the show – “konting kabaduyan” – that makes it endearing to Filipino viewers. “We seek to marry culture and science,” she said. “This show is about asking questions, about proving or disproving certain beliefs.”

Borromeo’s Creative Cross Border Productions (a team of three) put content in context and produced the pilot episodes “Sinisintang Chibog (Food Beloved),” “Chibog Scene Investigation: Ang Misterio ng Panlasa (The Flavor Mystery)” and “Chibog Chismis (Food Rumors).”

They will be replayed in November and December on NGC. The first explores people’s love affair with food; the second uncovers mysteries behind the detection of different tastes; the third investigates five claims in the food rumor mill. All involved exhaustive research and study, with opinions solicited from a psychiatrist, a dietician, a culture guide, a food writer, a surgeon, a chef and an anthropologist. People on the street were interviewed as consumers.

The host addressed the language barrier by delivering spiels in Taglish and allowing her interviewees to speak in the language of their choice. “Globally, anyone can relate to it,” Borromeo said.

Every episode went through vigorous scrutiny, Borromeo revealed. “There’s an NGC fact-checking committee in Washington DC. Scientific findings referred to had to have been documented or published in scientific journals. The experts consulted had to be known for their integrity.”

Even the narration, voicing and tone had to pass the fact-checking committee’s standards. Borromeo said the pilot took almost a year to finish.

Succeeding subjects on the drawing board: beauty, technology, music, love and attraction, shopping and health.

The pilot has been aired only in the Philippines, though Turcuato said the series may be shown in other regions depending on how relevant the theme is to them.

FOX International’s Jude Turcuato says entertaining while educating viewers is NGC’s current thrust.

Three new docus

Outside of “Street Smart,” three new local docus are scheduled for airing on NGC: the hourlong “Inside Malacañang,” which features secret chambers and the real “powers” inside the presidential palace; the four-part “Basketball Diaries,” which looks into the Filipinos’ passion for the sport; and the 13-episode “Islands Insider,” which explores the country’s traveler destinations.

For “Inside Malacañang,” Turcuato said crew members were given a full day to shoot in the private residence and entered two rooms never before filmed. They had another day for an interview with President Aquino, and another to follow four important people in the Palace – P-Noy’s food taster, his bodyguard, his personal photographer and the head of presidential security.

Some interesting highlights: the bulletproof Ramos Room, normally off-limits to outsiders; the President and his personal bodyguard target shooting; the head of security following the no wang-wang rule, stopping at every red traffic light.

“The Basketball Diaries” is hosted by Rafe Bartholomew, an American who wrote “Pacific Rims,” the book on which the docu is based.

“Viewers just want to be entertained,” Turcuato said. “For NGC to do that while educating them at the same time is our current thrust.”