‘Ismol’ lead stars need to assert themselves

FROM left: Carmi Martin, Pekto, Ryan Agoncillo and Mikael Daez in “Ismol Family”

The first telecast of “Ismol Family” on GMA 7 last June 22, was “pertinently” viewable, because the new weekly sitcom is about an OFW welder (Carla Abellana) who keeps in touch with her family in the Philippines via the new media.

Blandly pleasant 

Like the millions of contract workers she “represents,” Carla’s character feels particularly sad on special family occasions, so her husband (Ryan Agoncillo) manfully and lovingly tries to compensate by enlisting the help of their children to bring back that all-important “family” feeling.

But, all that loving niceness can make the proceedings come off as too blandly pleasant, and thus not feistily funny, so the new production has added a number of comedic “irritants” to its storytelling equation, the better to generate contentious contrary sparks to spice up the brew—and make viewers laugh.

Major embarrassment 

They include Carla’s “crazy” mother (Carmi Martin), who’s already a senior citizen but has decidedly “junior” preferences in boyfriends and having a good time, even if it means embarrassing her grandkids in a major way!

Thus, her current boy toy (Kevin Santos) is on hand, as is Carla’s brother (Pekto), who certainly doesn’t look anything like her and doesn’t get along with Carmi’s new flavor of the month.

In addition, there’s a new, blonde comic (Natalia Moon) who is ostensibly looking for work—as a maid! Other supporting characters move in and out of the comedic action, and the portrayals they generate hope to help keep the laughs coming.

Is this in fact the case? The cast’s antics do generate laughter on occasion, but we get the feeling that there are too many people on-cam, each trying to get his own comic “moment.” That flurry of occasionally contradictory impressions sometimes results in a lack of focus that inhibits rather than encourages humor.

Ditzy blonde 

CARLA Abellana plays a welder in new show.

On the other hand, the show’s blonde “import” is ditzy enough to come off as a bracingly different comedic find. We hope that she will fulfill her promise and not be made to fritter it away with the usual facile “sexy” shticks.

As for Carmi’s “crazy” lola, we still aren’t sure which way she’s going to go. Sometimes, all that loopy behavior is a turnoff, because it’s just too over-the-top. On the other hand, we sometimes find ourselves enjoying Carmi’s uninhibited comedic gumption, and she is sometimes able to generate solid laughs.

Jury still out 

So, what’s the verdict? The jury is still out on this one, so we’ll continue to watch the show, hoping that Carmi will be able to sort out her comedic priorities real soon!

As for leads Ryan and Carla, the bad news is that they’re roundly upstaged by the zany comics who surround them, so they just have to assert their lead status more firmly and creatively.

Carla has an even tougher row to hoe, because she isn’t “physically” present in the show’s scenes, just as an image on Skype. She should be aware of this built-in limitation and think up more imaginative ways to compensate for it.