Interactive TV shows are open to viewers’ suggestions

FROM left, Enrique Gil, Liza Soberano and Matteo Guidicelli

Most of the time, TV shows feel free to come up with features that viewers are obliged to watch—take it or leave it.

This season, however, some programs appear to be going for more “interactive” TV, with some of their elements open to “suggestions” from viewers.

On “Dolce Amore,” for instance, viewers are being polled via social media on how they want the concluding series, now down to its last couple of days of extended storytelling, to end.

The question itself is a puzzlement—after all, “Dolce” is a sweet rom-com, so how else could it arrive at its climax and denouement without having the characters played by Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil end up in each other’s loving arms? A concluding wedding scene would be a must, too, right?

But viewers are still flattered that the show is open to viewers’ inputs and expressions of interest and involvement, because it indicates that they feel they have a personal stake in its ultimate outcome.

Having said all that, we should share that the show’s telecast last Aug. 9, ended with some unexpected intimations of dangerous developments before the show’s expectedly happy ending:

A young woman was shown thinking dark thoughts and plotting “something” which  should manifest itself more clearly this week.

What could  it be? And, is Matteo Guidicelli’s discredited character really dead and completely out of the storytelling picture?

Excuse the cynical question, but we’ve seen too many TV dramas where dead and even pulverized people have been handily “resurrected” to make a series finale even more florid and shocking.

Another interactive gambit on TV this month is the weekly sitcom “Home Sweetie Home’s” invitation for viewers to submit suggestions for the best name for John Lloyd Cruz and Toni Gonzaga’s first child, the arrival of which is “coming soon.”

The viewer(s) whose submissions will be chosen would then be made the TV child’s ninongs and ninangs.

Even better, they can smugly feel free to call John Lloyd and Toni Pare and Mare!

That delightful prospect encourages us  to come up with our own suggestions: If it’s a boy, name him Isagani, and if it’s a girl, call her Bituin. O, ’di ba?   Fingers crossed!

Less facetiously now, this move to invite viewers to participate in a show’s development and outcome is becoming a big deal, not just on local TV screens.

For instance, US “reality” shows pay a lot of attention to viewers’ preferences, avidly expressed on social media, about some on-cam personalities’ love lives, lifestyle and product preferences, etc.

This is particularly relevant when it comes to stars with millions of “followers,” like Kendall and Kylie Jenner. They have become so popular and powerful that a mere “tweet” mention on their part can turn a personal preference into a fad or trend, and a new product into an instantly sold-out must-have.

We hear that a few local stars have similarly and profitably plugged into this persuasive power, like a TV host who got many multimillions for regularly tweeting his preferred brands. It pays to “interact” on TV!