Potential game changers in the biz

Most of the time, the local show-biz scene thrives, not on surprising creativity but on dependable, albeit stolid, predictability. The same old formats that were hits last year are trotted out again in the hope that viewers are as uncaring as some lazy TV people are about the shows they think up and/or watch.

From time to time, however, potential game-changers are thrown into the program pile, just to see if they will click with viewers—and correspondingly take the biz into a new direction.

This season, the potential shaker-uppers include the revival of the dormant sitcom format, first by way of the Robin Padilla-Vhong Navarro-Angel Locsin starrer, “Toda Max.” If the show continues to rate as well as some reports have it, other producers could whip up more of the same—a welcome departure from the seemingly endless spate of weepy and shrieky melodramas we’ve had coming out of our eyes and ears for years now.

Another point of departure is the increased popularity of shows involving young talents. The trend continues this season with “Biritera,” which is similarly reported to be rating well, so it’s likely that kids will continue to be in demand on the small screen.

Interestingly, the new “tween” show, “Luv U,” combines the twin trends of comedy and youth-oriented productions. Does that mean that its success is doubly assured?

New love team

Relatively new teen and young-adult talents are also doing well on TV this season. “Kokak,” the show starring Sarah Lahbati, is said to be enjoying good viewership. On the other hand, the new romantic tandem of Julia Montes and Coco Martin isn’t catching fire on “Walang Hanggan,” possibly because he’s quite a few years older than she is.

Happily for young Martin del Rosario on “E-Boy,” he turned in a star-making portrayal on the new series—but he appeared in it for only a few telecasts, so his ascent is far from certain. It behooves his mother studio, therefore, to showcase him in a new project soonest, so he can deservedly fulfill his stellar promise.

Also potentially game-changing is the bid of the expanded “Showtime” to challenge “Eat Bulaga’s” long reign over noontime TV slot. But the comparative rating figures haven’t been released to date, so the definitive verdict will have to be deferred.

Another program type that’s about to be revived is the stellar musical showcase, epitomized in the distant past by “Your Evening with Pilita,” “Carmen on Camera” and Nora Aunor’s “Superstar.”

The revival this season will be initiated by a new show built around Sarah Geronimo. If it is received well by viewers, other singing celebrities who could launch weekly musical showcases of their own should include Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid, Isay Alvarez and Robert Seña, the OPM group and Ryan Cayabyab in a revival of his remembered  “Musikahan” show.

We wish all of these relatively new initiatives well, because the teleserye glut has robbed local TV programming of the variety and creativity that viewers need—and deserve.