Merry mix from Ogie, Michael V

ANTIC duo opts for greater diversification

FOR many years now, the comedy team of Ogie Alcasid and Michael V has proven itself as a bankable draw in a number of hit programs, including some “smorgasbord” comedy and game shows.

In their latest joint outing, “Pare & Pare,” Ogie and Michael opt for even greater diversification by going in for different features that include funny interviews, musical riffs and even a “Six Degrees of Separation” portion that delights viewers with its puckish deftness as it successfully attempts to link any and all entertainment stars in all sorts of real and imagined relationships.

Batting average

In all of these gambits, the antic duo’s main objective is to make viewers laugh—and as far as that goes, the show’s batting average is high. “Blame” it in part on the inventiveness of some of the new show’s features—as well as on its two hosts’ time-tested rapport with one another.

Indeed, in some respects, the “Ogie-Mike” tandem works so seamlessly together that it conjures up recollections of Pugo-Tugo and Dolphy-Panchito. —Not that Ogie and Michael are trying to imitate those “classic” teams, because they really love doing their own thing.

Last Sunday, their show’s main guest was Pauleen Luna, whom they kept ribbing due to her reported involvement with an older comedian. The guy’s identity was kept a private joke throughout the long feature on Pauleen, but part of the humor sprang from the fact that everyone, including the show’s many viewers, was “in” on the not-so-private joke.

To her credit, Pauleen was “game” enough to take the hosts’ good-natured ribbing in stride. After a while, however, the repeated coy allusions to Pauleen’s not-so-secret squeeze began to feel rather long in the tooth due to sheer repetition. A shorter feature would have been exactly right. —Better luck—and tighter editing—next time?

In some aspects, “Pare & Pare” is sui generis as far as its merry mix of features and production approaches go—but, come to think of it, the show occasionally reminds us of another diverting comedy-variety program currently on the tube, hosted by Vice Ganda.

The two shows are similarly fun-filled and varied in their approaches, but Vice’s comes off as the edgier, more unpredictable and sassier show, due to its solo host’s signature cheekiness.

For their part, Ogie and Michael opt for more pleasant and less “baaaad” humor—but, if they can find it in themselves to heat up their act some more, it could be a welcome progression, because their “pleasant” approach can feel a bit old sometimes.

That’s an occupational hazard for TV stars who have been successful at their game for more than a decade. Sometimes, the arrival of an edgier, “hungrier” rival can jolt “old-timers” like them into the realization that their success has made them too comfortable, so it could be time for them to shake up their act—in some respects.

Perhaps the trendier and less coy competition represented by the likes of Vice Ganda could be just the added motivation and “irritant” to make the established likes of Ogie Alcasid and Michael V “fight” even harder to sustain their comedic supremacy—and make their next decade in the entertainment trade even more eventful than the one before!