TV hosts with the most–and least

EDU Manzano is among the best star-hosts.

Time was when TV program hosts were chosen for their ability to briskly and interestingly keep their shows going, do entertaining side interviews with contestants or special celebrity guests, and add to the excitement of their game and quiz portions.

Thus, pioneering TV hosts like Eddie Ilarde, Bob Stewart, Tita Muñoz, Helen Vela, Eddie Mercado, Joey Lardizabal, Marilou Pardo, Sylvia La Torre, Pete Roa, Boots Anson-Roa and Bobby Ledesma were trained professionals, many of whom cut their broadcast teeth in radio before they “graduated” to the then-new TV medium.

The situation became problematic some years ago when TV producers sought to boost viewership by hiring stars instead of professional TV people as program hosts.

Unassailable

Their logic was unassailable: Movie stars were popular personalities in their own right, so if they were tapped to host TV programs, those shows’ popularity would also be enhanced.

In addition, viewers would be curious about how well the stars would do at their new jobs, so that would be extra incentive for them to watch their new TV programs.

Aside from “logic,” however, there is the other key issue of the stars’ competence at their new calling.

Show biz luminaries are sometimes self-absorbed creatures whose dialogue is often scripted, so they may not do all that well when they’re focusing on contestants and interview subjects instead of their beautiful selves. And they may turn out to be lousy ad-libbers when they have to talk without the familiar crutch of scripted lines!

True enough, some stars-turned-program hosts were major disappointments, and the shows they handled were poorly paced and had a lot of “dead air”—a major no-no in TV hosting!

To compensate for the stars’ incompetence, they were made to stop ad-libbing, and everything they had to say was scripted, just like in the movies.

MATTEO Guidicelli still inefficient as host

‘Idiot boards’

With the help of “idiot boards,” they read their spiels and leading questions from those accurately-named visual aids and tried to make them sound like spontaneous utterances. With the help of such devices and plays, the phenomenon of stars-turned-hosts continues to proliferate on TV these days—with decidedly mixed results.

On the plus side, the best star-hosts are exemplified by the motor-mouthed likes of Edu Manzano and Martin Nievera. On the other hand, many stars continue to do poorly as TV program hosts—including some celebrities who topbill show biz-oriented talk shows.

They work under the additional burden of talking about the sins and scandals of their friends and colleagues—an awkward state of affairs that exposes the basic contradiction of what they’re doing.

The most recent example of the inefficiency and insufficiencies of the star-host situation is the new program, “Talented Camp,” which is hosted by actors Dimples Romana, Xian Lim and Matteo Guidicelli.

Despite their being almost completely reliant on scripted spiels, they aren’t able to generate enough energy and interest value in the program’s proceedings, and the show is the poorer for it.