VIC SOTTO
Vic Sotto’s new game show, “The Million Peso Money Drop,” got off to an exciting start last Sunday on TV5, with Eric and Epy Quizon playing for a cool and hot million bucks for their late dad Dolphy’s foundation’s projects. Alas, the evening didn’t have a happy ending for them, but up to the last question, they were doing really well.
The new program caught our interest in a special way right from the start, because it presented an unusually eclectic range of topics for its contestants to choose from.
Logically, the player who would do well in the show should have a wide range of interests. The Quizon brothers filled the bill quite nicely, so they ended up with half a million pesos left — before they lost it all on the final question!
Despite their extensive knowledge, from sports to the United Nations’ official languages, the Quizon siblings suffered from a bad case of nerves throughout the program, because one bad call could cost them and their beneficiary a lot of money!
To make the proceedings even more “exciting” for viewers and stressful for the contestant-siblings, host Sotto playfully questioned some of the brothers’ hunches, prompting them to reconsider their options, before taking a deep breath and sticking to their original answers.
Also, “scary” was the way that the show’s huge “money drop” contraption would “swallow” the pile of money that contestants bet on the wrong answer. You can’t get more chillingly graphic than that.
But the premiere telecast of the “Money Drop” show delighted viewers, because its host and his “buena mano” contestants clicked with each other. The brothers made a beautifully symbiotic and synergistic team that thought as one and trusted one another, while Sotto expertly riffed with them to bring out the best in their teamup.
The fact that the money earned from the game would go to charity made the proceedings even more exciting. Unfortunately, it all went for naught because the Quizons fumbled the final query about apathy or avarice being one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Well, they certainly gave it a good try—and, better luck next time?
We trust, too, that the show will keep coming up with good teamups like the Quizon brothers. They had just the right mix of intelligence, personality and show biz savvy to make the program viewable, and they also knew how to handle and expand on Sotto’s comedic riffs.
As for the bad case of nerves and stress that the Quizons experienced from start to finish, it comes with the territory due to the huge amount up for grabs, so other contestants will just have to find or develop the fortitude to deal with it as best as they can.
Vic Sotto is coming into his own as a prime exponent of quiz and game show hosting, along with Edu Manzano.
Without cribbing from one another, they’ve arrived at their own take on the different hosting genre. Aspiring TV hosts should watch them at work!