Here’s a deep dive on why and how E.A.T., It’s Showtime, and Eat Bulaga! are extending their influence way past their noontime hours
Nowadays, we can enjoy watching our noontime shows all day long. E.A.T., It’s Showtime, and Eat Bulaga! still air during lunchtime, but they are now serving us noontime goodness anywhere and anytime.
Media takes on new shapes and forms everyday. It changes through us, because of us, and with us—the consumers. And with that fact, our usual television programs are constantly finding ways to keep us entertained and informed.
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While morning and evening programs have their certain hook into our lives, our afternoon programs offer a different flavor. Is it because they air while we are enjoying our meals? Are we all in a limbo during this time of the day to actually have the energy to watch? Why do we see segments trending even right after the show?
Well, at the end of the day, their impact is clear. These shows are still here and they are not going anywhere. Here are some reasons why now, more than ever, our midday shows are here to stay in the years and decades to come.
Ticking variety
Unlike our night teleseryes with a linear storyline, our afternoon programs can offer new segments from time to time, even with their staple ones still ongoing. Case in point, “Tawag ng Tanghalan” being part of It’s Showtime, while having a new one called “Isip Bata.”
Of course, who could forget “Kalyeserye” where AlDub stole the hearts of millions of their viewers with the story of the pairing, from their first meeting to forming their own fictional family? Indeed, the phenomenon was unlike any other until today.
Having platforms like “I Am PoGay,” “That’s My Tomboy,” and “Miss Q & A,” gave space for members of the LGBTQIA+ to break through national television. And until today, the lingering effect of “Hep Hep Hooray” can still be felt in parties where guests still play the long defunct show where the game started.
More than the amusement factor that different segments bring, it really is where a number of stories can be told from the contestants down to the hosts. Whether you’re an actual live audience, a player, or a viewer, these parts of the program make you connect with one another, too.
Shapeshifting media
Not too long ago, we found ourselves hooked on our television and television only. Before streaming came into the picture, cable TV was our source of solace. Finding a good show wasn’t as easy as clicking it like now. Back then, you had to take note of the channel number, the timeslot, and the commercial breaks. The anticipation was there, and it made all the difference.
Today, E.A.T. is airing not just on television, but also online. Viewers would splice scenes from It’s Showtime and easily make them viral even way past its time slot. The limitations of how, where, and when you could be watching these programs are becoming slimmer and slimmer each day.
With social media also in the picture, these shows also capitalize on them being talked about as trending topics for that added pull and influence. These websites and apps have become leverages of relevance and influence, gauging the impact of a show or a segment if it was making rounds online.
To put it simply, it is the power of dialogue. And while the noise of opinions flying here and there could be too much at times, isn’t discourse where change could really start?
Keeping it real
The best and sometimes also the worst part of these segments is perhaps the spontaneity of everything. Although hosts are given guides for each day, the live factor tests one’s agility to ask a question or hype a contestant or even your own co-host. Once the show is airing, there are no edits or take backs. It really is a test of balancing restraint and expression.
It is then no surprise that in the span of television history in the Philippines, a number of segments and scenes have been flagged by agencies and organizations due to remarks or actions that could be insensitive, irreverent, or irresponsible. Unlike shootings or tapings where you could pause and reflect on your attack on a scene, noontime programs can’t do that for you. You must stay sharp and ready to approach anything that happens.
However, these programs also give you actual reactions and no-filter expressions from the co-hosts, judges, and even the audience.
At a time when messages could be edited, news could be faked, and information could be distorted, there is a level of actual, live reality that noontime shows have created for all of us.
If these shows offer us truth besides mere enjoyment, then it is no longer just for fun. They can, too, pave the way to facing problems and seeking solutions for the world we live in. And if it takes noontime shows as the first step to starting conversations and exchanging ideas that matter, well—then it’s showtime!
Featured Image: ALDEN RICHARDS (via Instagram)
