Edu on top of TV ‘war games’

Curtain-raisers:

• Congratulations to GMA Network’s Butch Jimenez who will be honored at a testimonial dinner by UP President Dr. Francisco Nemenzo for his support of the university, on Friday, Oct. 26. Early this year, Butch worked with the UP School of Economics Student Council by conducting various lectures and seminars for the students and for the university deans and professors. He also initiated a fund-raising campaign to help the School of Economics’ modernization program.

• If this young actor doesn’t watch out, he might inherit the Pagong (turtle or slowpoke) "title" from Snooky Serna who said she had relinquished it. The actor makes his co-stars wait and wait and wait on the set and he doesn’t even apologize when he arrives three or four hours late. Somebody should tell him to be considerate to his co-workers and to take his job seriously. Otherwise, he should take an indefinite leave of absence from showbiz. (If he does, he’ll surely find no more space for him because of the many new and equally young talents swarming the industry.)

• The US-Afghanistan crisis has brought into sharp focus the quality of foreign news networks’ coverage. Of the three popular ones – that is, CNN, Fox News and BBC – which do you think is the best? Jessica Soho’s choice is BBC (mine, too).

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The TV "war games" have been raging as intensely as the US bombing in Afghanistan. Or haven’t you noticed? The "war of gameshows," I mean.

Of course, gameshows are not new to local television. Years ago, a similar fad (very limited because there were very few TV stations then) hit the boob tube, led by the front-runner Kuwarta O Kahon hosted by Pepe Pimentel. There was also Spin-A-Win (by Jeanne Young) and a few others.

Now, the gameshow virus has reached epidemic proportion, with all stations (except NBN and RPN 9 which don’t seem inclined to join the fray) scrambling over one another to put up a gameshow, thanks to IBC 13’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (hosted by Christopher de Leon, produced by Viva Television) which revived the trend.

ABS-CBN’s Game KNB, hosted by Kris Aquino, is now in full swing and so is The Weakest Link, another Viva Television franchise production (like Millionaire), hosted by Edu Manzano also on IBC 13. Three gameshows are soon starting on ABC 5: The Price is Right (hosted by Dawn Zulueta), Family Feud (by Ogie Alcasid) and Wheel of Fortune (Rustom Padilla), all patterned after their US counterparts.

Soon, GMA is spinning off the Eat, Bulaga segment Korek Ka Dyan into an independent show, hosted by Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon (who can’t help making snide remarks against The Weakest Link’s concept of dropping the "weakest links" like hot potatoes, the way amateur singing contests of yore would bang out contestants who sang off key).

Inevitably, the gameshow hosts are being compared and contrasted – you know, who’s the best of ‘em all?

The final answer?

Funfare’s choice is Edu Manzano who perfectly fits into the Weakest Link format with his intelligent and quick way of dishing out the questions and dismissing the "weakest links" with his characteristic deadpan style. Millionaire’s Christopher de Leon often wastes time by tarrying and he tends to "act out" instead of giving it straight to us televiewers.

Game KNB’s Kris Aquino is shouting all the time (her Matrix attire is okey lang, though), appearing to be more unduly excited than the contestants and/or the game-watchers both at the studio and at home.

Let’s see how Vic and Joey, Rustom, Dawn and Ogie will fare, and find out who among them will be dropped first as "the weakest link."

Okay, game ka na ba, bayan?

Ruffa’s sold-out production

Not many people knew it but Ruffa Gutierrez breezed back home two weeks ago and sneaked right back to her second home, Los Angeles (that is, when she’s not with her boyfriend, Yilmaz Bektas, in his native Turkey) after putting to place the new project of the family-owned Royale ERA Productions, none other than a pre-Halloween dinner show called The Way We Are slated for Friday (Oct. 26) and Saturday (Oct. 27), 9 p.m., at Country Waffles (Greenhills), featuring Pilita Corrales and Rico J. Puno, with Jinky Llamanzares and Yam Ledesma as special guests.

For the benefit of Asilo Medalla Milagrosa, the show is sponsored by M-Power, Play & Display, Mango, Viva Entertainment Group and RP Watiwat Engineering Corp.

Tickets for (P2,500 each) Friday have been sold out, which proves that the concert row and television are where the action is these days and not in the movies which hasn’t really sprung out of a prolonged slump.

"People have been asking kung tuloy ang show because Country Waffles owners Bert and Carol Nievera’s recent case," said Ruffa’s mom, Annabelle Rama. "Oo, tuloy na tuloy. But only tickets for the Saturday show are available."

(For inquiries, call 727-25-34, 727-25-36 or 727-25-03.)