Startalk turns sweet 16 (Second of two parts)

Startalk is exactly 16 years old today. The show premiered on Oct. 8, 1995  a Sunday.

How it ended on a Saturday (every 2:30 p.m.) was due to Rosanna Roces’ request for her to enjoy her Sundays with her family.

GMA 7 had a Saturday showbiz talk show then  Etching, hosted by Lyn Ching, who is now so ensconced as a public affairs figure, but really started out showbiz.

I was based in the US when the transition happened. When I came back for an extended stay (mainly to do an Urian show), Paolo Bediones was the network’s biggest find and he hosted with Lyn the program that took over the original Sunday time slot of Startalk.

It was so timely that I was in Manila when Boy Abunda decided to move to ABS-CBN to take over the slot vacated by the cancelled Showbiz Lingo to put up The Buzz that also had Tim Yap and Ricky Lo as co-hosts.

On May 28, 1999, I had lunch with GMA lady boss Wilma Galvante to do Startalk right the following day. I politely said no to a contract because I was still bent on pursuing my American dream.

But the bank run that washed away everything I earned hosting Showbiz Lingo forced me to stay and today I consider that providential because I would never exchange for anything in the world my now more than a decade stint in Startalk. 

 By summer of 2001, the ratings of Startalk began galloping and remained steady up there (knock on wood!). The show was slow to ripen, but when it did, there was full blossoming.

The show experienced a crisis in May 2004: Osang and Lolit Solis fought. Osang left, but the heavens worked in a rather strange way that time. Joey de Leon had a problem with the MTRCB and was not allowed to show up in Eat, Bulaga! for a while. But to everyone’s relief, the MTRCB directive didn’t state that he couldn’t appear in other programs.

That proved to be a very important turning point for Startalk: We could have Joey de Leon and now we have no plans of letting him go ever. 

The blessings continued to pour in because Lorna Tolentino, who would pinch-hit in the absence of a glamorous female co-host joined us on a regular basis. I could not believe my luck  I was working with Joey and then the Queen of Drama.

Somewhere along the way, Alyssa Alano became a YouTube sensation with her mangling of song lyrics. Actually, it was German Moreno’s Master Showman that first gave her a break on TV. But we snatched her and it had been a delight working with Alyssa.

In late 2009, Ricky Lo, already a veteran of three showbiz talk shows (aside from The Buzz, he also did Showbiz Stripped and The Ricky Lo Exclusives) joined Startalk. The showbiz authority on print meets TV’s showbiz authority, Startalk. What incredible combination.

A few weeks ago, Tim (formerly with Tweetbiz) also began his own segment in Startalk.

Now 16, the road to success wasn’t all that sweet. Startalk went through a whole gamut of flavors  bittersweet moments, bitter trials and even sour rejections. But each episode had spice.

As I type this piece today, I don’t even know what to expect from our 16th anniversary program this afternoon. Is Lolit showing up in a pink sweet 16 chiffon dress?

Oh, there’s another secret to Startalk’s longevity: It’s unpredictability  week after week after week.

This is one show where you don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s been that way the past 16 years. We intend to keep that hopefully for yet another 16.