As we all know by now, TVJ and the most of the ‘Dabarkads’ left TAPE, Inc. on Wednesday, May 31.
For more than 43 years, ‘Eat Bulaga’ has been a centerpiece of the noontime television landscape in the Philippines. From its tumultuous early years, to its growing pouplarity, its spectacular Silver anniversary, and through the longest lockdown in the world, the program had gone through it all and even more — if we try to list all, this article won’t end. But the biggest crisis that the show has faced in its long history is perhaps what had transpired in the past few months.
From a smoke that seem to have begun in what could be a disagreement that could still be settled then, it blew up into a fire that sent a blaze seen by everyone across the field that is the local entertainment industry and even beyond. And when everyone thought that the said fire will be soon extinguished, it had apparently completely burnt down whatever’s left.
That could be the short summary in metaphorical terms of what occurred in the three months since the first news about the internal issues at ‘Eat Bulaga’ and its production company TAPE, Inc broke out. But out of all that had happened since, the May 31st announcement of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon’s ‘disintegration’ from the production company (they did not say the show itself), will be the most remembered and could be regarded as the climax of this specific arc, if not the entire story yet.
But this piece would not dwell in breaking down all of those, and instead focus on the future of the program that has been embedded in the Filipino pop culture and history. A future that began to look bleak since the departure of the trio from TAPE. And so we go.
Since May 31, the day the troika and the rest of the ‘Dabarkads’ left the company, the program has been airing repeats of past shows. Interestingly, the decision to re-air an old episode on that specific Wednesday became ths turning point for the group. According to Tito Sotto’s account of the events that day, they were preparing to mount a live show, but they were restricted by the TAPE management, leading to the sudden departure announcement being broadcast through online channels only.
Back to the program itself, on June 1, in a statement, TAPE confirmed that they will still continue to use the name ‘Eat Bulaga’ for their noontime show, despite repeated claims by Tito Sotto in the past that their side owns the copyright to the title. TAPE also added that they will be getting new hosts to helm the program. No names had been released yet, but Sparkle head Annette Gozon-Valdes has publicly stated in an interview on Friday, June 2, that she is open to letting TAPE get some artists from their pool of talents to join the ‘new’ EB.
Speaking of which, GMA and TAPE had already clearly stated that they will be sticking with each other until at least the end of 2024, when their three-year-contract for the noontime slot of the Kapuso network will be up for renewal. So at the very least, that is one less problem for the production compay, as they still have a secured broadcast partner until such time.
Meanwhile, another issue they, the management, have to figure apart from on-screen talents is the behind-the-scene personnel who make the show a show to begin with. While there are no figures, Tito Sotto said that most of the staff from the show have joined their league, and only a few remained.
Another is the physical facility itself. The current home of ‘Eat Bulaga’ is the APT Studios in Cainta, Rizal. According to Sotto, TAPE is only renting the space, as the studio is directly owned by former ‘Eat Bulaga’ producer Antonio P. Tuviera through his own, personal firm. While Tuviera still partly owns TAPE, via a 25% share, it is still unknown whether the new ‘Eat Bulaga’ will still have a link to him via the studio space or would TAPE now opt to find a new home for the show moving forward.
Perhaps, this is the biggest shadow that is cast over ‘Eat Bulaga’ right now. The seemingly imminent copyright battle over the title between TAPE and TVJ, and before the Intellectual Property Office, might be another hurdle. With the determination of the troika to get the title for their camp’s use, it remains to be seen how TAPE will respond to this. But for now, Tito has said that they are still allowing the production company to use the title while they are sorting things out.
TAPE hasn’t given a word yet as to when they will start airing fresh episodes of ‘Eat Bulaga.’
With the dusts resulting from the fallout between the original hosts and the ‘new’ TAPE management still covering the light at the end of the tunnel, where could all these lead to? No one actually does know yet (except the people directly involved), but here are some cents about it.
Should ‘EB’ march forward under TAPE and without TVJ, it would be a steep climb for them to make this technically new show work. After all, despite the pronouncement that the show was built not just by the three hosts, the general viewing public has a different perspective on the matter. The trio were and still remain as faces of the show for more than four decades, add that to the fact how the ‘departure’ of the three and rest of team happened, the new iteration might not just sit well — at least in the immediate term.
Alongside that, as regressive this might sound, there is basically no continuity whatsoever after what happened. There is still no on-screen personality from the ‘old’ team that is confirmed (at the moment) to remain part of the ‘new’ version. Much more important than that, a figure that would be able to basically assure the audience that it is still basically the same show, but just with a different tone and vibe than what they were used to.
Finally, the road ahead for ‘Eat Bulaga’ might not be the road that we know so far. Who knows, maybe EB could end up being in the hands of TVJ? So for sure, we are still in for a heck of a ride as audience and observers of this already enormous issue that literally ‘BULAGA’ (surprised) everyone, no matter how long or much of it has been chronicled these past few months.
But clearly and at least for now, ‘Eat Bulaga’ stays with TAPE and one could only hope that the show can survive the turmoil and come out of it as a formidable noontime program still, as it has been for the past four decades of its existence.
‘Eat Bulaga’ is still airing replays of past episodes until further notice. The program still airs on GMA every noontime, from Monday to Saturday.