Another momentous occasion for the TV show.
On Wednesday, July 30, the Philippines’ longest-running noontime variety show ‘Eat Bulaga’ celebrated its 46th anniversary on the air.
The said live episode was filled with various segments that looked back on the rich history of the iconic television program
During the opening production number, Maine Mendoza started it by dancing to BigBang’s ‘Fantastic Baby,’ which was heavily used in ‘Kalyeserye’ in 2015.
Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, and Paolo Ballesteros, meanwhile, dressed up as toned and muscular guys, referencing ‘Macho Men’ in 1980.
Ryzza Mae Dizon also danced her novelty single ‘Cha-cha Dabarkads,’ while Julia Barretto and Miles Ocampo were part of the callback to the past game segments from the years that passed.
Carren Eistrup paid tribute to the late Master Rapper and the man behind the ‘Dabarkads’ callsign, Francis Magalona, and sang ‘Mga Kababayan’.
Atasha Muhlach, who had been on a break from her hosting duties due to her ongoing acting project, also came back in time for the anniversary and danced ‘New Thang’.
The Singing Queens also performed their rendition of Sexbomb Girls’ hit single ‘Bakit Papa?’ and ‘The Spageti Song’ with Allan K and Ian Red.
Meanwhile, Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon—also known as TVJ—sang with the rest of the Dabarkads the Spiral Starecase song ‘More Today Than Yesterday’ and the official theme song of the longest-running noontime variety show.
Meanwhile, past ‘Dabarkads’ also returned to join in the fun.
‘Little Miss Philippines 1987’ winner and singer Ice Seguerra returned to the show anew, and performed in the opening number.
During ‘Peraphy,’ Jimmy Santos, Julia Clarete, and EB Babes member Ann Boleche, along with current host R’Bonney Gabriel, took the place of the Singing Queens and held the cards.
In ‘Sugod Bahay Mga Kapatid,’ Wally Bayola also brought back his Doktora Dora The Explorer character who was seen in the ‘Problem Solving’ and ‘Kalyeserye’ portions in 2015.
Aside from these, ‘Eat Bulaga’ also marked the occasion by giving back to the public, with the new batch of EBest scholars and the distribution of aid to those that were affected by the recent weather disturbances.
EAT… BULAGA!
‘Eat Bulaga’ began airing on July 30, 1979 via Radio Philippines Network (RPN) on free-to-air channel 9, where it stayed until 1989 as it went to ABS-CBN channel 2.
After not renewing its ties with then-Star Network, the noontime show moved to GMA Network in January 1995.
‘EB’ remained part of the Kapuso network’s programming for over 28 years, with the program’s 25th anniversary and the AlDub phenomenon becoming two of the major highlights of that era.
However, after disagreements between the production group and the new management of former producer TAPE, Inc., the Tito, Vic and Joey trio, their co-hosts, and a bulk of staff members left the company and formed TVJ Productions, Inc.
Through which, they moved to TV5 and forged ties with MQuest Ventures for the noontime show, which was initially billed as ‘E.A.T.’ when it premiered on the Kapatid network in July 2023 pending a legal case over the trademark against the ex-producers.
In January 2024, a court ruling granted the TVJ group the trademark to ‘Eat Bulaga’ that allowed them to resume using the title for their own program.