With Thursday’s episode being the first of the two-part grand celebration of the milestone.
On Thursday, July 30, the Philippines’ longest-running noontime television program Eat Bulaga marked its 47th anniversary with a live episode.
The troika of Senator Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon (TVJ) are present, together with the rest of the Dabarkads in this special occasion that kicked off with a special number that looked back on some of the memorable scenes in the show from the yesteryears.
During their opening spiels, each of the hosts greeted each other and the TVJ for this moment.
Joey also remarked during the said segment that the day’s episode was its 14,581st episode of Eat Bulaga, which started July 30, 1979.
Vic then shared how many generations were able to witness Eat Bulaga, remarking that audiences from the Lost Generation (who were in their 60s at the time of EB’s launch), and now, the show still exists even as the Generation Beta babies have already been welcomed to the world since 2025.
Beyond the first body, the other segments also had their own special editions, with The Age Is Right welcoming those who became part of the program such as original co-host Chiqui Hollmann and Debraliz, as well as Elmar, a winner of the Kaya Mo ‘To? portion.
Meanwhile, another certified Dabarkad, Iza Calzado, also returned to the show to join the celebration in the Sugod Bahay Mga Kapatid segment with Jose Manalo, Paolo Ballesteros, and Ryzza Mae Dizon.
In the game Gimme 5, teams were composed of more members of the Eat Bulaga family played, including contestants from The Clones, EB Babes, and Streetboys.
Host Wally Bayola, who was last seen on air in April and is recuperating following an accident, also made a brief appearance during the last part of the program.
The episode on Thursday is only the first part of the special celebration and will continue on Saturday, August 1.
Eat Bulaga first aired via Radio Philippines Network (RPN) on free-to-air channel 9 in 1979, where it stayed until 1989 when it transferred 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 would remain 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. in 2023.
Together, they went 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.
