"critique" on the loose

2011 is nearly over. it's time for some critical thinking. haha.
in my jobless, semi-depressed mode, holed up in a crumbling apartment where the cranky elevator would sometimes stop in the middle of a flight, where the lobby reeked of body odor, alcohol, cigarettes and sex,  i was able to watch some local teevee.
there was not much to do, anyway, after window shopping in greenbelt, eating out with friends, having coffee at m cafe, flirting with cuties in malate. after a while, these things get boring.
so there i was, holed up in that poor excuse for a condotel, watching teevee.  something i had never done for the past several years. i never had cable at my old flat in makati and in hong kong as well. i only turn the teevee on when watching movies on dvd. that's all.
but in the last three to four months, i was able to catch local shows on philippine television. sad to say, not much has changed. tarush!
same old, same old. what happened to innovation? did it die on the way to the revolution?

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i had high hopes for manny pangilinan's teevee five.
after all, it revived the career of the superstar. plus, it was generous enough to fly her from the u.s. where her talents were wasted, to manille, put her in a posh home and spend millions more on her talent fee, teevee shows and in marketing her and these shows.
at last! i tuned in to nora's much-vaunted drama series and even told friends to watch it.

i also have lots of talented friends working on its news department. so double luv!
(by the way, this post has nothing to do with its news and public affairs programs. other than the presence of the tulfo brothers and some reporters who sounded so annoying, i have no complain so far. i like cherry mercado and paolo bediones on the late nyt news, even though paolo seemed stiff and uncomfortable in delivering the, what else, news.)

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but other than that, teevee five is  a big, big disappointment. it could have been bolder, braver and introduced more novelty in an industry plagued by humdrum shows and is slowly dying from competition from the internet, cheap pirated movies, computer games, among others.
instead, what we got are the same old faces and idiotic shows. in fact, teevee five seemed stuck in the 80s with stars like lorna tolentino, dina bonnevie, alice dixson, tonton gutierrez and soon sharon cuneta headlining its shows. they were big stars in the past decades, but today? i don't know.
as one of its showbiz talk show hosts luv to say - la ocean deep na ang iba sa mga ito!
their comedy shows also reminded you of the past decades -- there are those headlined by vic sotto, joey de leon, etc. unfortunately, they are not even funny. another show is simply a poor copycat of the now lacklustre bubble gang (channel seven should end this show already. utang na loob).
there is nothing like watching teevee to ruin your day talaga.
then those irksome commercials na puro na lang mukha ni kris, john lloyd, sharon, kc, angel. ano vish?!  what do they think of us, idiots? why would i buy a product simply because it has been endorsed by them?
(by the way, after only a few days, i stopped watching local teevee. even nora's drama series became tiresome after a while what with those talentless and ordinary looking young stars trying to steal the show from the superstar! it also killed eugene domingo's character right away. oh well, she was not given much to do anyway. hayyy.)
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with so much money on its hands, teevee five could have developed really great shows that could change the face of television.
it could have re-invented the idiot box with a bomb!
instead of paying millions to pirate stars from other networks, teevee five could have nurtured its own by discovering new talents, train them and launch them to full stardom.
instead, what they have done so far is to introduce talentless ones who are so ordinary looking, i am wondering why they become movie stars. i don't want to name names, but that annoying girl with long hair comes to mind. she is soo trying hard to be a host, singer and actress. ekkk!
what happened to the likes of gloria romero, susan roces, hilda koronel, rio locsin, dina bonnevie, cherrie gil, snooky serna, aiko melendez -- they don't only look like goddesses on the silver screen, they can also act.
sadly, the same thing could not be said about teevee five's new "recruits."
even their drama series that will supposedly change the look of local soaps simply followed the same old, proven formulas. it's glamorosa is nothing but a soap opera of the old where the poor, suffering bida will get her revenge in the end. where two "beautiful" women are fighting over the same man. ano va?! so 80s. even 60s! parang komiks lang. there is nothing glamourous at all in this show. even the clothes worn by its lead stars are horrible.

lorna and alice looked a bit old to be headlining these soaps. especially alice -- she can't act and her voice is sooo annoying. i was thinking the likes of kristine hermosa and even kc concepcion will be better suited for these roles.
i know manny has a vision. i just hope it includes giving the poor filipinos something new to look forward to when they turn on their teevees after a long day at work.
please manny, please.