TV programming formula: stupidity+humiliation+escapism-social awareness and knowledge =entertainment

When I was a child, my mom never allowed me and my siblings to watch TV. If we were to watch the boob tube, we did with one condition: NO SOUND. And of course, who will enjoy watching video with no audio element? As a result: we didn't want to watch TV anymore.

We were just contented watching only when my mom was watching. So if you ask me what TV programs I knew when I was a child, I can tell you the titles: HAWAII 50, MURDER SHE WROTE (mystery genre), V (a sci-fi series). I wasn't familiar with any Tagalog programs then. My mom's reason for keeping us away from the boob tube was that she said that Tagalog programs were so stupid. She didn't want us to get the kind of language, thinking, and values in the programs. Well, as children, how could we protest?

NOw that I already have my own kids, I found myself doing the same: not allowing my children to watch TV, especially in local channels. And my reason was the same as my mom's over 15 years ago.

What does this imply?

The quality of TV programs in our country has never been better -- since the time of Dolphy and Panchito (excuse me for name dropping). In fact, it's getting worse.

Everything I see on TV is a trash!

Game shows endlessly humiliate contestants. The best example is PUSH YOUR LUCK! Just for the sake of money, the network will pour anything they want on the contestant if he pushes the wrong button. What's worse, the contestant is still shouting with happiness: Whammy, whammy, bigyan mo ako ng pera! I'm sure the network is aware of what they are doing. I can see from the host's face that he (Paolo Bediones) is somehow "amazed" or "amused" with the way any liquid or jelly thing would be poured on the head of the contestants. Feeling ko, just loooking at Paolo Bediones' face, napapalunok pa siya kapag binubuhusan ang contestant. But what can he do? He's just doing his job. When I saw this game show, I told my husband, "I'm not gonna do that even if they give me a million pesos or even more." I'd rather work hard and not be used by greedy networks. You see, a lot of Filipinos are starving. Many have no jobs. Many can't afford to eat decently three times a day. And what are the nerworks doing? They take advantage of the poverty. The network even describe the show saying "Winning big bucks does not get any better or more fun than this, when GMA Network presents the most exhilarating game show to hit Philippine television: Whammy! Push Your Luck!" (http://www.igma.tv/shows/whammy) So they think it's fun. They better have to define the word FUN. And what does it take for a program to be more fun? More humiliation? More insult?

the boob tube insult does not stop there. On weekends, there are senseless showbiz news that capitalize on the lives of celebrities for money. On weekdays during noontime, there are different faces of game shows that imply that Filipinos are "ready to do as the network told them" just for the money. At night, Deal or NO Deal seems decent and okay. But the way they get contestants and the way they sensationalize the story of the chosen contestant is so insulting. I know someone who tried her luck (somebody else texted the game for her) going to ABS-CBN compound when she got a text message telling her that she was selected from among the many texters. She was instructed to go to the network compound and "try her luck in the show." Whe she went there, she discovered that there were thousands of them who had to wait in line for a series of interview. And what were the questions like? 1. Are you outgoing? 2. Do you consider yourself the life of a party? Knowing that person, of course she won't lie just to get a slot for the show. And because she said she isn't an outgoing type of person, she was immediately eliminated. Just as easy as that. The network didn't realize that the person came from outside Metro Manila just to be there. Two questions asked and she was out.

When I knew this incident, I couldn't help asking myself, "What's the point of inviting the texters to go there and be asked if they were outgoing or if they were the-life-of-a-party type? This is discrimination. So, an introvert is not eligible to play Deal of NO DEal? Ganun?

The network even make the viewers believe that it is easy to join:

How to be a studio player :
Text DEAL Name/Age/Gender/Address/Landline No. to 2331 for Globe and Sun Cellular subscribers or 231 for Smart Subscribers. (http://www.kdond.ph/tabid/61/Default.aspx)

They didn't say that the contestant-wannabe needs to be outgoing, the-life-of-a-party type, and is willing to undergo a series of interviews. It didn't say they will eat up one whole day of the viewer should they decide to go to the network compound when they get the text message from the network.

Even primetime dramatic shows are irritating. What values are they imparting and reinforcing? Major networks are afraid to educate the people. They just give the people entertainment-- the thing they claim the people ask for. All educational documentaries are aired at midnight, or sometimes at 1 a.m. when no one is watching except for the insomniac. I bet the insomniac are more educated and more updated on the realities and lessons from around the world because they get to watch Howie Severino's I-Witness episodes and other informative late-fringe shows.

Is this the kind of viewing public we have in the Philippines? The one who would rather push his luck or strike a deal with the banker or the one who would make his life shown in public as he is being controlled by the big brother? All these are done in the name of money.

Why can't the media balance their programming in terms of information, entertainment and education? How can they be so selfish, thinking only of profit and not of uplifting the taste, the morality and knowledge of the Filipinos? These days, local TV, I believe is just for people who don't want to face the reality. Local channels are the most terrible medium of communication there is.

This is why our TV set is just accumulating dust in the house day in and day out.

I'd rather see the dust on our TV set than to see local programs created by greedy network owners and workers with a "dusty" mind that thinks only of money and more money day in and day out.