More than a habit, Eat Bulaga is almost synonymous to “breathing” not only for millions of viewers throughout the years, but for the people behind the show, on and off the camera. Last Saturday, July 30, the country’s longest-running noontime program on television turned 37, celebrating close to four decades of serving happiness to viewers all over the world.
“Is it 37 years already?” asks Joey de Leon, a third of the trio of faces associated with the program. The two others are Senator Tito Sotto and his brother Vic, collectively known as Tito, Vic, & Joey or TVJ. “It makes me proud, really proud. Hindi lahat ng television shows umaabot ng 37 years ha, at daily pa!,” remarked Joey, who also happens to have the bragging rights to coining the title Eat Bulaga.
When Eat Bulaga aired first on July 30, 1979, TVJ did not expect to be in it for the long haul. After all, they were in it for the exposure and the income. The former was easy. It was the latter that literally took time to materialize. Months worth of salaries for the hosts were delayed because its producer then, Production Specialists, Inc., was in the red.
“When we started, my main goal was to earn money and save for a car. I never really imagined we’ll go this far,” shared Vic. “It’s true that we weren’t paid on time for months but fortunately we had Iskul Bukol na then. The first time we were to receive our salary, the money was left in a taxi.”
More than the exposure, it was the bond created within the Eat Bulaga circle that made it possible for them to stick it out through the years.
“We were like a family already. Our producer was like a brother to us,” said Vic referring to Antonio Tuviera, T.A.P.E., Inc. president and CEO. “We enjoy each other’s company, dabarkads eh, it’s the true meaning of dabarkads na one family kayo, na hindi mo napapansin ang trabaho while you’re at it.”
From a small group of five hosts when it was launched, Eat Bulaga grew to become a large family of 18 whose members see each other for six days a week with one goal: to put a smile on the faces of its viewers.
“We respond to the changes in the people’s tastes,” said Creative Head Jenny Ferre, the brains behind the phenomenal segment Kalyeserye. “We cater not just to the entertainment needs of the viewers but generally to the need to make them happy, make them complete.”
If there is a formula to it, Tuviera credits Eat Bulaga’s decades of supremacy to their endless pursuit to be relevant to keep up with the ever-changing taste of the viewers. The trick of the trade: transforming the old into something new.
“We always try to be relevant to our audience,” said Tuviera. Every time we try to do innovations, it’s not really something original, but if we have an old idea, which is very familiar to the audience, we sort of sugarcoat it in a different way then add some trimmings. Akala mo parang bago pero it’s something na medyo at the back of their minds, Parang kilala ko ‘to, pero parang mas masaya na siya ngayon, parang bago.”
It may well be the secret to the program’s seamless crossover to the age of new media. One might think that the emergence of digital technology might mean bad news to mainstream media, including television what with most TV programs already available for online download or are being taken over by webcasts. In Eat Bulaga’s case, it’s good news. Social media made it possible for the program to widen its reach, making it possible to move out of its boundaries “mula Batanes hanggang Jolo” to the far corners of the world.
The record-breaking 41M tweets on AlDub, the accidental love team of heartthrob Alden Richards and dubsmash queen Maine Mendoza, for its “Tamang Panahon” special attests to this.
“Who could’ve imagined a certain accident can fill up the largest indoor arena in the world?,” asked Alden Richards, himself overwhelmed with the viewers’ reception of Eat Bulaga.
To accommodate more live audiences, the show will be moving to its new studio in a 3,000-square-meter property in Cainta by the end of the year. Treating its loyal viewers like VIPs is the show’s way of giving back to those who have made it a part of their daily lives.
“While the others are entertainment shows disguising themselves as public service programs, Eat Bulaga is the opposite: it is—and has been—a public service program disguising itself as an entertainment show,” he said. “Everything that we do, every new segment we introduce is always created in the light of public service.”
Whether for entertainment or public service, it is clear that Eat Bulaga has perfected the longevity formula and has strummed just the right strings in the heart of every Filipino viewer; causing more laughters than the “isang libo’t isang tuwa” it had originally promised its avid fans from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi, and to the rest of the world.