TV REVIEW: It's Showtime

Yesterday, February 6, was the premiere of It's Showtime, ABS-CBN's new noontime show. Did it live up to the hype?

The answer is, not yet.

It's Showtime is a reincarnation of Showtime, the Kapamilya channel's highly-popular talent show that previously aired before noontime. With It's Showtime, the old show seems to be leaving it's previous tag as a home for incredible talent so it could be a full-pledged noontime show.

It's Showtime's producers thought that to convert Showtime into a noontime show, they need to add new segments to lengthen the running time. So we saw these segments yesterday: Sine Mo 'To, The Singing V, Pitik Bulag, Arte Mo!, and Rock Clock.

The last segment, Classic Showtime, is the old format, condensed. Showtime is known to discover incredible talent, so it was surprising that the new show relegated its strongest segment at the end.

It is more surprising because the new segments weren't as strong as Classic Showtime for them to be the show's opening segments.

The first segment, Sine Mo 'To, was a live sketch that recalled Lunch-A-Funny-Tym. While hilarious and admirable for heightening audience participation, it should be shortened to avoid dragging.

The Singing V, meanwhile, was a mini spin-off of the previous show The Singing Bee. It took two of the show's gaps, although it was not exciting enough to warrant that length. The rules were also confusing, because they were not explained well before the game started.

Pitik Bulag also had confusing rules and too much length--seven minutes were spent introducing the contestants and the game mechanics before any game was played.

Arte Mo! and Rock Clock are It's Showtime's main prize-giving segments. With a little tweaking, these could be as big as the classics, like Laban o Bawi, or Pera o Bayong.

One good thing about It's Showtime's is that the chemistry of the hosts is still there. At times, the camaraderie between Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Vhong Navarro, Karylle, Billy Crawford, and Kuya Kim is enough to save the bad segments. The other hosts need improvement.

Yesterday's episode was It's Showtime's first one, so it is expected that it would hit snags. So how can it be improved? Here are some suggestions:

1. Make Classic Showtime the show's centerpiece, instead of relegating it to the end. Open the show with the introduction of all the acts for the day, then show a game in the next gap. In the following gap, show the first act's performance. Then another game, another act, etc. End the show with the announcement of the winner.

2. Cut the segments that do not work.

3. To avoid confusion of the rules, record a short VTR of these rules and show them before any game is played.

4. Let the other hosts, particularly the new ones, hold the mike. Do not overexpose the main hosts by giving them all the juicy segments.

5. Do not focus on the competition. The producers of It's Showtime should focus on giving the show its own identity first. The new format looks like it was made to go head-to-head with Eat Bulaga! The old format was better, so they should try to bring that back.

(Also published in PEP.ph)