MANILA, Philippines - The long-running US game show ?Wheel of Fortune? now has a Pinoy TV version on ABS-CBN, with Kris Aquino hosting.

Kris has just come from another game show, ?Game Ka Na Ba?,? so we thought she would take a momentary breather from the same format. But, with only minor changes in her look and hosting style, she?s back in harness and giving ?Wheel? a spin.

The new game show has had a promising start, and that?s all to the good. We?ve caught it a number of times, and while it offers few surprises to viewers who?re familiar with the original US ?mother? program, the Pinoy version is fetchingly brisk.

The ?it? factor

The main ?it? factor at this stage appears to be the program?s choice of celebrity players. Some are turn-ons with their natural charm and witty remarks, while others are turn-offs with their heavy-handed ?porma? ways and swarmy attempts at ?humor.?

We hope the show?s talent coordinator will develop the knack for picking genuinely fun and upbeat players to enliven the program.

Incidentally, a similar ?wheel-oriented? local game show used to be telecast here decades ago: ?Spin-A-Win,? hosted by Jeanne Young, ran for many years and made its young host popular.

After some more years, however, Jeanne opted to live abroad and dropped out of the local entertainment scene. After another long interval, she returned to the Philippines?only this time, she focused more on spiritual endeavors.

We urged Jeanne to give ?Spin-A-Win? another go, because viewers still had good memories of it, but it didn?t happen. Then, she decided to go to the States to be with her mother (early Filipino movie queen Mila del Sol) and sister, and to work with the Eternal Word Catholic Network (EWTN).

We tried to dissuade her, because our mantra to media workers is ?the work is here,? but Jeanne was bent on pursuing her EWTN dream.

For a time there, however, she appeared to have a hard time getting ahead in the Catholic TV organization. One time, she was given a solo showcase on one of the network?s musical programs, but after that, nothing much appeared to be happening.

Then, just last month we caught the closing credits of an EWTN program, and there the credit was for all to see: Jeanne Young, Producer.

Hey, Jeanne has really done it! Kudos to her and other dreamers who won?t give up until the wheels of faith, fate and fortune have spun a win their way!

Viewing treats on HBO

Viewers who complain that there aren?t many good movies around would do well to catch these films on HBO:

Today at 11 a.m., ?The Postman Always Rings Twice?: Classic movie about a seedy drifter who has an affair with the wife of a diner owner. They then plot to kill the woman?s husband. With Jessica Lange, Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston.

Tomorrow at 1 a.m., ?Shakespeare in Love.?