MANILA, Philippines?Celebrities? children often end up in show business, but only a few of them attain star status. The latest kid to make the transition from ?reflected glory? to his own spot in the spotlight?s glare is Jaden Smith.

After a good introducing role in his dad Will Smith?s 2006 starrer ?The Pursuit of Happyness,? Jaden is next slated to play the title role in a remake of ?The Karate Kid.?

Many more stars? children who have also turned performers in their own right can be found in Philippine show biz, where entire clans of actors proliferate.

Family affair

For instance, Janno Gibbs is the son of Ronaldo Valdez and the grandson of Gerry de Leon. And Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama have produced, not just one star, but at least two ? siblings Ruffa and Richard, with their other brothers starting to make ripples.

More: Christopher de Leon had stars for parents, and his and Nora Aunor?s natural and/or adoptive children have also ?gone show biz.? Then, there?s Vilma Santos and Edu Manzano and their son, Luis Manzano.

Plus: The Barrettos, the Padillas, Dolphy?s peripatetic progeny, Eddie Mesa and Rosemarie Gil?s stellar children and grandchildren.

In the Philippines, show biz is clearly a family affair!

From film to TV

After ?Sex and the City? and ?Get Smart,? what are the other hit TV shows that are headed for the movie screen?

If we had our druthers, we would like to see new movies made of ?MASH,? ?East Side, West Side,? ?The Golden Girls,? ?Hill Street Blues,? ?Moonlighting,? ?The Odd Couple,? ?St. Elsewhere,? ?The Twilight Zone,? ?The Streets of San Francisco? and ?Upstairs, Downstairs.?

Younger viewers may not recognize these titles, but that?s the point. New movies made of them would surprise younger viewers with their proven entertainment value and substance, and would strike them as fresh instead of rehashed or dated.

?MASH,? in particular, was a major eye-opener. It started as a movie, and its acerbic spoof of the Vietnam War became such a hit that it was spun off into a TV series, which was similarly loved by viewers.

But that was in the ?70s, and today?s viewers need a new ?MASH? movie to experience what their parents delighted in and thoughtfully mulled over decades ago.

?The Golden Girls? is another TV series that deserves a new film version. Its original senior actresses may no longer be active performers, but a well-cast new lineup of senior stars could still score with moviegoers today.

Ditto for ?The Twilight Zone,? an even earlier sensation on TV, which pioneered in telling mystifying stories that showed that things are almost never what they seem.

But, what about the other way around?

That?s the contrary way it?s going on local TV screens, where the trend is to go from big to small ? meaning, old movies are being turned into teleseryes.

Easier to sell

They?ve been all over the daytime and prime time schedule: ?Dyesebel,? ?Ligaw na Bulaklak,? ?Pieta,? ?Magdusa Ka,? ?Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan,? ?Babangon Ako?t Dudurugin Kita,? etc.

How and why has this contrary trend come to pass? Well, it makes selling the TV versions easier, since the original movie titles assure at least a measure of instant recall ? never mind if some of the TV plots are altered so much that they bear little similarity to the film stories they purport to retell.

It?s also unfortunate that, in jazzing up the original elements, the TV versions are often too melodramatic or gimmicky to be taken seriously ? even if their actors include some of the best thespians in the land.

Compromised

In local TV?s overly gimmicky universe, genuine talent is compromised by excessive emotionalizing, fantastic characters, ridiculous high-strung situations and implausible resolutions. But, in this cockeyed universe, everything is deemed A-OK ? as long as it sells and jacks up the ratings.

When will melodrama on the small screen regain a semblance of normalcy? When viewers shall have gotten tired of all that far-out fantasy and fakery, and insist that logic and realism hold sway once more.

We have the power, so let?s use it collectively and decisively to effect the reforms that the boob tube sorely needs.