MANILA, Philippines?Aside from originating their own productions, our major networks have been coming up with Filipino versions of hit US TV challenges, like ?Survivor? and ?Fear Factor.? We?ve watched both ?localized? shows and noted interesting similarities to, and departures from, the American originals.

To start with the similarities, the homegrown ?Survivor? subjects its contestants to some harrowing challenges that test physical and psychological endurance limits in no uncertain terms. But, instructively enough, the Filipino survivors? ?back stories? are given more TV time than those of their American counterparts.

Thus, we get to know the Filipino contestants much more than the US show?s contestants. This is a canny move that shows that the homegrown production is aware of the fact that the Filipinos tend to view life in a more personal and subjective way than Westerners do.

We are more aware of hidden agendas, incipient rivalries and cliques, who?s too cocky and who?s the underdog, and we respond to these perceptions in emotional terms.

Thus, the Filipino version of ?Survivor? featured mainly young and telegenic contestants, but it also included a few mature players. Initially, they looked like sure losers and non-survivors, but the contrast they provided brought into play potent factors like Filipinos? respect for ?older? people, the wisdom of the elderly, etc.

In fact, a ?senior? contestant survived all the way to the challenge?s finals? and therein lies an instructive tale of astute psychology, Pinoy-style.

(Parenthetically, the latest US version of ?Survivor? has come up with a ?surprise? winner who?s also in his 50s, but that?s another story.)

Filipino versions? penchant for devoting more program time to back stories and other personal and emotional factors is similarly evident in the homegrown version of ?Fear Factor.?

What makes this second TV challenge unique is its even more obvious preference for gutsy, young, vibrant, assertive and ?sexy? contestants.

More curves and muscles, less clothes to wear?that seems to be the operative visual protocol here, resulting in visually dynamic challenges plus a hefty dose of ?reality melodrama? thrown in for good measure.

Now that ?Survivor? and ?Fear Factor? have been ?Filipinized,? can viewers look forward to seeing other US TV programs or formats being given the Pinoy treatment? ?American Idol? and ?Project Runway? have similarly been localized, but we?re looking forward to also watching homegrown versions of ?The View,? ?Oprah,? ?Hard Talk? and?dare we wish it???Jeopardy?!

Hollywood king and queen

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are now being touted by some show biz observers as the new ?king? and ?queen? of Hollywood. Since the US movie capital has many stars as big as Brad and Angelina, the couple?s ?crowning? is controversial, to say the least.

But, royal is as royal does: Aside from being the toast of the tabloids, Pitt and Jolie have of late emerged as gifted thespians, with Oscar buzz over their latest portrayals?he in ?The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,? and she in ?Changeling.?

In addition, they?re Hollywood?s top humanitarians: Her important advocacies for malnourished and abused children have generated a lot of headlines and donations; he?s building homes for flood victims.

Best of all, they help others without calling attention to themselves, except when their celebrity status can be used to throw a spotlight on festering problems all over the world.

The new king and queen of Hollywood? Sounds fair enough?and they look so darned good, too. Some people have all the pluck!

?Bedtime Stories?

Adam Sandler?s latest starrer, ?Bedtime Stories,? casts him as Skeeter, a hotel handyman whose life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true.

?Rise of the Lycans?

A centuries-long blood feud erupts between two powerful and immortal tribes in the new fantasy thriller, ?Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.? The third film in the ?Underworld? saga goes back in time to depict the origins of the conflict between the aristocratic vampires, knows as the Death Dealers, and the barbaric Lycans, a line of fierce werewolves. Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy and Steven Mackintosh reprise their roles as vampire overloads and Lycan rebels, with Rhona Mitra joining the cast as the tempestuous vampire warrior, Sonja.