IF memory serves, it started years ago with ?extreme? physical skills and endurance portions on a couple of game-variety shows on TV. They featured people who could chew glass, bite into coconut husks, pull cars using their teeth or hair?generally just pushing their bodies to the limit.
Sometime later, programs like ?Talentadong Pinoy? gave unique ?performers? an official showcase and venue for their extreme displays of skills or endurance, and viewers had their fill of jugglers, acrobats, magicians, human pincushions and even weirder ?kulang sa pansin? masochists and exhibitionists.
Crowded field
Less extreme showcases also proliferated abroad, with tilts like ?America?s Got Talent? making singing stars out of utter unknowns. Aside from singers, ?America?s Got Talent? winners include a ventriloquist and a young dance group, but vocal performers dominate that particular talent tilt, which will soon launch its local version on Philippine TV.
When it opens, the local production?s staffers may be surprised to see that it?s getting into an already crowded field. Quite a number of local shows now have a talent-tilt orientation: Michael V has his own ?extreme? talent-discovery tilt (GMA 7?s ?Showwwtime?), other programs have launched their own ?talent? portions, and ABS-CBN?s ?Showtime? focuses on musical performances by large groups of performers on a daily basis. So much talent going around!
Unfortunately, the current popularity of talent searches on TV has compromised and subverted the meaning of ?talent? itself. The word used to mean creative performing ability, but it?s now been diluted to mean any kind of public performance, with a dismaying preference for the ?extreme? sort.
Fact is, many so-called ?talents? really do little to rationalize their 15 seconds of ?fame? in front of the TV cameras beyond their bizarre displays of physical weirdness.
As for many of the ?singers? and ?dancers? who compete for prizes on the tube, their problem is that they merely go through the motions, aping other people?s performing styles and adding not a single iota of their own creativity?as all performers are supposed to do.
Enthusiastic numbers
On a less snitty note, we should report that some of the groups on ?Showtime? do come up with enthusiastic ensemble numbers, even if their concepts are borrowed from a host of ?inspirations.?
But, we must remind everyone that real talent should mean that you have a unique ability and creativity that you need to share with other people. Most of all, ?talent? certainly doesn?t mean trying yourself into a human pincushion or lying down on a bed of nails or broken glass.
Aside from being uncreative, that can also become really dangerous, especially if performed by amateurs or children. It definitely isn?t enough for shows to warn viewers to ?Please don?t do this at home.? Potentially dangerous stunts should not be performed on TV in the first place!
One of the most unique game shows in the tube is ?I Survived a Japanese Game Show.? The decidedly tongue-in-cheek program is a laugh riot because its contestants are Americans, and they?re subjected to a series of outrageous and humiliating tests that sometimes reduce them to dazed and babbling ghosts of their formerly self-confident selves.
Role reversal
The show?s Japanese viewers think it?s a hoot because for the first time, Americans are on the receiving end of the humiliating jabs and jibes. It?s a sweet reversal of roles as far as some Asian viewers are concerned, so the show is a hit in the region.
What about in the United States? The program is available in English translation, so it must have some American viewers. Those who aren?t good sports prepared to laugh at themselves must think the game show is a really weird kettle of fish. Why would anybody want to humiliate them with such relish? Uh, where do we begin?
The last time we caught the show, the American contestants were dressed and made up to look like mice, pigs and other snorty and sniffy creatures. The tasks they were given included catching cartons of milk, scrambling blindfolded for prizes, and other silly antics that required them to make court jesters and downright fools of themselves.
So, why did they put up with the monumental indignity? Because they were amply compensated for it by the show?s terrific prizes. Their Japanese tormentors could do their worst and the American contenders still came out ahead (or so they thought!).
Another game and physical challenge show that?s about to start its run soon is the Asian version of ?The Biggest Loser.? The reality challenge?s original version became popular because it plugged directly into the big ?battle of the bulge? that many Americans are currently waging on a daily basis.
Battle of the bulge
?The Biggest Loser? requires its really hefty contestants to compete for top prizes by losing the most weight within a given time period. The losses have been truly spectacular, with the tilt?s winning contestants losing so much weight and girth that even their relatives and friends don?t recognize them.
Why come up with an Asian version? Because the ?fat crisis? has hit our region as well, as the hundreds of grossly overweight auditionees the new show has attracted clearly attest.
The hope is that the challenge will encourage overweight viewers here to get off their butts, stop being couch potatoes and kamotes, and go on their own diet and exercise regimens so they can live longer, healthier, better lives.
