cascading soaps

she was such a breath of fresh air, the young lady who sat next to me at the atrium. who unlike one of her friends doesn’t subscribe to philippine tv at all. i mean, there’s nothing wrong or low brow in downloading wowowee in our computers or hooking up with TFC, or squeal with chirpy delight upon the sight of zanjoe marudo in a telenovela. i mean if it weren’t for the wowowee regulars, i wouldn’t be able to join the fun in spotting my colleague recto wave his banner on the show a year ago. but someone who does not require daily doses of ann curtis or sam milby to light up the screen, is rare in my circle.

i was an ysabella drone two years ago and now i wonder what the crap happened to habang may buhay? is the soap too unpolished to be aired? are there more important stars? are there evil forces at hand? if not for judy ann santos, i don’t bother with anything on philippine television. i just don’t have the time.

in the meantime, george and cecil would suffice in the interim. the weekly program is more like an analytical thesis about the joys and pitfalls of marriage rather than the situational comedy of yore. the subjects vary each episode, aside from the constant battles with the in-laws, the plot has tackled issues pertaining to money, jobs, pregnancy and fertility, sibling rivalries, jealousies and the likes since it first aired this june. i thoroughly enjoyed the candy pangilinan episode, she was so hilarious in the role of the quasi-maid. this is middle class pinoy life at its best, the forte of director joey reyes, who also writes the script. judy ann and ryan need not flex their acting muscles, the scenes come off naturally. definitely i’m biased.

but if you ask the dyosa fan  and tfc subscriber who i bump into on the way home, she mutters the condescending  "haay naku, hindi sila bagay" (they don’t look good together). it has something to do with judy ann not being mestiza and her transformation into a beautiful siren is all down to her flawless endorsement. being far away from the motherland doesn’t automatically alter filipinos pervading prejudices a tiny bit.