The problem with hour-long sitcoms
Local writers of situation comedies start off with a handicap. Ideally, sitcoms should only run for 30 minutes. Anything longer than that will drag, as proven by most sitcoms I've viewed since the 1980s. The only exceptions I can recall right now are many hour-long episodes of "Tang Ta Rang Tang," "John en Marsha" and "Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata." Credit goes to the writers, Beer Flores, Ading Fernando and Joey Reyes as well as comedians Pugo, Bentot, Dolphy, Noel Trinidad and Tessie Tomas. Even with these talented people, some episodes became boring because they ran for more than 30 minutes.
Unfortunately, local sitcoms have to run for at least an hour so there's enough room for commercials. With a half-hour episode, the networks cannot sell enough spots to recoup their production cost. In the US, where most if not all sitcoms run for half an hour, the networks don't mind losing money on the shows' initial run because they are counting on the income or residuals from the reruns. A show like "Seinfeld" for instance ran for nine seasons on NBC and continues to air on cable and regional TV stations after its last episode in 1998. That's why Jerry Seinfeld is one of the richest performers on US television. Local talents do not get paid for reruns of their shows.
'Toda Max'
Although length is a major factor, it is not the only reason why ABS-CBN's "Toda Max" does not make me laugh. Despite the fact that Loida Viriña, sister of Beer Flores, is credited as creative consultant, along with veteran writers Divino Reyes and Woodrow Serafin, "Toda Max" lacks the comedic punch I enjoyed in "Tang Ta Rang Tang." Contributing writers Raymund Barcelon, Natividad de Leon and Christopher Viriña (any relation to Loida?) did not come up with a single humorous line in the episode I watched last Saturday.
All sitcoms start out with a premise. It's the complications that arise from the premise that provide funny moments. The idea behind "Toda Max" is simple enough. Robin Padilla is Bartolome or Tol, a widower, who leaves the province with his children, Sandy (Aaliyah Belisario) and Ronald (Izzy Canillo) to stay with his cousin, Justin, played by Vhong Navarro, in Manila. Robin finds work as tricycle driver (the reason for the Toda in the title, which stands for Tricycle Operators and Operators Association). Pokwang plays Lady G, Justin's landlady who has a crush on Tol.
In last Saturday's episode, the story gets going when Sandy gets her first period. She gets embarrassed in class when there's spotting on her skirt. Her teacher, played by guest star Bb. Pilipinas Tourism Isabella Manjon, helps Sandy cope with this new development by promising to visit her at home everyday. Meanwhile, Lady G's nephew, Jonas (Paul Salas) is ordered to stay in her house despite his objections. But he softens up when he discovers Sandy is his neighbor.
Complications, punch lines
So what complications and punch lines do the writers come up with? Robin develops a crush on Isabel and utters lines like "Hindi ako babae ngunit tagahanga ako ng magagandang Eba tulad mo." When Robin tells Vhong, "Ang ina ang ilaw ng tahanan," Vhong responds with "Ang ama naman ang tagapundi ng ilaw."
When a character complains "Nakaka-tatlong case ng beer na tayo, etong ka-table ko (referring to Jonas's yaya, played by Cacai Bautista), di pa rin gumaganda." Those are the show's funniest lines and they registered very low on my laugh meter.
Robin can do comedy as proven by his movie, "La Visa Loca" but he has to have the right material. He cannot just mouth lines like "Cristy, ang apelyido mo ba ay kamay na bulak?" as he flirts with Sandy's teacher. This sitcom needs more complications for the actor to shine. Since Binoe (Robin) is better known as an action star, the network fielded Pokwang and Vhong to provide the laughs. This did not happen as Vhong did nothing but pine for his girlfriend abroad and Pokwang was not even in the episode. Isabela didn't have to be funny so she provided the sex appeal for male viewers. The Sandy-Jonas attraction is meant to provide kilig moments for young viewers, but there were no such scenes last Saturday.
Maybe the writing staff should review old tapes, if they are still available, of "Tang Ta Rang Tang" and "John en Marsha" and get inspiration from Beer and Ading.
Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.
