Paolo and Pia bring decency back to local TV

During these times when there is so much idiocy and stupidity on television – mostly courtesy of politicians and government officials we see in news and public affairs programs – it is such a relief that there is an intelligent quiz show like Digital LG Challenge.

Produced by LG Electronics Philippines, Digital LG Challenge has a precursor in the Digital LG Quiz, which used to air every Saturday morning on GMA 7. Starting tomorrow, however, the program – under its now official title Digital LG Challenge – will have a new format (with all new segments) and will be seen from 9 to 10 a.m., still on GMA 7.

Quizmaster Paolo Bediones stays on with the show, but will have a new partner in the person of Pia Guanio. (Paolo used to do the show with Regine Tolentino, remember?)

Digital LG Challenge couldn’t have gotten a better pair of hosts. Pia and Paolo are perfect for the show because Digital LG Challenge is an educational program that needs people with a good, clean image to run it.

Of course, I know Paolo Bediones personally. But when he first made an impact on television, I wasn’t here to witness it. I remember I was studying in the US that time and when I returned home he was the toast of Philippine television.

When I saw him hosting S-Files (then with Lyn Ching), I felt glad that at least, somebody was lending glamour to the movie talk show genre. And now that even Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez are also into it, Boy Abunda and I are feeling so guapo to be part of such company.

Actually, I envy Paolo a bit because he’s able to do a lot of other things on TV and has never allowed himself to be pigeonholed into just one box. Aside from S-Files and now Digital LG Challenge, he also does Extra Challenge (with Miriam Quiambao).

But I think he is really at his shining best in Digital LG (based on his previous performance as host of Digital LG Quiz). As quizmaster, he really looks authoritative.

He also does fairly well in S-Files – although to be a really effective showbiz-oriented talk show host and be able to get into the very bowels of the issue, you sometimes have to forget about sense of decency. And for Paolo Bediones, it will take a lot of effort for him to do that because he is a very decent person.

Sure, he posed nude for one glossy magazine. But does that already make him indecent? I didn’t get to see his pictorial, but according to those who saw it, he really didn’t show anything. (Hey, I didn’t say he didn’t have anything to show, okay?)

In person, Paolo is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. He never speaks ill of anybody – or anything at all. More importantly, I have yet to hear any horror story about him from the staff of any of his programs, which all the more lends credence to the impression that he is a really good person.

In the case of Pia Guanio, I still have to meet her in person. However, I’ve written about her before when I did a critique on her film review program with Ryan Agoncillo in Cinema One. (Is that show still on?) I remember calling her Ms. Smiling Eyes because, well, I have to say that she has the most appealing pair of smiling eyes on TV today.

One time, I also saw her in Vic Sotto’s Daddy-Di-Do-Du and I was impressed that she was also effective acting out comedic roles. And now, she is in Eat Bulaga and you must agree with me that she is a very welcome addition to this still No. 1 noontime show on television.

A top endorser of consumer products, my favorite among her TV commercials is Lucky Me Sotanghon because with her gulping down a bowl of this instant noodles, you really feel the urge to run to the nearest convenience store to buy, but what else? – Lucky Me Sotanghon.

I guess it’s her wholesome image that keeps her legion of fans growing by the day. With so much murk around us, it’s so refreshing to see an honest to-goodness and no-put on Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes on television.

She and Paolo Bediones are like an ice cream and apple pie combination (apple pie a la mode?). So sweet, so clean and, yes, Wholesome with a capital W.

Thank you, Pia and Paolo for bringing back decency and respectability to local TV.