Five years with Startalk

(Conclusion)

In the beginning, I really had no plans of staying long in Startalk since I didn’t think the show was going to last long either. It was turning four that time and the life span of most TV programs is usually only five years. (Startalk is now nine years old and hopefully will still go strong in spite of recent developments – you know what I mean.)

But since I lost in a bank run practically everything I earned after working five years and a half for ABS-CBN, I had to change my plan of returning to the US. Sure, I could work again in America, but I wanted to recover everything I lost fast, and stacking canned goods and driving a forklift (my previous jobs in the US) was not going to be the immediate solution to my financial problems.

Admittedly, showbiz is a quick way to earn money – if you get lucky and if you play your cards correctly. I was lucky in the sense that there was an offer from GMA 7 for me to do Startalk. However, I felt a strong resistance in the beginning from the show’s staff who – to this day – love Boy Abunda dearly. It is easy to understand this because Boy is a very good person. He is kind, patient and can get along famously with anybody.

And me? I came to Startalk with a reputation – a rather bad reputation. Flashback to 1992. When Cristy Fermin and I began doing Showbiz Lingo, I’d like to think that we were the perfect angels – obedient and did anything the staff told us to do (and that included bungee-jumping for an opening scene and me piloting a twin-engine plane).

But TV work can be very complicated. There are problems, problems and problems before, during and even after a telecast.

My problems began with the VTR interviews with celebrities that had to be taped a day or days prior to the actual telecast. Since Cristy’s schedule was a lot more hectic than mine (she was publisher and columnist of her fan magazine chain), most of the assignments fell on my lap – which wasn’t really a problem because I never said no to anything they told me to do (sometimes I would do my chores grudgingly, but I would still do them).

Showbiz Lingo, however, had the practice of rotating assignments among the staff members, which was very good training because that exposed everyone to the different aspects of production. (As proof of its effectiveness, Showbiz Lingo produced the best staff members in the whole of ABS-CBN and I’ve always been proud of that fact.)

Unfortunately, although this procedure may work well for the staff, the poor host will be at the losing end of this experiment.

Then as now, I always required whoever was the segment producer to bring during these VTR interviews a Pentel pen and sheets of bond paper on which I will write my questions.

The segment producer – in all fairness – would bring the requirements in the succeeding weeks. But then, after only a month or even less, there will be another change of assignment and a new segment producer would be assigned to me. I would then have to repeat the requirements until it becomes a vicious cycle – with me also turning vicious because I had to keep repeating myself and that’s the one thing I hate.

In many instances, I would get to the VTR interview and find out that my requirements were missing and I would make a fuss about it and the new segment producer would be clueless why I was freaking out over the absence of Pentel pen and bond paper. The new segment producer would just think that I was being difficult when in truth, those had been my requirements in the past three, four or five years. (Up to the time I left, that was still my frustration.)

In other words, the same mistake would be committed over and over again, but with different staff members. If it were a movie, we’d have the same scenario, different characters – but still the same villain (Me – who else?).

When I was doing Cristy Perminute, my Butch Review segment would be taped every Thursday night at 8 at the lobby of Robinsons Cinema. I would be there promptly at 8 or 8:15 at the latest. But the crew would often arrive at 10 p.m. or even later. I’m telling you, there was a time when Phillip Salvador and Kris Aquino (they were still together then) would see me waiting all by myself at the lobby and they would say hello to me before taking in the last full show and still pass by me on their way out – still waiting for the crew to arrive.

On some occasions, cinema management would already turn off the marquee lights and I would still be waiting for the Cristy Perminute staff. (This was before the age of cellphones and I would never get to find out what time the crew members were coming in or if they were coming at all.)

One time, I got tired waiting (it was close to midnight), I decided to just go home without doing the shoot. Of course, everyone still pointed to me as the villain.

When I joined Startalk, I was relieved to find out that the setup wasn’t as complicated compared to the system followed in Showbiz Lingo/Cristy Perminute. For the longest time, Reylie Manalo and Agnes Suriaga were assigned to me during VTR interviews (the two girls have since been promoted to executive producer and associate producer, respectively).

Since I kept working with the same people, we learned to accept each other’s quirks (mostly mine). For instance, Reylie and Agnes knew that I could never function without tuna sandwich and Gatorade (but that’s all I really ask for). And now, they’ve even become very good friends and confidantes. I also maintain excellent ties with the rest of the Startalk staff.

Actually, my relationship with the Showbiz Lingo staff wasn’t really all that horrible. After all, even after I had left ABS-CBN, I still continue to be baptismal sponsor of their kids.

Looking back, I don’t blame anybody or anything (not even the system) for my not so perfect working relationship with the Showbiz Lingo staff.

Maybe I should have been more patient, understanding and mature in dealing with production problems back then. (And I should have brought my own Pentel pen and bond paper.)

Today in Startalk, I still encounter little problems from time to time. But I’ve become more patient, understanding and mature in dealing with production problems. And I now realize that is the only way to survive in this complicated industry called television.

Last Saturday, May 29, while my two co-hosts were having catfights from opposite ends of the globe (Lolit Solis was in the US, while Rosanna Roces was in her home in Commonwealth Avenue), I was – ironically enough – marking my fifth anniversary in Startalk.

Admittedly, there are problems in the show now – oh big problems. But I know we will surpass all these – with patience, understanding and maturity.