Look, Mom, nice show!

Fast becoming one of my favorite shows is the daily (5:30 to 6:30 p.m.) QTV 11 talk show Moms, which features topics that are of interest not only to moms, but also to dads, big brothers, little sisters, uncles, aunts and everyone else at home.

But I liked their discussion best last Friday because it was all about nostalgia. (I’ve always had this thing about going back to the past.)

That episode was actually used as a promotional tool to launch the entry of Ms. Celia Rodriguez into the QTV sitcom. Ang Ganda ng Lola Ko and to welcome her, Moms also invited original mainstays Gloria Sevilla, Bella Flores and Baby O’Brien – and what a fun show that turned out to be.

When asked to talk about beautiful memories of the past, Celia summed it all up in one sentence: "With the four of us here as guests, we need three days to talk about everything."

Of course, they didn’t have three days for that, but they were able to cover a lot nevertheless in that one hour and most interesting was the enumeration of the dos and don’ts of their respective studios.

A big no-no was showing up in public not dressed up like movie stars. And then they were not supposed to go to places where movie stars are not supposed to be seen (unlike now when everyone on TV and in the movies is in the mall).

Celia recalls an incident when her mother studio, Premiere Productions, reprimanded her because she was spotted in this barbecue place along Roxas Blvd. I remember – although quite vaguely – this barbecue row by the seawall because that was there for a really long time and I still caught the tail end of its glory days.

I was two or three years old when the father of a playmate brought all of us neighborhood kids there (I don’t know how we were able to fit into his car because there were so many of us) and that was where I had my first taste of barbecue – which I didn’t even finish because I was a small child. But I remember relishing the soda I washed the barbecue down with – Uva (by Canada Dry), basically grape juice with fizz.

No, Celia wasn’t there when I went to that barbecue place. But I saw her a few years later when I went with my parents to Hyatt one time and we were with her in the same elevator. I had just seen Vilma Santos’ Darna movie on TV then and I remember getting a bit scared standing next to Celia in that enclosed space because she played Valentina in the film. Also, she looked so intimidating because she was tall and was in all black. Little did I know that many years later, we’d end up friends.

I also remember seeing Baby O’Brien back then at the lobby of Hotel Enrico (off Taft Ave.), which had a revolving restaurant on top. I was in the grades then and we were supposed to pick up an older brother who was attending his junior-senior prom in the hotel and who do we see, but Baby O’Brien, who was a regular fixture on TV then because she was doing two shows for ABS-CBN: On With the Show and Mission: Patok.

Today, Ms. O’Brien still looks refreshing – with her face almost creaseless. She was also the most accurate with her facts (maybe because she is the youngest in that batch).

When the topic was about awards, for example, Celia, Bella and Gloria seemed to have missed out on some of the recognitions they received in the past. Ms. Rodriguez, for instance, forgot about the Metro Manila Filmfest Best Supporting Actress trophy she received for playing an aging prostitute who continues her trade while in prison in the Nora Aunor movie Bulaklak ng City Jail. That was supposed to have been memorable to her because it served as a going-away present since she migrated to the US shortly after accepting that award.

When it was Baby O’Brien’s turn to talk about her awards, she was candid enough to admit that she received none. Unfortunately for her, when she was at the peak of her career – doing Dance-O-Rama and, later, The Baby O’Brien Show – there were no award-giving bodies for television.

When the CAT Awards was established, she was doing Mission: Patok and how do you win an award for an action-comedy series like that?

But Ms. O’Brien was the best during her time. She delivered her spiels with fluidity, looked very wholesome and was very comfortable before the camera.

Celia, Bella and Gloria, of course, also had their own accomplishments. Celia is multi-awarded and Bella is an institution, especially when it comes to playing villain roles. And Gloria Sevilla? She wasn’t only the Queen of Visayan movies, but also very successful in Tagalog pictures and is still active in the industry to this day.

That Moms episode with all four respected members of the entertainment profession was a real winner – and so is the show itself. The questions thrown in to the guests are all intelligent and sensible. The show actually chose very good hosts. Lani Mercado is the seasoned one. Although she isn’t old, she had been around long enough to be able to relate to stories of the past (obviously, she also has a photographic memory and this serves her well in the program).

Manilyn Reynes knows how to listen and knows when to shut up to give her guests the chance to speak. And this is the reason why guests are still able to express themselves and tell everything they want to say in the show even if there are three hosts in the program.

With Sherilyn Reyes, I was surprised with her maturity as host. When Gloria Sevilla at one point last Friday said something like – "kahit Bisaya lang ako" – Ms. Reyes’ quick retort was: "What’s wrong with being Visayan?" I don’t know if she is really Visayan or just playing Visayan in her sitcom Bahay Mo Ba ‘To? But her comment was very mature and she is always correct and proper with everything she says in each episode of Moms.

To the hosts and staff of Moms, congratulations to that episode (and to your other episodes as well). With each Moms edition, you can always say with conviction: "Look, ‘Ma, nice show!"