The Philippine Online Chronicles

Anyone who missed out on That’s Entertainment in the late 80s to early 90s didn’t just miss any TV show. They missed the one institution that established the creation artistas as we know them now. When I use this term “artista”, I do so with all its Pinoy connotations. This isn’t about being an “artist” in the Western sense, nor is it simply about being a celebrity on TV or an actor in films. It’s about doing everything.

Of the artista, we demand singing and dancing, acting and modeling, and doing everything in between. In third world Pinas, artistas can sell everything else extraneous to their talents, or well, they become talented in selling absolutely everything! From clothes to cosmetics, notebooks to hair salons, as well as togetherness and unity, and yes, love.

The lights, on the lady in tights

Or the bride with the guy on the side

Or the ball where she gives him her all!

These lines from the song “That’s Entertainment” signaled the beginning of this one-hour, daily afternoon variety show, as conceptualized by showbiz institution German “Kuya Germs” Moreno. Kuya Germs, isn’t really known as an actor or singer or any of these things an artista was required to be. In That’s Entertainment though, he found identity: Welcome, the Star Discoverer!

That’s, as it came to be called,became the show where "artista-wannabes" or "artistas-in-the-awkward-stage" would find reason for being, as a few seemed to just be passing through. Lea Salonga was already a Repertory Philippines talent before she even joined the show, and disappeared after a year. Francis Magalona was already known as a rapper even before That’s, though he was without an album at that point. Billy Joe Crawford was but a young boy, in the midst of teenagers, but he could dance like anything and just might be the first Fil-Am to invade Philippine television. He was also allowed to have boyhood crush on teenager Manilyn Reynes, and so that was entertaining.

Like Francis, many other That’s members were children of actors and actresses, such as Lotlot de Leon and Ramon Christopher Guttierez, Dranreb Belleza and Jonjon Hernandez. The extreme version of this familial celebrity-hood would be the Cruz family: at a certain point, cousins Sheryl, Sunshine, Donna and Geneva were just four of the more famous Cruzes divided across each day of the week.

Which was the way these artistas were divided in That’s. To each his own day of the week, to each his own love team, no individuals allowed. Here, Kuya Germs made an industry out of love, to the growth and enjoyment of a fan base. And you know Kuya Germs. What the fans want, the fans get.

The plot can be hot, simply teeming with sex,

A gay divorcee who is after her ex,

It can be Oedipus Res, where a chap kills his father,

And causes a lot of bother!

There were no killings on That’s, but it was not without controversy. All it took were love teams intertwining with reality, and well, the opportunity (?), and there you have it! Teenage pregnancy!  This was one thing Kuya Germs couldn’t live down: the fact that as he sold love on nationwide television, via teaming up these young artistas, he could in fact be held liable for the irresponsible sex. This was difficult as well, to forget, just because too many teenagers were watching the show, and too many of the That’s stars were getting pregnant out of wedlock (off the top of my head: Jean Garcia and Jigo Garcia, no they are not related), and really, pregnancy should’ve been out of context here.

What just might have killed off That’s Entertainment though was a found, possibly dire, need to earn more. Not for Kuya Germs, but for these young upstarts. As the sex trip movies (ST movies) of the early 90s gained fame, so did this become an option for that young girl willing to take off her clothes and kiss a leading man, and wanting to make easy money. And so the young unknowns of That’s, became known ST stars: Rufa Mae Quinto and Abby Viduya. Even talented girls like Jessa Zaragoza were just willing to take their clothes off. The end was obviously near.

The clerk who is thrown out of work by the boss,

Who is thrown for a loss by a skirt who is doing him dirt,

The world is a stage, the stage is a world of entertainment!

And at a certain point, what became most entertaining about That’s Entertainment were most probably the things Kuya Germs didn’t even think entertaining. The fact that the better performers weren’t becoming any more famous because they weren’t conventionally good looking: Smokey Manaloto, Jojo Abellana, Ricky Rivero, Jennifer Mendoza, Shirley Fuentes, Michelle Villanueva. The fact that less and less of the love teams were getting a fanbase: who knows of Nikkie Martel and Tina Godinez? Manolet Ripol and Marilyn Villamayor? And too, these names: Ellie Rose Apple, Aubrey Rose, Misty Blue.

My last memory of That’s Entertainment is seeing rocker Maegan Aguilar as member of the show. She was made to join by her father, folk legend Freddie Aguilar, so that she could gain some social skills. Instead, Maegan refused to participate in any of Kuya Germs’ singing-dancing-acting-modeling challenges, and stayed mostly put on one corner of the That’s stage, once even going up the rafters and refusing to go down.

Now that, was entertaining.

Photo via http://www.igma.tv

"That's Entertainment" song written by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz.