After doing my regular weekly grocery, the marathon showing of Brothers & Sisters Season 3 featured in Channel 23 gave me a reason to stay indoor the whole day of Black Saturday.

Spending Black Saturday is supposed to be quiet  and serene as usually observed by my family.  It is a tradition that we always observe.  Thanks to Lola Teray (Nengkoy’s mom) who when was still alive would caution and admonish us not to be noisy and require us to talk at a very low sound starting at 3:00 PM of Good Friday until the whole day of Black Saturday because “patay ang Dyos” (the Lord is dead).  She would only allow us to laugh and speak loudly when Easter comes.

But watching the marathon run of Brothers & Sisters Season 3 made me a delinquent iniquitous “apo” (grandson) of Lola Teray.  The show made me laugh hard and loud because of the antics that Nora Walker and her crazy children would do in the awesome tv series.  I have been a huge fan of the series because the witty and graceful grown-up story-telling is simply alluring. 

The story and the characters are faced with issues that resonates with real people and there is something in it for everyone that you can easily relate to.  It is light-hearted!  What I love most are the enjoyable mishaps of the characters that remind me of my own family… sort of.  Arguments can be high-minded or insanely petty that will surely make a viewer burst into laughter.

Kung buhay si Lola Teray, nabatukan na ko ng bonggang bongga!

Aside from playing in the street, watching TV is one major past time of my dear childhood days in Pasay.  TV sets then were without remote control and cable channels were basically non-existent.  If you wish to switch channels, you would have to have the hassle of standing up from the comforts of the sofa to reach for the TV’s dial.

Being the lazy kid that I am. I hated it when I am ordered to stand-up to reach for the dial to switch channels.  There would be times when I and my siblings would point to each other on who’s turn it is to be the “human-remote-control” who would stand-up to  switch the channel so as to view a different TV program.

Maybe due to our inherent laziness and unconsciously would not want to disrupt the social order in Nengkoy’s house, we came up with an ingenious game during commercial gaps.  When we were as tough as a Teletubby, we would race and compete on who is the fastest in identifying the name or brand of product being advertised on TV.  The fastest person who could shout and identify the commercial earns a point.

Through this, we do not only look forwards to the actual TV show, but we also look forward to the commercials being featured in between, thus, preventing us the task of switching channels.  I also now realize that this game prevented our TV set from wear and tear.

The game is even more exciting especially when a new TV commercial is freshly released and being shown during our game.  No matter how awful the commercial is, everybody is stuck on the TV screen eating our fingernails trying to uncover what is the product’s brand being advertised.  The most fun part is that everybody would shout with psychotic loudness the name of the new commercial as soon as the brand is revealed.

Ayan na! Patalastas na!

Tayong Dalawa is one top-rating TV drama series that metastasized in the psyche of Pinoy society.  Even I and the other executives in our office have been bitten by the Tayong Dalawa bug.  We would sometimes oddly discuss on updates about Ingrid, Marlene, Mamita and Lola Gets.

I don’t like the mega complicated story, the plot with cosmic absurdity and the ridiculous line thrown by the characters to each other.  However, the supporting casts’ acting abilities are no doubt a winner.

One major revelation in this TV show is the actor Coco Martin who played the character of Ramon.  His character is so richly presented.  He is like a true human being whose character presents the virtuous and the evil.  But what is so ironic about the character of Ramon is that even in the midst of his wicked misdemeanors people still adore him.

Coco Martin is one lucky thespian since the range of his character is well presented in the show.  Ramon is a villain with a heart.  It is so paradoxical that viewers still revere Ramon after all the dreadful things he has done in the story.  People cry with him when he is sad and gloomy but gets angry with him when he goes frenzy with his persecutorial vendettas.  Viewers get emotionally disappointed when he does something bad.  Everybody prays that he be good and hopes he could pull-out his soul from infernal cavity.

Or maybe, the mildly famous yet oustanding talent of Coco Martin shines because the greenhorn mainstars in the show (Gerald, Kim and Jake) are so lame in acting.

Bilang bahid ng aking kabaduyan, aking dinedeklarang si Ramon ang lalaking ‘bidang kontra bida’….

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I stumbled upon the website of my favorite American TV series Brothers & Sisters.  I took the personality quiz available in the site to figure out what traits do I possess that is closest among all the characters in the show.  I believe I do possess a little of everyone’s personality in the show  but the result revealed that I am a Kevin of a personality.  According to the quiz, if you’re a Kevin…

“You’re wise, logical and willing to help out everyone who needs you… and yet you still manage to put your needs ahead of everyone else’s.  Boy, that takes skill!  Ever wonder why your former relationships don’t last more than a month or two?  Family and friends understand that you need to stake out your own territory in an ever-growing family of 300, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need support.  Hopefully you have found what you’re looking for.”

Swak na swak.

I admit, for the past few nights during my free time I spent a considerable amount of time with the Walker family.  They are the California-based family with lots of riotous revelations, funny humiliations and insane confrontations.  The Walkers are the primary family featured in the American TV series entitled “Brothers & Sisters”.

The show is not like any of the common family drama.  The ensemble of cast, the writers, the directors and producers of the show were able to present what a typical family is like.  I totally got myself addicted and frantically gasping until I finished watching the whole first season.

The program showed the Walkers’ lives challenges dealing with romance, friendship, parenting, brotherhood, vocation, infidelity, addiction, war and even death. They pushed each other to the limit but continue to work toward living their lives as individuals, while loving each other unconditionally and  trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

I loved the character and traits of Nora Walker (played by Sally Field) because she reminds me of Nengkoy (my mom).  Like Nengkoy, Nora Walker talks a lot and worries a lot.  She gave the voice to those things unspoken in a family.  She dealt with the daily agony that a typical devoted mother would face trying to protect and look after her family may it sometimes be irrational, silly and unfounded.

On the other hand, I find bits and pieces of my personal attributes to the characters of the five adult siblings (Sarah, Kitty, Tommy, Kevin and Justin) along with the other kin members.  Their multi-generational family connections are totally distinct and remarkable yet a very caring tribe.

I can’t wait to see what’s ahead with this family…

The idea of putting together a tribe according to ethnicity is a very interesting concept for the 13th season of Survivor (now in Cook Islands).  I have watched the first two episodes and I am simply lovin’ it!  The show made me feel awestruck since I have more reason now to cheer fiercely most especially for the Asian contenders.

Puka Tribe is the Asian group composed of two Filipino-Americans (Jenny Guzon-Bae and Brad Virata), two Korean-Americans (Becky Lee & Yul Kwon), and one Vietnamese guy (Cao Boi).

But of course my favorites are Jenny and Brad.  These two American born Pinoys make me feel so proud.  If these two charming Pinoys only lived in the Philippines, I’m sure one of them will end up being the winner of the show while the other is the runner-up.

The first two episodes made me stomp, shout and clapped crazy cheering for the Puka Tribe.  True enough, in the first two challenges for tribe’s immunity Puka Tribe placed first.  It’s an early lead for the Asians kicking the big and smelly asscracks of the Hispanics, African-Americans and Caucasians.

For sure there would be some negative reactions in the US about the show’s racial format.  But no matter what, it’s going to be a big exposure for the Asians since previous seasons of the show would only have African-Americans and Caucasians as contestants.