15

May

TELEVISION: Camera Café Philippines – Where have all the good local sitcoms gone?

Don’t you ever miss those nights when you open the television and you get your daily dose of laughter from watching local sitcoms?  I do.  I miss most Coco Trinidad and Tessie Tomas in Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata and The Gwapings (Jomari Yllana, Mark Anthony Fernandez and Eric Fructuoso) in Palibhasa Lalaki.  When you tune in to your local TV at nighttime, you’d probably catch a telenovela.  Makes me wonder if Pinoy viewers today prefer to purge misery, revenge and unrequited love than have a good laugh from a well-made sitcom.

Watching episodes of Camera Café  made me miss sitcoms of my childhood real bad.  Shows such as Home Along Da Riles, Buddy en Sol and Okay Ka Fairy Ko.  For those of you who are not familiar with Camera Café, it  is a very short sitcom (3 1/2 minutes each) set in an office where the characters converse in front of a coffee vending machine. It is franchised all over the world (just like PBB and Survivor) but it originated in France. It was directed by internationally-renowned Mark Meily and the script was spearheaded by award-winning playwrights Rody Vera and Liza Magtoto.

The Philippine version of Camera Café is a proof that a well-written sitcom can enjoy success in local TV.  We don’t need slapstick humor and dirty jokes to make viewers laugh. Watch some of these  hilarious episodes of Camera Café and see for yourself the brand of comedy that our local TV needs more of.  May the local TV bring back sitcoms, really good sitcoms in our weeknight TV viewing. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

373 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Television

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29

Mar

VIDEO: CNN’s Anderson Cooper – Laughter is Contagious

Laughter is contagious.  Especially if you watch a respected CNN anchor breaking into giggle while doing a live report.

In the Ridiculist segment of his show 360°, Anderson Cooper was reporting about French actor Gerard Depardieu urinating in the aisle of an airplane.  What made the report hilarious was not exactly because of Gerard Depardieu but in the way the report was written.  It was filled with puns – words with double meanings. Of course the puns were all connected to urinating.

Here are some of them:

  • Created his own little jetstream (Getting angry and water jetstream)
  • Oui Oui (French for Yes and Wee-wee)
  • Incontinent-al
  • Putting the P back in PR (Pee)
  • Cannot hold it anymore
  • Spill
  • They saw an actual thespian thes-peeing
  • Pampered (reference to brand of diaper)
  • Depends on it (reference to brand of adult diaper)
  • Pissing contest
  • Pee Off
  • After Gerard took a solo flight to Euro nation (urination)
  • Cleaning crew had to deal with the Golden Globe winning tinkle

 

And this is the pun that made Anderson Cooper lose it in laughing fit: (2:23)

  • They can thank their lucky stars it wasn’t Depar-two (No. 2)

 

And here’s more:

  • Discreetly peed in a bottle but it doesn’t hold water
  • Sooner it will be flushed from the memory
  • Just go with the flow

 

That’s a lot of Pee puns in a few minutes of reporting.  Here’s for your laughter therapy today:

 


421 days ago Short URL Comments

Laugh Therapy/Television

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