Eat Bulaga!

***Eat Bulaga!*** (often abbreviated to ***EB***) is a noontime variety show produced by TVJ Productions and currently airing on TV5, and was formerly produced by TAPE Inc. and aired on GMA Network.

The current iteration of *Eat Bulaga!* that is now known as *Tahanang Pinakamasaya!* began on June 5, 2023, following the resignation of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, and other mainstays known as the "Dabarkads" from TAPE Inc. on May 31, 2023. It was hosted by Alexa Miro, Betong Sumaya, Buboy Villar, Cassy Legaspi, Mavy Legaspi, Paolo Contis, Kimpoy Feliciano, Dasuri Choi, Glaiza de Castro, Kokoy de Santos, Michael Sager, Winwyn Marquez, Yasser Marta, Chariz Solomon and Isko Moreno.

On December 4, 2023, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) released its decision granting the petition of De Leon and the Sotto brothers to cancel TAPE Inc.'s trademark registration of *Eat Bulaga!*. The IPOPHL decision held that De Leon and the Sotto brothers proved that they were the original owners of the name and thus have the absolute and exclusive right to its registration. TAPE Inc. continued to use the name anyway, with host Paolo Contis expressing defiance and insisting that the IPOPHL decision had not attained finality.

In a decision dated December 22, 2023 by the Marikina City Regional Trial Court Branch 273, Judge Romeo Dizon Tagra directed the defendants, TAPE Inc., to pay P2 million in temperate damages, P500,000 in exemplary damages, and P500,000 in attorney’s fees to plaintiffs Tito and Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon (TVJ) and their creative partner, Jenny Ferre, for committing unfair competition and copyright infringement. Tagra issued a permanent injunction against TAPE Inc. and GMA Network, prohibiting the use of *Eat Bulaga!*’s trademarks, including logos, songs, promos, and all episodes recorded before May 31, for its current programming. The decision implied that TAPE's use of *Eat Bulaga!* upon resuming original production was illegal, and that it produced what was seen by many as a very new variety show different from *Eat Bulaga!* itself. On January 5, 2024, the decision was served upon the lawyers of De Leon and the Sotto brothers and was first announced to the public. A day later, TAPE Inc. followed the subsequent court decision and decided to change the name of their noontime show to *Tahanang Pinakamasaya!*.

On the same day, their rival TV5 variety show of TVJ Productions dropped its placeholder title, *E.A.T.* and began to use *Eat Bulaga!* for the first time in almost seven months.

## History

### 1979-2023: TVJ years

The show originally premiered on July 30, 1979 on RPN, with Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Chiqui Hollman and Richie D'Horsie as its original hosts.

In 1989, the show moved to ABS-CBN, and later to GMA in 1995.

Through the years, the show had a growing number of co-hosts (known as Dabarkads), like Coney Reyes, Aiza Seguerra (later Ice Seguerra), Jose Manalo, Allan K., Toni Rose Gayda, Wally Bayola, Paolo Ballesteros, Toni Gonzaga, Francis Magalona, Michael V., Pia Guanio, Pauleen Luna, Julia Clarete, Ryan Agoncillo, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, Maja Salvador, and Carren Eistrup.

On May 31, 2023, Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon announced their departure from TAPE Inc. On the same day, the other mainstays—Paolo Ballesteros, Jose Manalo, Maine Mendoza, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Wally Bayola, Ryan Agoncillo, Allan K and Carren Eistrup—as well as other crew members, resigned from the show, as revealed in an Instagram story by host Pauleen Luna few days later. The mainstays, now known as the "Legit Dabarkads", began hosting a new variety show entitled *E.A.T.* since July 1 after signing a deal with TV5.

### 2023-2024: Revamped *Eat Bulaga!*

On June 5, 2023, the revamped *Eat Bulaga!* began with Paolo Contis, Buboy Villar, Betong Sumaya, Cassy Legaspi, Mavy Legaspi and Alexa Miro as the hosts. In the same month, Kimpoy Feliciano, Dasuri Choi and Isko Moreno also joined the show.

On July 29, 2023, *Eat Bulaga!* celebrated its 44th anniversary, and in the same day, launched its new theme song.

## Segments

As of January 5, 2024:

* Kaya Mo Yan!
* G sa Gedli
* Dancing Duo, Double Double!
* Quick Response, Quick Reward
* EB Happy
	+ Pinaka EB Happy: The Bulaga Cup Edition

## Reception and criticism

### Ratings

Since its return with new hosts, the revamped *Eat Bulaga!*'s ratings started to decline, failing to it's rival *It's Showtime* (which later moved from TV5 to GMA's sister channel GTV). But in the next weeks, its ratings increase, to which Paolo Contis and Isko Moreno are thankful for. On July 1, 2023, a new variety show of TVJ and the Dabarkads called *E.A.T.* (a spiritual successor to the original *Eat Bulaga!*) premiered on TV5. On July 19, 2023, the revamped *Eat Bulaga!* surpassed *E.A.T.* in its ratings, but failed again to both *It's Showtime* (and it's temporary replacement show *It's Your Lucky Day* from October 14 to 27) and *E.A.T.* in the next days and months. In November 2023, *Eat Bulaga!* outperformed its main competitors in terms of ratings due to a viral skit where Paolo Contis kissed Arra San Agustin on her forehead, before being overtaken again by it's competitors.

### "Fake Bulaga"

Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon were heavily linked to *Eat Bulaga!* for over four decades; as a result, the show was dubbed as "Fake Bulaga" by netizens after it underwent a revamp. Critics argue that the show lacks originality and that it replicates its old concept, including the recently portrayed skit characters of their new hosts, Buboy Villar and Betong Sumaya, similar to Kalyeserye, and their rebranding of the Pinoy Henyo segment to Word of the Rings.

### Social media

After TVJ's departure from TAPE Inc., all of *Eat Bulaga!*'s social media pages were inactive. The last videos initially uploaded by the *Eat Bulaga!*'s YouTube channel under TVJ were those of Althea Ruedas in Hong Kong Disneyland after winning Little Miss Diva. In August 2023, TAPE Inc. created their own YouTube channel, which was taken down shortly after. However, the following month, they re-accessed the inactive "Eat Bulaga!" YouTube channel, while TVJ's camp plans to file legal action against TAPE for forced acquisition of the original channel, which generates cybercrime.