‘Bubble Gang’ to End Soon?
Bubble Gang first aired on GMA-7 on October 20, 1995 as a counterpart to the ABC 5’s gag show Tropang Trumpo. It occupied the Friday night timeslot of the defunct musical variety show “Vilma!”. Two of its first cast members, Ogie Alcasid and Michael V. came from that show. GMA then hired two talents from the late Douglas Quijano, Wendell Ramos and Antonio Aquitania, in addition to Ogie and Michael. During its first year, it was shown around 7:00 in the evening and carried a slogan “Bubble Gang: Just chew it!”
The show gained popularity when it introduced a segment called Myusik Tagalog Bersyon (MTB) and Music English Version (MEV) in 1996. In later months of 1998, Bubble Gang came up with an idea to spoof a religious program, Ang Dating Daan into “Ang Dating Doon.” They originally intended to quote the Bible, but because of religious sensitivities, they just decided to quote English fairy tales and Tagalog nursery rhymes and make fun of it.
Other sketches from the gag show that became popular are “Yaya and Angelina”, “Moymoy Palaboy”, and countless spoofs of popular newscasts, koreanovelas, talk shows, and celebrities.
The ladies of Bubble Gang include Ara Mina, Rufa Mae Quinto, Francine Prieto, Diana Zubiri, Maureen Larazabal among others. And did you know that the Multimedia star Toni Gonzaga has been part of the Kapuso gag show from 1998 to 2004?
As of January 7, Bubble Gang has aired a total of 838 episodes in a period that spans a decade and a half.
Last weekend, the news that Bubble Gang is nearing its end has somehow leaked. Or perhaps it’s just a rumor.
If ever there’s really a plan to halt this multi-awarded comedy program, I hope the Kapuso management consider changing its timeslot first before doing so. Or perhaps a reformation is in the offing or a new gag show is about to be born?
Uro dela Cruz, the director of Bubble Gang, denied the rumor saying that the longest-running gag show will not be taken off the air.
In a telephone conversation with PEP, the director said: “Hindi mawawala ang Bubble Gang. Marami pa kaming celebration na pinaplano.”