‘I Dare You’ not daring enough
When I watched the plugs for ABS-CBN's "I Dare You," I expected the Kapamilya talents to shed blood, sweat and tears in accomplishing their challenges. (Well, maybe shedding blood was asking too much.) I watched the episode hosted by Iya Villania, Melai Cantiveros and Jericho Rosales with Gab Valenciano and Alessandra De Rossi as guests. It fell short of my expectations.
The intro centered around Jericho's life before he became a big star. He tried many backbreaking jobs such as working at a wet market and as a barker for jeepneys. So the episode opened at the Nepa Q Mart where Echo reminisced about his days selling fish at four in the morning. Then Gab and Alex came in wearing masks with Gary V's son carrying Melai in a mermaid costume. Not really an effective way to start a show.
Hiding the identity of the two guests did not add to the show's entertainment value. Echo had an easy time guessing their identities. Just one side comment, Gab came in T-shirt really dressed for hard work while Echo wore an outfit that was better suited for office work. Alex looked pleasing to the eyes even with little or no makeup.
First task
Anyway, their first task was to haul blocks of ice that they would trim down and place in several batyas with 20 kilos of tilapia. Before they did that, however, they had to locate the ice tongs by looking for three persons wearing an orange headband, an orange towel and an orange brief. Guess who was assigned to the underwear? Alex, of course and it took her a while to locate it. Of course, the guys had their pants on so she had to search really hard, asking guys to bend over. Gab and Echo had an easier time so they had already started working on their blocks of ice with ice picks before Alex was able to join them.
Earlier, I commented that shedding blood was asking too much. Well, Gab and Alex did shed a few drops though not enough to rush them to the ER. They were hurt handling the ice cubes. They then loaded their fish packed with ice onto an "I Dare You" jeepney. The show made a big thing of Echo driving the common man's vehicle just because he used to do this many years ago.
Then it was Gab's turn. What makes driving a jeep daring? Is it because Gab said he hadn't driven a jeep before and it was difficult task "kasi mabigat ang manibela"?
During the ride, they tried to make supposedly witty conversation with Alex asking Echo if jeepney drivers make great lovers while Gab pointed to Melai as the host who is a ghost. The show needs a good scriptwriter. Melai, who will soon be seen in "The Adventures of Pureza, Queen of the Riles," should improve at adlibbing.
Donation
In the meantime, Iya had driven ahead to the home of Arwin Bautista, who had to stop studying because his family could not afford to send him to school. His father didn't earn enough as a jeepney driver so he had to work at the "palengke" selling meat. Iya revealed that her three celebrity guests had to sell P10,000 worth of fish at the Concepcion, Marikina wet market.
Their earnings would be donated to the Bautista family. The episode ended there as, just like in "The Biggest Loser," viewers must wait for the next day to see what happens next.
The concept has possibilities but the guys behind the show should think of more "daring" and original assignments for celebrities to experience. There have been similar shows in the competing channels so "I Dare You" does not really break new ground. I dare the show's producers to live up to the title of the show in the succeeding episodes.
Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.
