Launched: May 1996
Discontinued: 19 May 2007
Choice cuts (WoW Mali Bytes and WoW Mali Express) airing up to the present.
The Philippines got its first taste of unpretentious, candidly-captured-for-TV Filipino humor on May 25, 1996 from reality-based comedy show WoW Mali, hosted by feted comedian Joey De Leon. Inspired by the America's Funniest Home Video concept, WoW Mali features a plethora of video footage featuring practical jokes, bloopers and wacky segments, as well as solicited but equally hilarious video clips from the viewers. The actual stars of the show are men on the street - individual Filipinos, caught by the candid camera in bizarre and funny situations.
Wow Mali Gains Currency
From its pilot episode, the innovative program's candid camera format increasingly gained popularity among viewers of all ages, even paving the way for countless WoW Mali clones that failed to topple the original show. Soon enough, WoW Mali became a household name, even adding a gem to colloquial lingo. "WOW Mali ," or "NA-WOW-MALI AKO" is now the common expression whenever one makes a mistake or becomes the victim of a prank or a ruse.
Awards
Within a year of its launch, award-giving bodies took notice of the show's unique and creative approach. WoW Mali won the KBP Golden Dove award for the best gag show in 1997. This plum made the show ABC's second comedic coup next to the pioneering runaway hit Tropang Trumpo (which actually ushered in the comeback of gag shows at that time).
For two years, the show was directed by Edgar "Bobot" Mortiz (a former teen matinee idol and part of the famous Going Bananas gang). Mortiz gave Joey de Leon a comic puppet co-host called Dennis Wrongman (as vivified by mime actor Totong Federez), another original touch. The taping of spiels and vignettes were usually held in the studio while candid shots, gag and tease segments were conducted on the streets by a daily roving crew, with the unsuspecting public as so-called "victims."
In August 1998, Ding Bolaņos took over as director and brought Joey de Leon out of the studio to the great outdoors. Hence, WoW Mali became a traveling show, capturing the Filipino brand of humor in different parts of the country, amid the colors and flavors of exotic places, exciting resorts and well-traveled tourist spots.
After almost a decade of original practical jokes, ABC took Wow Mali to the next level with a new look and name and added content: Wow Maling Mali premiered on April 23 2005, going beyond the usual pranks, it started to feature skits and spoofs and gags as well.
In July, 2006, Wow Maling Mali morphed into Teka Mona, still with Joey de Leon, this time playing Mona, a spoof of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Taking off from the institution that is Wow Mali, Teka Mona grew from the traditional candid-camera pranks to the gag format, reminiscent of early ABC breakthrough shows Tropang Trumpo and Ispup. Teka Mona was discontinued on May 19 2007.
In late 2007 to the present, WoW Mali choice cuts came back as Wow Mali Bytes and Wow Mali Express (everyday at 10:30 p.m. )
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