Eat Bulaga!

Eat Bulaga!,^[1] also briefly aired as E.A.T.,^[2] is a Filipino variety show broadcast by TV5 and produced by TVJ Productions. It holds the record for being the longest-running variety show on Philippine television, with over 12,814 episodes since its premiere in July 30, 1979.

The show first aired on RPN-9 during its initial run. Ten years later it moved to ABS-CBN, and then on GMA Network in 1995 amid a dispute over ABS-CBN's attempt to acquire the rights to the series.

Eat Bulaga! was originally hosted by Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Chiqui Hollman and Richie D'Horsie; only the Sotto brothers and Joey de Leon remain from the original cast. Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, de Leon, Jimmy Santos, Jose Manalo, Allan K., Wally Bayola, Paolo Ballesteros, Pia Guanio, Pauleen Luna, Ryan Agoncillo, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, Baste Granfon, Luane Dy, Echo Calingal and Kayla Rivera currently serve as the hosts, termed in-series as "Dabarkads", which is a corruption of the Tagalog word "barkada" meaning a band of friends.

On May 31, 2023, the remaining original hosts, Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon, announced that they will be departing from TAPE, Inc. following an ongoing dispute between Tito, Vic and Joey and TAPE heads (pun not intended) Romeo Jalosjos and his son Bullet over what amounted to a hostile takeover of the show's production. Reruns of previous episodes were aired from May 31 to June 3, 2023 before returning to air with a new cast, of whom longtime Bulaga fans were not as receptive with. In July 1, 2023, the original cast moved to TV5 where they launched a new show simply known as E.A.T.; Tito, Vic and Joey maintained that they originally held the trademark rights to the Eat Bulaga brand, filing a new trademark application prior to TAPE's rights lapsing in June 14, 2023.

On December 6, 2023, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) ruled in favor of TVJ's camp over the ownership of the Eat Bulaga! brand, effectively legitimizing TVJ's claim over the Bulaga trademarks. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing from loyal fans of the show, with the Legit Dabarkads singing the original lyrics to the Eat Bulaga! theme song in celebration.

On January 2024, TAPE, Inc. renamed their iteration of Bulaga to Tahanang Pinakamasaya (transl. Happiest Home) per a court ruling ordering them to cease their use of the Bulaga trademarks; TVJ then reverted their show's name to Eat Bulaga, now stylised as EAT... BULAGA!. This also coincided with the show's return to RPN 9 via weekend simulcast after 37 years.^[3] Tahanang Pinakamasaya proved to be short-lived, as the show only lasted for 50 episodes before it was cancelled on March 2, 2024 due to low ratings.

Tropes used in Eat Bulaga! include:

All lowercase letters: The logo is sometimes rendered as eat bulaga!.
Audience Participation: As is typical with any noontime variety show in the Philippines, though this aspect has been suspended in the early 2020s due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christmas Episode: Bulaga runs special segments to coincide with the holidays.
End of an Age: The departure of TVJ marked an end of an era for Bulaga, especially considering how the TVJ had been on the show since 1979, only for them to quit after nearly half a century due to a corporate feud between them and their erstwhile bosses.
- Averted due to a decision made by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines in favour of TVJ over the Eat Bulaga! brand, effectively marking a return of TVJ to the old series after a short-lived exodus from Bulaga.
Fun with Acronyms: Television And Production Exponents Inc., also known as TAPE, Inc. This however became at least somewhat artifactual when videotape became obsolete in favour of digital recordings.
Genre Shift: During their Lenten specials where the show shifts to being an inspirational if not faith-based Soap Opera.
Kayfabe: The AlDub segments — a spinoff of the "Problem Solving" segment involving a Kayfabe relationship between Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza — went to the point that any interviews with Mendoza had to be conducted in written form or with someone else speaking on her behalf until in September 2015 when Mendoza, then known in-character as Yaya Dub, met Alden in person for the first time.
Long Runners: Barring network changes from RPN, ABS-CBN and finally on GMA, the show has been on air since July 30, 1979.
The Moral Substitute: As a Take That to It's Showtime, Bulaga‍'‍s hosts would brag about how they don't overly rely on insult comedy unlike Showtime regular Vice Ganda, whose comedy club roots attracted controversy. Not that Bulaga is free of any raunchy or questionable content though.
Portmanteau Couple Name: AlDub, standing for Alden Richards and Yaya Dub, also known by her real name Maine Mendoza.
Product Placement: Segments from the show are often if not always sponsored by the likes of Ajinomoto, Coca-Cola or some other company of note. One recurring sponsor was Mila's Lechon, a restaurant in the Philippines whose commercials often show up during episodes.
Wholesome Crossdresser: Jose, Wally and Paolo, in character as the Lolas during the "Kalyeserye" segments. In addition, Paolo himself has also made a career out of it outside of Bulaga for his makeup transformations and drag performances.
You Are Fat: Ruby Rodriguez in particular, though in fairness she does take the jokes in stride, and also to an extent with Ryzza Mae Dizon.

The following tropes apply to the E.A.T. incarnation of Bulaga:

Artificial Intelligence: In line with the AI boom of the 2020s, E.A.T. introduces artificial intelligence-based co-hosts as part of the cast, whose appearances were humorously deepfaked from some of the hosts.
Audience Participation: As is typical with variety game shows in the country.
Funny Foreigner: Tugue Zombie, a Nigerian expatriate content creator who previously gained viral popularity as a Tagalog-speaking vlogger.
Fun with Acronyms: "E.A.T." apparently stands for several meanings, including "Eto Ang Tunay," "Eto Ang True," "Eto Ang Title" and "Everyday, Always Together!" as Tito Vic and Joey continued with their legal efforts to reclaim the Eat Bulaga! trademarks.
Insistent Terminology: The show's cast (and their loyal fans dating back from the Bulaga days) assert that TVJ and their posse are the real deal, dismissing the new Bulaga cast as mere usurpers.
Product Placement: Most if not all of TVJ's previous sponsors transitioned to the new show.
Start My Own: The main impetus behind E.A.T. after TVJ grew resentful over how TAPE, Inc. handled the show.
Suicide as Comedy: Particularly that controversial joke Joey de Leon made about the things commonly worn around the neck, which was construed by many as alluding to suicide by hanging. While fans of the show insist it was taken way out of context, de Leon's history of cracking edgy, controversial jokes makes this excuse moot point.
Writing Around Trademarks: Besides the above-mentioned placeholder title, the show still uses the original Bulaga theme tune, replacing "Eat Bulaga!" with "E—A—T!" for legal reasons. The game show segments were also altered somewhat from their original Bulaga concepts, also for legal reasons.
Wrong Name Outburst: The Legit Dabarkads, particularly TVJ, have been so iconic as the original cast of Bulaga that a number of contestants on the *other* Bulaga would mistakenly thank "Tito, Vic and Joey" for their prize despite the original trio being no longer part of the cast.

↑ The name is a play on the playground expression "It! Bulaga!", "bulaga" meaning peekaboo. Roughly translated into English, Eat Bulaga! would mean Lunchtime Surprise!
↑ Pending a trademark dispute between TVJ Productions and TAPE, Inc. which eventually concluded in favour of TVJ Productions, resulting in the Bulaga brand being given back to the latter.
↑ RPN 9 aired as CNN Philippines--a local franchise of CNN--from 2014 to 2024, though as it stands, their weekend airing of Bulaga as well as select games from the Philippine Basketball Association might bring up some questions about Network Decay considering CNN being supposedly a news channel; this would become less of an issue when it was announced that CNN Philippines is winding down its operations due to low ratings. By February 1 of that year, RPN relaunched as RPTV, a joint venture between TV5 owner MediaQuest and RPN's part-owner Nine Media Corporation.

[1] The name is a play on the playground expression "It! Bulaga!", "bulaga" meaning peekaboo. Roughly translated into English, Eat Bulaga! would mean Lunchtime Surprise!

[2] Pending a trademark dispute between TVJ Productions and TAPE, Inc. which eventually concluded in favour of TVJ Productions, resulting in the Bulaga brand being given back to the latter.

[3] RPN 9 aired as CNN Philippines--a local franchise of CNN--from 2014 to 2024, though as it stands, their weekend airing of Bulaga as well as select games from the Philippine Basketball Association might bring up some questions about Network Decay considering CNN being supposedly a news channel; this would become less of an issue when it was announced that CNN Philippines is winding down its operations due to low ratings. By February 1 of that year, RPN relaunched as RPTV, a joint venture between TV5 owner MediaQuest and RPN's part-owner Nine Media Corporation.

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