Wow Mali

Wow Mali
Format	Reality show, comedy, pranks
Created by	Associated Broadcasting Company
Starring	Joey de Leon
Country of origin	Philippines
Production
Running time	45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Associated Broadcasting Company (TV5)
Picture format	480i SDTV
Original run	1996 - 2006 (ABC 5) Feb. 22, 2009 - Sept. 1, 2010 (2nd incarnation) April 11, 2011 – present (3rd incarnation)

Wow Mali is the longest-running, multi-awarded and top-rated gag show in the Philippines aired over TV5 hosted by Joey De Leon. The show was discontinued on May 2007 but some episodes still aired on Wow Mali Bites and Wow Mali Express.

On February 22, 2009, Wow Mali returned to TV5. Following the network's second reformat after Holy Week, Wow Mali was set to return on April 6, 2009, airing every Wednesday at 7:30 PM. The show was again discontinued on September 1, 2010 and was replaced by a spin-off show, Wow Meganon which lasted until April 8, 2011. Wow Mali returned on April 11, 2011.

History

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 Videos 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.

Gaining 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.

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 Bolanos took over as director and brought Joey de Leon out of the studio to the 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.

Wow Maling Mali

After almost a decade, ABC reformatted Wow Mali and retitled it Wow Maling Mali which premiered on April 23, 2005. In July, 2006, Wow Maling Mali morphed into Teka Mona!, but was discontinued on May 19, 2007.

As Wow Mali Bytes

In May 2007, Wow Mali came back with a new brand, Wow Mali Bytes. It still featured skits and spoofs and gags, but with explicit humor and with no host at all.

As Wow Mali Express

In late 2007, ABC brought back the Wow Mali with its new title, Wow Mali Express.

Wow Mali spin-offs

After the reformat of ABC5 to TV5, Lokomoko was created which shared the same concept as Wow Mali but focused with school gags. It was hosted by Cathy Gonzaga, Randolf Stamatelaky and Kim Gantioqui. When TV5 was reformatted on April 2010, Lokomoko morphed into being a gag show similar to Bubble Gang and Tropang Trumpo.

Another comedy gag show in TV5 was Ogags hosted by two Brazilan ladies Daiana Menezes and Ariana Barouk. Ogags ended with the return of Wow Mali.

Return of Wow Mali

The show returned on February 22, 2009 on TV5 with Joey de Leon again as host. De Leon hosts the show from a studio similar to virtual reality studio. It aired on Sundays at 6:30 PM. The show became a separate show from Lokomoko, following the renaming of show to Lokomoko High.

Changes have been made to the second season of the show. It became live every Sunday nights. De Leon interacted with several people in a studio with a barangay plaza as backdrop. Sexy comedienne Alyssa Alano joined him as co-host and had her own segment. Other homegrown TV5 talents like the Baikingu Girls (from the Tuesday primetime show Baikingu) and the Smurfets (from the Wednesday primetime show Ogags) were also seen in the show as well. Richie d' Horsie was added to the cast as Joey's second sidekick.

Mahiwagang Tunog

Mahiwagang Tunog (Filipino for Mysterious Sound) was a game show incorporated in the new incarnation of Wow Mali. A video clip of someone doing a mundane task was taken, but the video itself was removed, letting the viewers hear only the sound. The host then provided a sentence with the verbs of the sentence blanked out. Through a telephone call, the home viewer attempted to guess what is that particular person doing using only the sound he heard. The winner was awarded a cash prize from an ever growing jackpot.

As Wow Meganon?!

On September 6, 2010, Wow Mali became Wow Meganon. De Leon remains as the main host, together with Jeff "Mr. Fu" Espiritu, Calamity Fun, Wanlu, Miko Petito, Maui Manalo & Jeffrey Tam as the new co-hosts of the show. It was similar to Wow Maling Mali, but it also featured new segments like street magic and a puppet show.

Revival

Wow Meganon ended its run on April 8, 2011, to make way for the revival of Wow Mali.

Awards

• Winner, 1st MTRCB Television Awards for Best Comedy Show (2009)
• Winner, KBP Golden Dove Awards for the Best Gag Show (1997, 2005 & 2009).
• Nominated, PMPC Star Awards for TV's Best Gag Show (1996–2006)
• Nominated, Catholic Mass Media Awards Best Comedy Show (1996–2006)

See also

• Wow Mali Express
• The Return of Wow Mali