Jason Francisco’s Awkward Blooper on Showtime

Image captured from video on Iwantv.

Those of you who watch the ABS-CBN noontime variety show “It’s Showtime” probably enjoy the “Ansabe” segment as much as I do. For the benefit of those who do not get to watch the show, the segment is a game that goes like this.

Two participants compete against each other in a sound-proofed room lip-reading as many Tagalog words as they can within two minutes that, of all people, the Korean host Ryan Bang is tasked to pronounce.

I have tried muting the television set during the game; and believe me it is not easy. Ryan Bang is hard enough to understand when there is sound; and this, I suppose, is what makes the segment hilarious.

Yesterday, Jason Francisco and Keanna Reeves were the two contestants. Francisco guessed the first three words in 40 seconds: “masipag,” “gasolina” and “tinidor.” Part of the segment’s appeal is that sometimes, the simple words are what get the contestants stumped.

This was exactly what happened. The fourth word was “bundok.” Simple enough on the face of it; but given Ryan Bang’s Korean phonetics, the word was what caused Fransisco’s blooper.

His guesses were:

“Bobo ka!”

“Puso! Puso!”

“Boso!”

If the word “boso” seemed a tad inappropriate for national television, the epic fail followed soon after that.

“Betlog!”

This was when one might have expected Vice Ganda or Vhong Navarro, both masters of sarcastic humour, to have ad-libbed something really scathing off-camera. Yet the two held their tongues in check.

Given the number of times that the show had run afoul of the MTRCB, my guess is that they and the rest of the hosts and staff were cringing about the prospect of getting yet another summons from the regulatory board.

Predictably, Francisco himself apologised for his blooper at the end of the segment. “Sobra pala nakaka-excite dito Ryan, may nasabi yatâ akong ano... Medyo ano... Sorry pô sa mga nanunuod ha... MTRCB I love you...”

Personally, I think the slip was really innocuous; and it is not as though youngsters do not hear the word at home. Given that Francisco is one of the local entertainment scene’s less sophisticated personalities, it is really quite easy to laugh the blooper away.

The truth is, a simple briefing of all contestants prior to going on-camera would have done the trick.

Of course, the blooper was quickly forgotten in the following segment “Advice Ganda,” when Vice Ganda wiped off his make-up and took away his hair extensions on-camera in an unusually emotional segment.

This immediately trended in social media, relegating Francisco’s earlier slip into the realms of forgottenness.

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