‘Bawal Lumabas’: Butt of jokes now a TV series
Kim Chiu’s may have the last laugh as her novelty song “Bawal Lumabas” — an offshoot of her publicly derided comments on the shutdown of her home studio ABS-CBN — is morphing into a TV series starting December.
It is one of the shows that the Kapamilya network is producing, along with the return of Pinoy Big Brother (PBB), the show that discovered her in 2006.
Evolving brand
The phrase “bawal lumabas” was part of Kim’s statements on a Facebook Live session last 8 May, in which she tearfully commented on the issue of ABS-CBN’s losing its franchise to operate. The statements, which seemed incoherent, became the butt of jokes, which trolls exploited, and ended up as hilarious memes. But the much maligned “classroom analogy” turned into a brand.
It evolved into a song with a music video (MV), featuring samples of the infamous statements.
Then it transformed further into the Bawal Lumabas merchandise line, with proceeds going to COVID-19 relief efforts. Now Dreamscape Entertainment, one of the production units of ABS-CBN, is making a TV series inspired by the song.
Its teaser said that life is like one big classroom where every mistake is a lesson learned.
The announcement of the series was made on Twitter on 14 October with a screenshot of the cast that includes JC de Vera and SethDrea or the love team of Seth Fedelin and Andrea Brillantes.
PBB’s back
PBB, the reality series that premiered in 2005, was the launching pad of some of today’s TV and film stars including Kim. She was named winner of its teen edition in 2006.
The 2020 PBB edition has been tweaked to adapt to the new normal arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 18 October, Big Brother announced on ASAP Natin ’To that the PBB is returning to TV and will now be called PBB Connect. The auditions, which are open to aspiring housemates aged 16 to 35, were held digitally, through the Kumu app where hopefuls publish a one-minute video introducing themselves, with their name, age, residence, and the hashtag #PBBKumuAudition in its description. PBB will also broascast on Kumu, an online community platform where people can watch shows, play games, among other activities.
The auditions, which started on 19 October, drew over 4,000 hopefuls.