STRANGEBREW

As in all unforgettable things, this show swooped upon the Pinoy subconscious abruptly, magnificently and massively---employing antics so authentic and so familiar it felt like Strangebrew had been on air for decades. In fact, the batty medley of Tado and Erning and the assortment of curious folk they were chucked together with in the most surreal of moments had been lasted only a couple of seasons before UNTv ---at that time the only edgy outfit on TV---folded in to become a full-time prayer channel. But it was enough to permeate a generation of restless kids, numbed by the sordidness of primetime, and give them the unlikeliest lot of heroes.

There was Tado, with his long, stringy hair, black-framed glasses, most of the time incomprehensible yet nonchalant English, chatting up any which man, woman, child and beast on the street, in the talyer, or above the tombstone without the unnecessary complications of a script, nor a plot development; Angel, who regularly broke out in sweet-sounding monologues of Chabakano, perpetually clad in her yellow top and army-green beret, shuttling Tado around in a red Volkswagen and exclaiming the show’s inarguably most memorable catchphrase, “Tama!” in the most opportune and inopportune moments; and, true to the show’s formulaic loopiness, a regular cast of  effortlessly hilarious extras which includes now master-rapper Ramon Bautista and jack-of-all trades, Jun Sabayton.