The Show (television program)

The Show was a sketch-comedy series created by The Little People, a local comedy group from Manila. It was short-lived, as it aired for only 10 episodes on Television Three from December 24, 1977 to February 25, 1978.

The show gained notoriety for its satirical skits, absurdist humor, and its campy nature. It was described by critics at the time as 'eccentric' and 'weird'. The show gained a cult following years after it aired.

Overview
The Little People was a local comedy group in Manila, which primarily makes comedy skits for several programs during 1974-1977, notably one for the revival of a popular variety show, Life!. They would also occasionally perform at local comedy clubs around Metro Manila.

Frieda Romano, co-founder of said group decided that they should make their own television show. Since they have worked for Television Three before, they all agreed to pitch their concept there. In September 1976, they filmed and produced a 10-minute pilot inside their home.

The concept for The Show and pilot was pitched to the Television Three executives by Frieda Romano, one of the members of comedy group The Little People, in October 1976. However, the executives were divided about the idea, telling her that they will think about it soon. Three months later, Romano got received a mail from the executives, telling her they accepted the idea.

Filming began in January 1977, with the help of the TBC production crew. The Little People decided it would be better if it had 10 episodes, otherwise the show would get boring when it has more seasons. Most of the skits were filmed in Wren Goldman's house. They mostly used one camera for the entirety of filming. Production for the show was finished in November that year.

On December 24, 1977, the show's first episode was premiered, named "Hello World". The show's final episode named, "Goodbye World" aired on February 25, 1978.

The Show is not only known for its surreal humor, but also its occasionally creepy skits. Most notably, its skit about dreams on their fifth episode, "I Must Be High". The show's episodes follow a certain narrative that is split into parts to make way for other unrelated skits.

On January 17, 2001, in a talk show segment of the Three Early Morning Show, hosts Arturo Grandia and Jennifer Javier talked about several shows that was aired on Television Three. They mentioned The Show, and praised it for its humor and eccentricity. Several viewers were quite interested to see the show, and it later gained popularity during the early-2000's. At the time, only clips from the show surfaced online. However, Television Three re-aired the show in August 13-23, 2007, and the episodes were archived.

Cast

 * Crisostomo Pilar
 * Frieda Romano
 * Wren Goldman
 * Kevin Liu