The Fall and Rise of Mad Cat Midnight

05/15/2017 11:18:30 PM

I know: it's been two weeks since the last time we have seen a sudden turn of events. And the thing is: it's such a good thing that this talk show was on the roll once again since last week. We barely need a variety of programs that caters to more daring yet intellectual stuff than just hearing the drama of life stories, love problems, and even dating encounters.

While obviously, AM radio owns up to a lot of informative shiznit and FM radio boasts a majority portion of romance and sex, few are the programs like Mad Cat Midnight wherein they live up to their tagline: that is having interesting people talk about interesting stories. That's also apart from having Heard on Thursdays and (sometimes) Boys Night Out.

And probably this hasn't been much of a talked-about news on FM broadcasting in late April, but it was a sudden announcement that triggered a wildfire for some listeners like yours truly: the talk show format was suspended until then-further notice (and turns out, it end up like a title of that romcom move: Two-weeks notice).

Still, it drew the ire. But what could be the factor in such?

The excessive profanity? Probably. While we all can blurt all the f- and s-bombs by our 20 or 30-ish selves, let's face it: radio is a general medium after all that even if you put out a disclaimer, chances are it will all be broken like our natural instinct as Filipinos in the streets. You don't need to browse the KBP Broadcast Code or look anything that is related to media ethics to tell you that firing the obvious explicit words is strictly prohibited.

Plus the fact that John Joe has a license of KBP (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas) gives him the right to be liable on practically whatever circumstances may happen during his assignment on Jam 88.3. Talk about command responsibility.

Overtime? Probably another huge portrayal. Since the show generally ends up at around 1 or 2 am – way beyond the scheduled 12 am – of course, traditionalists will say “hey, learn to respect time, please?” On the other side, it can't be denied that talk shows that provides a wide, random selection of topics (sometimes, not even as planned) is such a thing of beauty in talk shows right now. Yes, everything is rolling in good damn spontaneous manner, way different from the old times.

And three hours – plus a couple of commercials and music sets – is seemingly not enough. Just imagine on a typical hour wherein a 30-minuter show could fill their content to as much as 18 minutes (just an example). Bitin, 'di ba? That might also speak on why some of our teleseryes have expanded to their most dragging daily exposures (but that's another and not-interesting thing to deal with).

Returning the stint may be good, but if there's a suggestion to the program, that is to at least extend the airtime. Like, (come on, man) since no other radio DJs (if not majority) actually air during the wee hours. And frankly, this has become a normal thing again after almost a decade wherein most stations have their talking on-air personalities go on board to accompany the mostly-sleepless ones.

Rules. Yes, probably. Because John Joe was a vapor user and admitting he vapes during his program, which also prompted the management to have the set of rules as extensive as it gets later on (of course, that's aside from prohibiting the eating foods and drinking of liquor in the booth). Understandable.

It's such a very good thing that MCM as the late night talk show is back on the radio since two Mondays ago. But of course, with some compromises along the way.

We all need this kind of talk show in the Philippine radioscape by now. Promise. We have lost once a gem called The BrewRats and since then, it was only the likes of Heard On Thursdays and even The Disenchanted Kingdom which piloted the other kid of radio talk show. 

And probably, MCM is another heck of a piece in contemporary.

Author: slickmaster | © 2017 The SlickMaster's Files