'Famili 100' still finding out what the survey says
Famili 100; Host: Sonny Tulung; Indosiar, 5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 6:30 p.m. Saturday 5:30 p.m. Sunday
JAKARTA (JP): It must be something about short male TV game show hosts: pint-sized, boyish Sonny Tulung follows in the diminutive but successful footsteps of Richard Dawson and the late Ray Krebs who hosted Family Feud, the U.S. money-spinner which has spun off into localized versions around the globe.
Sonny has been with the show from its outset five years ago on ANteve through its transfer to Indosiar a couple of years ago. Inevitably, he has become inextricably identified with the show for loyal viewers; it's hard to imagine another celebrity looking up to the board and declaring "the survey says" the way Sonny does.
Although various guest celebrity hosts were tried during the show's anniversary celebration earlier this year, they all came across as pretenders to the throne. It was a relief when Sonny finally returned to show them the way things should be done.
His style veers between an impish bashfulness and a sometimes biting, occasionally risque wit. He toys with his guests, skewering answers which are way off the mark with a bit of good- humored banter. His humor sometimes descends into the Benny Hill genre of double entendres, but he pulls off the insinuations without causing lasting offense.
Sonny may be one of the few celebrities who can come away unscathed from an off-color aside that "chocolate milk is also tasty", a play on the Indonesian word for breast and milk, before an audience of both young and old.
For those who might have existed in a cocoon for the past decade, the half-hour shows feature families squaring off against each other to find the top answers from a survey of the general public. The cash prizes are not grand if compared to the prizes on foreign versions (the pot is carried over every show until there is a winner) and the format does not carry any surprises, but still Famili 100 is a winner with many who do not fail to tune in every day.
Much of the attraction comes from the family interactions made before the unforgiving lens of the TV cameras. There is the pushy older sister who corrals her weaker siblings into taking her answer, only for the resounding boom of a big zero to cut her down to size; or the father who is so edgy he has to be gently reminded by Sonny to keep his hand on the monitor in the initial face-off (the greetings of the opposing family members at the board are always of interest -- will they or will they not shake hands?).
The celebrity show every Saturday offers its own attractions, particularly the opportunity to take a peek at the regular siblings and parents of the stars. The celebrities, thrown out of their traditional stomping grounds, can be a revelation, such as when veteran actress Yati Octavia dissolved into giggles and slips of the tongue as she fumbled her way through the final answer round. Sonny seems looser and more at ease during these shows, no doubt freed from concerns of leaving a trail of bruised egos if he oversteps the mark.
As the show goes on, there is the increasing tendency for family contestants to show a bit of their homespun talents at the outset of the show, particularly by warbling a tune (the real "winners" are when the families have composed tunes themselves in honor of the show and its leading man). Sonny goes along with the performances, acting as a conductor of sorts, but sometimes they can be a squirming embarrassment. Many viewers would wish instead for Sonny to get on with the show. (Bruce Emond)