NEWSFLASH

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RICHARD-LUCY SHOW ON ABS-CBN SOON?

Manila, Sept. 15, 1998 - It had to happen. Lucy Torres, the pretty face with the kindest eyes and warmest smile on TV commercials, was destined to be more than a homebody Mrs. Richard Gomez. She just has to star opposite her handsome husband in a weekly TV sitcom. And now, it looks like she will.

The Manila Times first wrote about the possibility one week ago, when the rumors started about the impending cancellation of Richard's long-running TV weekly comedy PALIBHASA LALAKI.

It's been 12 long, merry-making years for Richard and company, engaging in hanky-panky and harmless fun in front of TV cameras, in what passes for a sitcom. The roles were unchallenging; the actors and their guests did hardly any acting. They were simply their own selves, albeit with screen names for the show. And the show rated.

But now, says a TV official, maybe it is time for some changes. And what a change!

Ethel Ramos of Malaya wrote that the Richard-Lucy Show could have a plot that would exploit the couple's real-life day-to-day drama as newly-weds.

Could it also exploit the fact that Lucy is from the province (Ormoc, Leyte) while Richard was already a sophisticated man-of-the-world and a household name when they met?

Lucy has been hounded by movie offers, which the couple quickly turned down. Instead of movies, Lucy was more attracted to the public service aspect of celebrity life. She is a Red Cross volunteer, and was for a time receiving training from Miss Rosa Rosal on all the aspects of blood letting and blood-donation campaigns.