I have been watching more and more of Adik Sa Yo lately. I wait for it every weeknight at 10. It's actually a welcome change from all the heavy dramas and tearjerkers and it is so darned funny. The title is taken from the song by Rivermaya that became popular in the 90s and is now enjoying a revival.

Jennica Garcia actually has a flair for comedy, and Dennis Trillo really just has to sit around and look handsome. Heehee, Fafa Dennis ever. Add to that the tried and true Marvin Agustin-Jolina Magdangal tandem who have captured hearts since they were Joey and Esee in the original Gimik, Joey Marquez as the aging Lothario Popsy, and Eugene Domingo as the rather deranged but still endearing rags-to-riches Madam "iF", plus three lovable, if rather forgetful grandfathers. And yes, I didn't know La Oropesa as the rather dim Momsy could have me in stitches. Emilyn, Jennica's character Karen's personal maid / best friend is also a winner!

So far, the story centers around Jennica and Dennis as Karen and Ruben, and Jolina and Marvin as Joanna and Carlos. Rich boy Carlos wanted to marry rich girl Karen, but she ran away because she wanted to find her soulmate, whom she has been dreaming about since forever, leaving Carlos to be consoled by Karen's older half sister Joanna, who has always had a yen for him. Karen meets poor boy Ruben and is convinced he is her soulmate, but Ruben doesn't believe her. So she pretends to be a runaway servant needing a place to stay and Ruben's family adopts her. Meanwhile Ruben is having trouble with his girlfriend Camille, played by Pauline Luna, the probinsyana who gets offered a shot at stardom with the Sex Bomb Girls. Ruben finally gets convinced that Karen is his soulmate, but only after her family finds her and takes her away to marry Carlos. Who ends up not wanting to marry her because he thinks that he has gotten Joanna pregnant. Joanna gets thrown out of home by her stepmother for this, and finally learns the truth about her real mother, who has returned to extract vengeance from her former boss who had gotten her pregnant, had her thrown into jail for something she did not do, and took her baby as well. Meanwhile, Karen and Ruben are having problems because Momsy is secretly plotting to separate them.

In a strange reversal of fortune, due to Madam iF's machinations, Momsy and Popsy lose all their riches and Karen becomes poor while Joanna, now with her mother, becomes the sole heiress to her mother's wealth. Ruben, whom Momsy had had beaten up, is rescued by Madam iF, who takes him and his family under her wing. Because of her patronage, he is well on his way to affluence as well, while Karen becomes a servant in Madam iF's house.

Meanwhile Liza shows up, convinced she is Popsy's daughter by another woman.

Will Carlos and Joanna end up together after all? Will Ruben ever forgive Karen? I can't wait for Monday night.

It's a comedy of errors, bittersweet at times, but humorous in almost every scene. The characters, like many Pinoy sitcoms before them, are a little bit exaggerated, a little bit larger than life.

The names Momsy and Popsy remind me of the late Babalu in Okidokidok, whom his children, Alex (Agot Isidro) and Toni (Claudine Barretto), called Popsy. Karen and Ruben's pet piglet, Ruben Jr., on the other hand, conjures up shades of Judy Ann Santos, Wowie de Guzman, and the late Rico Yan in Paano ang Puso Ko? In that movie, Wowie's character was named Ruben and he raised pigs, one of which was his and Judy Ann's character's special pet.

I wonder about the roots of Filipino comedy, such as movies and sitcoms. Are they rooted in American comedy, or in more local productions such as moro moros and zarzuelas? Anyone?

Meanwhile, I will still wait... and drool over Dennis Trillo... in Adik Sa Yo.