the January–November monthly winners from the defunct "APO" show in the "MTB" grand coronation that happened on January 2, 1999. In December 1998, "Pera o Bayong" (Money or Basket) debuted on TV as "MTB"'s highlight game portion. The engaging elimination round and the suspense-filled jackpot round won the hearts of most televiewers. It gave "MTB" better overall ratings than 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila, and the show even overtook IBC's Chopsuey Espesyal (which later replaced by Alas Dose sa Trese and Lunch Break) and GMA's Eat Bulaga! as the top weekday noontime variety show from early 1999 until Revillame's ouster in 2001. This led the management to cancel Sabado Live! on Saturday timeslot and replace it with "MTB"'s Saturday edition, which started to air on March 6, 1999. Mortiz was promoted as the noontime show's new director along with Bobet Vidanes. "MTB" also had its share of controversies. The "Calendar Girl" portion became notorious for the main hosts' green jokes which subsequently got warnings from MTRCB (then headed by veteran actress Armida Siguion-Reyna). Eventually, the ABS-CBN management intervened and suspended the three main hosts indefinitely. With their suspension in August 1999, the show was temporarily replaced by "Esep-Esep" for a week. Estrada, Santiago and Revillame came back with a bang after their suspension a week later. In January 1, 2000, the show covers the millennium celebration at Times Square in New York City. In the year 2000, the phenomenal game portion "Pera o Bayong" faced stiff competition from Eat Bulaga! when the long-running noontime show produced a segment called "Meron o Wala" (Something or Nothing). But despite the move from the rival show, "Pera o Bayong" still continued to enthrall viewers. The popular catchphrases coined by the hosts eventually became part of the Filipino pop culture. Because of its immense popularity, "Pera o Bayong" was made into a movie version ("Pera o Bayong not da TV)" by Star Cinema that year, with the whole "MTB" cast included. Changes were suddenly made after the February 7, 2001 episode, when main host Willie Revillame was axed from the show after citing creative differences between him and the staff. Matinee idols Marvin Agustin, Dominic Ochoa and Rico Yan (collectively known as "Whattamen") replaced him on the show. Top-notch stand-up comedians Marissa Sanchez and Ai-Ai delas Alas also joined the show as new female co-hosts. On March 12 of the same year, the show was