Eat Bulaga
REVIEW: ‘KalyeSerye’ And How It’s Slowly Changing Philippine TV
Just recently, a certain local show has been headlining the morning papers and the nightly news, which for the now nearing election season in the Philippines, is admittedly odd and honestly, impressive.
‘KalyeSerye’ (literally translating to “Street Series”), a segment aired on the variety show Eat Bulaga!, heralds a new and definitely fast rising loveteam or ship, Aldub. It is the team-up of actor Alden Richards and newcomer actress Maine Mendoza who play the roles of Bae Alden (a fictionalized version of Richards) and ‘Yaya Dub’ respectively. And just like any other soap opera, theirs is a Cinderella story waiting on their deserved happy ending. But while perhaps most people suddenly delved into the craze that is Aldub because of its cliched and familiar romantic premise (that never fails to tickle the Filipino viewer’s attention), for this writer, there are certain aspects about Aldub and its hit KalyeSerye that have been overlooked but may possibly be the genius behind the success of it all.
While most loveteams and soap operas dominate the afternoon and the nighttime slots, KalyeSerye is the only bearer of the noontime slot. This may be the most important factor on why Aldub is such a “phenomenon” simply because people during these hours between 12-2pm are not in the comfort of their homes to just lazily watch a television show. They’re either at school or at work. So with how most people go out of their way just to catch the segment (some delaying scheduled meetings and even missing classes) is something truly remarkable—and alarming (this is another point, so moving on)—to see on an every day basis.
So what’s so special about this show, anyway? Definitely not the story, definitely not the dialogues (albeit it delivers the long forgotten, good-natured sense of humor), and most definitely not because the actors are all pretty. As someone who also aspires to be a good storyteller, what’s truly so clever about KalyeSerye is its execution and style. It’s impressive how the showrunners have transformed a thin Cinderella material into such a massive hit by simply making it so tangible and attainable for the people. Literally, they’ve put the story on the streets where anyone can grab, touch, and interact with the actors. This and all the while utilizing other platforms by airing it on TV (real time!) and attracting fan support through social media.
Unlike the primetime soaps that carries that third-person viewer wall, KalyeSerye has allowed the people to become part of the narrative. The episode where the antagonist Lola Nidora asked protagonist Alden Richards to run from the Eat Bulaga! studio to EDSA (a national highway) as some sort of a challenge is a 36o degree turnaround in exhausting all means to tell a story and to keep the viewers on their feet. So showing the episode real time, anyone who lives near EDSA orEat Bulaga! can simply abandon their TV set and wait for Alden himself to appear somewhere down the street, even possibly taking a snap shot of him and share his progress on the web—into which some people actually did.
Also, the series’ style as an improv highly contributed to the success of the show, performing not necessarily without a script but executing each episode without a fixed or rehearsed performance. The uncertainty only adds to the thrill. Anything goes, no take twos, whatever happens, the show must go on (as evident on the day Yaya Dub fainted for real and the rest of the actors have to make do without her). This only highlights how professional and undoubtedly competent the actors are—which is a rare feat nowadays, to be honest.
And so with such newness, its presence on social media is undeniable. But even in that playing field, it also sets itself apart from the countless shows that trends daily on Twitter, due mainly to the lead actors Alden and Maine’s willingness to stay true to their characters even if off-screen. They never tire of posting ambiguous, in-character messages that as I type this, is still an on going debate among avid fans whether they are posting it as Alden and Maine or as Bae Alden and Yaya Dub (again, the mystery of it all only delights the fans even more). Truthfully though, in the sinister world of Philippine show business, there would be no way other actors could be as playful (and seemingly dedicated and indulgent) as these two. The story never stops on television. With its use of the digital space, KalyeSerye becomes a daily, hourly habit for most and where fans clamor and wait, not only for the segment, but for the actors’ tweets and posts as well.
And speaking of the two leads and of how they are now shaking up daytime TV, the most peculiar thing to have ever happened on anything ship or loveteam is the fact that they have never met in real life at all. No face to face contact as of writing. As part of the “baranggay” group, Maine is a regular on the streets while Alden is a regular host inside the studio. So while Maine roams all over the Metro, she and Alden can only communicate through the signature split-screen TV of the segment, exchanging dubsmashed love songs that strongly highlights the forbidden, star-crossed love affair. Rumor has it, the start of KalyeSerye was due to an accidental out of character slip from Maine when staff decided to show Alden on the other side of the screen. Since then on, it has been the goal for the two leads to actually meet in real life, building up the anticipation and the tension daily. Then add up all the other over the top characters in the series like Lola Nidora, Frankie, and DuhRizz, KalyeSerye is a stand-up, noontime comedy that comes in with all the works. Over the top, yes. Overly dramatic, no.
The story is as plain as day and as a writer, I recognize this and I do not expect anything more profound than the basic moral it gives. It’s not The Newsroom, it’s not Mad Men, it’s not trying to be anything more than what it is—a good-old fun and wholesome entertainment. And contrary to the naysayers, I do not find KalyeSerye one bit cheap. Just because everyone is talking about it, it does not automatically mean it’s cheap; just because it is widely accepted, it does not mean it has shallow content. When did we ever start to devalue the honesty and rawness of such materials just because it’s enjoyable and so, so easy to understand? Cheap entertainment are the unpracticed dance numbers, the rip-off segments, the actors who pretend they can act, the lifeless hosts, the singer out of tune…
Perhaps everyone is in to KalyeSerye because it’s refreshing; it has cracked the stoic viewers jaded by reboots of stylized soap operas and carnival comedy. It has brought back such a highly missed sense of plain humor and innocence. And this only affirms how experience (Eat Bulaga! has been on air for over 36 years) beats mere gimmick anytime. They see a potential and they make use of what they have. KalyeSerye is a stellar example of how film and TV can create a layered form of storytelling and elevate the stunted Philippine entertainment by simply being smart and resourceful. Noted that there are still so much room to improve, that maybe it’s the story itself that we can make better next time, that we can finally deviate away from the worn out fairy tale love stories but for what it’s worth, we have to give credit to where credit is due and KalyeSerye has definitely stepped up the game and it would be no surprise if new breed of shows start to helm the same style.
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