Kalyeserye Now an Independent Segment of Eat Bulaga

A subtle change took place this week on ‘Eat Bulaga’.

Last Friday, viewers took notice of a new Kalyeserye opening billboard. That’s right, for the first time ever, Kalyeserye is credited with its own segment and in the process, no longer considers itself a sub-segment of Juan for All, All for Juan.

The change became official in time for the ‘wedding’ special the following day. After that, the independence continued once the storyline shifts into the married lives of Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards’ characters.

During Kalyeserye’s initial run, ‘Eat Bulaga’ credited the skit under the Juan for All, All for Juan name, despite the fact that it was an entirely different segment with its own logo. At first, Kalyeserye took place in the beginning and end of the Juan for All, All for Juan segment, before it was given its own spot in the show.

Although Kalyeserye became a separate portion of the show, the Juan for All, All for Juan opening billboard remained in use. This confused viewers for the most part, since the Juan for All, All for Juan segment refers entirely to the ‘sugod-bahay’ and ‘bayanihan’ portions of it.

The confusion continued once Kalyeserye was revived with the ‘marriage’ storyline. Again, ‘Eat Bulaga’ credited the skit under the Juan for All, All for Juan name, and in its initial episodes, Kalyeserye was slotted at the beginning of the skit; only this time, there is no break for the ‘sugod-bahay’ and ‘bayanihan’ portions, which air afterwards.

In the end, upon realizing the chaos that they were presenting, ‘Eat Bulaga’ finally relented and gave Kalyeserye it own opening billboard. Afterwards, it was placed in the second part of the show, leaving Juan for All, All for Juan to occupy the final portion.

The change also enabled Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros to play the roles of Tinidora, Nidora and Tidora during Kalyeserye, and then change into their regular selves for Juan for All, All for Juan. Pretty clever indeed.

With Kalyeserye now an independent production of ‘Eat Bulaga’, one can only hope that this setup will continue as long as the viewers love it. After all, the show is about ‘bayanihan’, and putting things in orderly fashion is a perfect way to satisfy the viewers’ demands.

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AlDub ‘Wedding’ Catapaults Eat Bulaga to Victory

The ‘wedding’ between Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards became a must-watch.

On Saturday, October 22, ‘Eat Bulaga’ presented a special edition of the newly-revived Kalyeserye segment. The emphasis of the three-hour episode was on the aforementioned ‘wedding’ between Maine and Alden’s characters, which was set inside Christ the King Church in Quezon City.

The ‘wedding’ featured numerous special guests, such as Ai-Ai delas Alas (in her Lola Babah character), Jake Ejercito, Mike Enriquez, Rodjun Cruz, Helen Gamboa and Irma Adlawan. As always, the ‘Eat Bulaga’ hosts played special roles in the event, which included a rare appearance of Vic Sotto’s Dodong character.

The seemingly realistic marriage between the two had been carefully prepared throughout the week, from the pre-nuptial shoots and bridal showers to the proposals for Maine’s wedding gown. The skits even went as far as preparing an invitation to the said ‘wedding’, and inviting Liz Uy and Jason Magbanua to play key roles.

The ‘wedding’ itself took over an hour to complete, a majority of which were spent without commercial interruption. Near the end of the segment, however, Lola Nidora (played by Wally Bayola) fainted in the midst of Alden and Maine’s exchange of I dos, prompting ‘Eat Bulaga’ to take a commercial break in order to add drama.

Despite the incident, Lola Nidora was able to regain consciousness, and the ‘wedding’ proper eventually pushed through without further incident. In the end, Maine and Alden left the episode as a ‘married’ couple.

The episode, which took place nearly a year after the successful Sa Tamang Panahon event, gave ‘Eat Bulaga’ a rare victory in Kantar’s national ratings, as it barely finished o.1% above ‘It’s Showtime”s figures.  More importantly, netizens took the hashtag #AlDubWedding to one of the top global trending spots on Twitter, with over five million tweets.

Considering that the show has been struggling to remain relevant in the months after Sa Tamang Panahon, this episode was in many ways a shot of adrenaline. Still, not even a rare victory can satisfy any AlDub fan, or whoever’s left of the once-highly popular fanbase, as they try to rekindle the tandem’s glory days.

At least there are still ‘Eat Bulaga’ loyalists who have supported the show even before Alden and Maine came aboard. As long as they’re here, ‘Eat Bulaga’ will still enjoy some moral victories, no matter how small it becomes.