Kalyeserye
Kalyeserye was a soap opera parody segment that was aired live on the Filipino noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! on GMA Network. The show-within-a-show, as it had evolved, focused on AlDub, the fictional couple pairing of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza's "Yaya Dub" character in which the two only communicate through lip-syncing to various pop songs and movie audio clips as well as written messages, and interact only on the show's split-screen frame. Richards is usually based in Broadway Centrum studio of Eat Bulaga! in Quezon City, Metro Manila while Mendoza travels around to a different external location.
The immediate success of Kalyeserye led to its runtime being expanded to at least an hour through the segment's run. The show featured live improvisation from Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, Wally Bayola, Jose Manalo and Paolo Ballesteros, who all played various roles while the other hosts of Eat Bulaga! in the studio served as live commentators that interact with the characters and also with the audience. Kalyeserye had elements of comedy-drama, parody, romantic comedy and reality television. According to Anna Leah Sarabia, a Filipino anthropologist, the segment uses fairy tale and soap opera tropes. The term "Kalyeserye", coined by Eat Bulaga! host Joey de Leon, is a play on the Filipino word teleserye and is a portmanteau of the Tagalog words kalye and serye ; the term refers to the location outside the studio, which was usually shot out on the streets of Metro Manila or in the provinces of the Philippines that serve as the remote setting of the parody segment.
The portion proved to be a success in both television and social media, resulting in a significant increase in viewership and popularity of Eat Bulaga!. The segment helped put the showbiz careers of Richards and Mendoza on the map.
Kalyeserye temporarily ended on September 3, 2016 and returned on October 15, 2016, after a month-break. The entire segment concluded on December 17, 2016.
On July 16 2025, Eat Bulaga! celebrated Kalyeserye 's 10th anniversary through an elaborate tribute. Prior to this, speculation about a possible return of the segment for a third installment arose following the release of several teasers posted on Eat Bulaga!'s social media pages. On July 20, 2025, a podcast series commemorating the segment, entitled Tamang Panahon was launched by the program - currently under the production of TVJ Productions and airing on TV5 after severing ties with TAPE Inc. on May 31, 2023. The series depicts some of the best moments of the segment and production secrets behind the phenomenal success. Mendoza revealed that they invited Richards for the podcast, but was unable to attend that day due to prior commitments. Additionally, the show's director, Poochie Rivera has disclosed in the podcast that there will no longer be a continuation of the series.
Overview
The show follows the love story of Yaya Dub, a girl who converses only in dubsmash, and Alden Richards, a regular guest on the "Juan for All, All for Juan" television segment, during which they begin flirting with each other by dubsmashing and exchanging waves. Yaya Dub's employer, Lola Nidora, is initially against the couple's budding romance. Lola Nidora then reveals her Book of Secrets/Secret Diary which contains various reasons for her disapproval. The appearance of other characters like the luxurious Frankie Arenolli and the socialite DuhRizz make things even more complicated for the amorous pair. As the story unfolds, characters from Lola Nidora and Yaya Dub's past are revealed as a part of their backstory. Lola Nidora turns out to be one of the triplet children of the Zobeyala family ; the three are collectively known as the "de Explorer Triplets/Sisters". During the course of the series, Alden must prove his trustworthiness and love for Yaya Dub by engaging in several challenges.From its return for "Season 2", it not only focused on the continuation of the AlDub story as a fictional married couple but also focused on the De Explorer sisters who become hosts for a cooking show, with their real-life mothers as guests, who can cook.
Background
Casting
In 2015, Alden Richards, who had finished filming the mini-series Ilustrado, was invited to join Eat Bulaga! as a host for a month-long trial period, hosting various segments such as "That's My Bae" with radio disc jockey Sam Y.G. A month later, Maine Mendoza, who had initially gained online popularity by posting her Dubsmash videos in various social media platforms, auditioned for the program after catching the attention of its producers. Mendoza eventually joined the cast in July 2015. She was initially selected to act as a lawyer for Eat Bulaga!s "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment but was ultimately cast as Yaya Dub, a nanny for Wally Bayola's "Lola Nidora" character. Mendoza's character would communicate only by lip-synching to various pop songs and film audio clips and could not actually speak onscreen. Her character was portrayed as a very serious and snobbish nanny who does not even smile or laugh. The characters Doña Nidora and Yaya Dub first appeared on July 4, 2015, in the "Problem Solving" portion of the "Juan For All, All For Juan" segment performed in Cainta, Rizal east of Manila. Their presence filled the void left by Doktora Dora de Explorer's character, who has left the previous day to attend a seminar in South Africa. However, the Kalyeserye segment officially started on July 16, 2015, when Yaya Dub sees Alden for the first time."Day 1" onwards
On the episode broadcast July 16, 2015, performed in Olongapo, Zambales, Mendoza broke out of her "Yaya Dub" character when she accidentally smiled after noticing Alden Richards watching her on the show's live split screen. Upon seeing Mendoza's spontaneous reaction, the studio panel members Allan K. and Joey de Leon teased the pair and thus prompted the producers to make an on-screen couple of the two. Mike Tuviera, a resident director of the show, revealed that the resulting "love team", christened "AlDub", was formed by accident because of the pair's natural on-screen chemistry.Due to the audiences' positive reception to the pairing, the producers decided to make a 30-minute portion under its daily "Juan For All, All for Juan" segment to replace "Problem Solving". Pegged as Kalyeserye, it was characterized as a dramedy series with elements of parody of Philippine television drama, romantic comedy and reality TV performed by improv acting, broadcast live from the streets of different towns and cities. Poochie Rivera, one of the program's directors, described it as "natural and unscripted", saying that "Nothing is rehearsed. We are trying to maintain the spontaneity because that is a big part of its charm." Aside from the AlDub love team, Kalyeserye also featured comedians Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, and Paolo Ballesteros. The trio, collectively known as "JoWaPao", played various characters, but most prominently, as the three lolas of Yaya Dub.
AlDub
AlDub is derived from a portmanteau of the show's main characters' names, Alden Richards, who portrays a fictionalized version of himself, and Yaya Dub, portrayed by comedian Maine Mendoza. Both joining the program's cast in 2015, Richards first appeared as a host of Eat Bulaga!s various segments, such as the "That's My Bae"; while Mendoza appeared only as "Yaya Dub" in the "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment. The couple exclusively interacted through the show's split screen frame and only communicated with each other by dubbing audio samples of popular songs, films and TV series as well as handwritten messages on screen. As of early October 2015, the AlDub couple had yet to meet in person.Some of the running gags and gimmicks throughout the parody series include a special gesture between Alden and Yaya Dub, called the Pabebe Wave. Another narrative involves Lola Nidora lobbying for a pairing between Yaya Dub and Frankie Arenolli dubbed as the "YaKie" tandem, with the couple almost ended up getting married. Other events include Lola Nidora issuing labor challenges to Alden to prove his love for Yaya Dub, and the incompetency of the numerous Rogelios, Lola Nidora's bodyguards. The Kalyeserye's main storyline is the Cinderella-like forbidden courtship between the AlDub tandem, with its paramount goal being the first physical meeting of the two, a move continually opposed by Lola Nidora.
The AlDub couple's near-encounters on live television also became pivotal throughout the series. In the show's August 8, 2015 episode, which featured the first wedding between the "YaKie" tandem, Mendoza collapsed unexpectedly while performing on live television and was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, resulting in an improvisation by the segment's remaining characters — Frankie, Lola Nidora and Alden himself. Mendoza later revealed through her social media accounts that she experienced fatigue hours prior to the show. In its August 12, 2015 episode, Yaya Dub appeared at Broadway Centrum's TAPE Eastside Studio for her Cinderella-themed performance on Eat Bulaga!s "Bulaga Pa More! Dabarkads Pa More!" segment. The episode marked as the closest rendezvous between the two, only to be interrupted by Lola Nidora, who played as an evil witch and forced Yaya Dub to leave in the middle of her performance.