Ugly Betty

Ugly Betty
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Fernando Gaitán
Developed by	Silvio Horta
Starring	America Ferrera Eric Mabius Vanessa Williams Ashley Jensen Becki Newton Judith Light Ana Ortiz Tony Plana Michael Urie Mark Indelicato Daniel Eric Gold
Theme music composer	Jeff Beal
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	70 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Salma Hayek Silvio Horta Ben Silverman Jose Tamez Joel Fields
Location(s)	New York, New York, USA ("Pilot" and Seasons 3-4) Los Angeles, California, USA (Seasons 1 (without "Pilot")-2)
Running time	42 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	480p (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) ABC HD, 1080i (HDTV) Channel 4 HD, 7HD
Original run	September 28, 2006 – present
Chronology
Related shows	U.S. adaptation of Yo soy Betty, la fea
External links
Official website

Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series created by Silvio Horta, which premiered on The American Broadcasting Company on September 28, 2006. The series revolves around Betty Suarez, an unglamorous and good-natured girl, and her incongruous job at the ultra-chic New York City fashion magazine Mode. The series is an adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Betty la fea,^[1] written by Fernando Gaitán. The series is produced by Silent H, Ventanarosa and Reveille respectively partnered with ABC Studios, and is primarily filmed in Los Angeles, California, but together with the pilot episode and the third and fourth season the series is filmed in New York. The executive producers are Salma Hayek, Silvio Horta, Ben Silverman, Jose Tamez and Joel Fields.

Ugly Betty was renewed by ABC for a fourth season^[2] and airs on Friday nights starting October 16, 2009 at 9:00pm Eastern/8:00pm Central. This caused fans and critics to worry that ABC wishes to end the show, since that time slot is perceived as the Friday night death slot.^[3][4][5][6] On July 24, 2009, TV Guide Network announced that it has acquired the exclusive cable right to the show and will air the fourth season episodes 14 days after its ABC run with an option to strip the show daily, with plans to air it weekly starting in the fall of 2010.^[7]

Plot

Betty Suarez is a good-hearted, slightly naïve girl from Queens, New York, who is courageous but sorely lacking in fashion sense. Betty is suddenly thrust into a different world when she lands a job at Mode, a trendy high fashion magazine based in Manhattan and part of the publishing empire of the wealthy Bradford Meade. Bradford's son, Daniel Meade is installed as Editor-in-Chief of Mode following the death of Fey Sommers (Bradford's longtime mistress). Meade arranges to have Betty hired as Daniel's assistant, despite her lack of qualifications and experience, because of her appearance. Daniel is a well-known notorious womanizer, and Bradford wants him to devote his attention to the magazine, not another attractive assistant. As time goes by, Betty and Daniel learn to trust one another and ultimately become friends and allies in a world sometimes beautiful and sometimes maddeningly chaotic.

Daniel's arch-nemesis is Creative Director Wilhelmina Slater, who yearns to be Editor-in-Chief. She is helped in her numerous schemes to undermine Daniel by her loyal assistant Marc St. James. Marc and receptionist Amanda Sommers (one of Daniel's many sexual conquests) continually mock and humiliate Betty for her lack of style. The only friends that Betty has at Mode are kind-hearted Scottish seamstress Christina McKinney and accountant Henry Grubstick, to whom Betty is attracted.

Meanwhile, at home she is supported by her family, her father Ignacio Suarez, older sister Hilda, and Hilda's fashion-savvy son Justin (by her estranged boyfriend Santos). In addition to Bradford, the Meade family includes Daniel's alcoholic mother Claire Meade and his transsexual sister Alexis Meade (formerly his older, ultra-competitive brother Alex).

In-show parody of the telenovela genre and the original version of Ugly Betty in Latin America.

Betty sports thick-framed eyeglasses and a large, prominent set of dental braces (which have become the most identifiable symbol for both Ferrera's character and the show itself). Her lackluster physical appearance and awkward nature result in her immediately being singled out in the vicious, backstabbing world of New York City fashion, and she is quickly saddled with the show's eponymous nickname.

The show contains a degree of fantasy used to express the inner thoughts of its characters. For example, in "I See Me, I.C.U.", Betty discusses with an imaginary earlier version of herself how far she has come since her first day.

Season 1

Throughout the show's first season, most of the serialized storylines revolve around Betty trying to balance her work, home, and romantic life. Betty's relationship with pre-Mode boyfriend Walter is challenged; initially, Walter resists the changes in Betty's life. Betty must also deal with Walter's infidelity with obnoxious neighbour Gina Gambarro. Betty falls in love with Mode accountant Henry Grubstick, whose ex-girlfriend Charlie claims to be pregnant with his child, despite having cheated with Betty's orthodontist, Dr. Farkas. Betty's sister Hilda becomes unemployed after a recall of the cosmetics she sells (Herbalux), but discovers her talent as a beautician. Betty's father Ignacio is revealed to be living in the United States illegally and deals with immigration issues for the second half of the season. Other plot lines involve Daniel's affairs with fellow chief editor Sofia Reyes and lawyer Grace Chin, and his sudden drug addiction; the revelation that Claire murdered Fey Sommers; and Claire's battle with alcoholism. Several storylines revolve around Wilhelmina, including her schemes to use Alexis to force Daniel out of his job. Alexis is first introduced as 'the mystery woman' who, in league with Wilhelmina, secretly plots to gain control of Mode. It is revealed that Alexis is Daniel's elder brother who he thought had died, but had secretly become a woman. She tries to repair her relationship with Daniel, while at the same time seeking revenge against Bradford, who told Alex he was dead to him if he went ahead with the sex change. When the takeover scheme falls apart, Wilhelmina decides to marry Bradford so she can own half of the entire publishing empire. She attempts to come to terms with her rebellious daughter Nico, while also trying to gain acceptance from her father, a U.S. Senator. Finally, Marc deals with multi-tasking for his boss, his homosexuality, and family acceptance. Amanda becomes a binge eater, the target of a prank, and discovers that her birth mother was Fey Sommers. Wilhemenia makes Christina do some of her dirty work in return for making Christina a well-known designer.

Season 2

The season's theme is "Brighter, Bolder, Bettyer" with a reworked version of Mika's "Hey Betty (You Are Beautiful)" being used as the featured song in its promos. Nine new recurring characters, played by Freddy Rodríguez, Illeana Douglas, Alec Mapa, David Blue, John Cho, Gabrielle Union, Gene Simmons, Eddie Cibrian and Juliette Goglia, are introduced. Lorraine Toussaint continued in her role as Claire's fellow prison escapee, Yoga, as a recurring regular. Mo'Nique also appeared in a recurring regular this season playing weekend security chief L'Amanda.

In the second season, Betty has to decide if she still wants to be with Henry after he got Charlie pregnant, and despite the fact that he is going to leave for Tucson in a few months (so he can be at Charlie's side and help raise the baby). In between these events, a deli shop worker named Giovanni "Gio" Rossi starts developing a relationship with Betty, which has Hilda, Amanda, and Henry suspecting that Gio might be trying to become the new guy in Betty's life.

Daniel recovers from a car accident which put Alexis in a coma. When she wakes up, she has forgotten the last few years of her life, including the fact that she changed into a woman and that her father mistreated her. Bradford uses the opportunity to build a new relationship with her; he claims that he was always supportive of her. Wilhelmina's scheme to marry Bradford Meade unravels when Betty and Christina learn of the affair she is having with her bodyguard. When Bradford is told of it on the wedding day, he has a heart attack at the altar and later dies. Wilhelmina is fired by the Meade family when she shows up for the funeral.

Amanda longs to find out more about her family. Wilhelmina, once Fey's assistant, provides a list of people who could be Amanda's father, leading her to rock star Gene Simmons. Marc finds a partner in Cliff St. Paul, a fashion photographer who is not the hunk he envisioned for himself.

Claire escapes from jail with her "friend" Yoga, and they hide in the Hamptons. Claire is later recaptured. At the trial, it is revealed that Fey had secretly poisoned Claire's perfume in an attempt to kill her. Instead it made Claire become crazy and violent; eventually she cut Fey's car brakes, resulting in her death. Later, Claire tries her best to get her life on track; however, she fears that she may become a burden on her two children. Therefore, she launches a new magazine known as Hot Flash, which aims to attract female readers over a certain age who have been neglected by their children and have nothing better to do. At first, Alexis states there is not enough money to finance the magazine; however, using her 'resources' wisely, Claire finds ways to make the magazine a success.

Hilda tries to get over Santos, killed when he tried to stop a robbery, and to start her new career as a beautician while Justin, who becomes an intern at Mode, tries to be more like his late father and goes through a "bad boy" phase until Hilda intervenes.

Christina is surprised by the appearance of the alcoholic husband she ran away from years ago, but when she learns that he has a life-threatening medical problem and is in need of an expensive, experimental operation, she is determined to help him. Wilhelmina offers to pay for the operation if Christina agrees to be implanted with a fertilized egg. Unbeknownst to Christina, it had been artificially inseminated with Bradford's sperm, which Wilhelmina got from his dead body (so she can get control of the Meade empire). When Wilhelmina ruins the vintage Jackie Kennedy dress she was trying to sell, Christina agrees to carry the baby. This latest plan takes more twists and turns when Wilhelmina's emotionally troubled sister Renee shows up and starts dating Daniel, resulting in Wilhelmina taking great lengths to conceal her scheme.

Hilda meets Justin's gym teacher and begins a romantic relationship with him. Daniel's son shows up from Paris, and he denies him as his son, but still tries to bond with him. Gio wants to take Betty to Rome for a romantic date when Henry shows up to ask her hand in marriage.

Production was halted in November 2007 due to a writers' strike. It was then announced the season would be cut to 18 episodes instead of a proposed 23. New episodes did not air on U.S. television until April 24, 2008, starting with "Twenty Four Candles", and ending on May 22, 2008, with "Jump". This was the last episode to be produced in Los Angeles.

Season 3

ABC renewed the series for a third season on February 11, 2008. In addition, production was moved to New York City from Los Angeles to make the series more realistic and to take advantage of increased tax incentives in New York. The third season premiered on September 25, 2008. This season added ten new recurring regulars, played by Grant Bowler, Mark Consuelos, Heather Tom, Val Emmich, Ralph Macchio, Sarah Lafleur, Bernadette Peters, Lauren Velez and Daniel Eric Gold. Lindsay Lohan, Julian De La Celle, Derek Riddell and Eddie Cibrian returned from the second season for more appearances. "The Show" by Australian singer Lenka is used as the promo theme for the season.

For this season, Betty decides to move on from Henry and Gio, and after a cross-country trip around the United States, decides to move out of Casa Suarez and into an apartment of her own, hoping that this will help her advance in her quest to move up in the publishing business. Betty also attracts the interest of a musician named Jesse who is living in the apartment across from hers. In addition, she buries the hatchet with Kimberly "Kimmie" Keegan, her childhood nemesis and manager of Flushing Burger, where Ignacio works. Unfortunately, the truce between Betty and Kimmie is broken after Betty helps Kimmie land a job at Mode and Kimmie reverts to her old patronizing ways after being promoted to associate editor. This promotion infuriates Amanda and Marc after Kimmie befriends them and then turns on them. But then Wilhelmina fires Kimmie after she insulted her during a photo shoot with model Adriana Lima.

After his ouster from Mode, Daniel was demoted to Editor-in-Chief of Player magazine, after Alexis decided to bring back Wilhelmina as Editor-in-Chief. Daniel then takes the decision to fight for custody of his son Daniel Jr., and for his job at Mode, which he takes back from Wilhelmina, whose sudden rise to the top means that she lures Betty into her world - by offering her the job of her assistant - in her attempt to mold her. Of course, this doesn't last and when Betty helps Daniel get his job back, she becomes his assistant again. Adding to Wilhelmina's downfall was Marc, whose jealousy over being passed over by Wilhelmina after she lured Betty back to Mode, became a move that prompted Marc to set the downfall in motion for his boss, allowing him to get his job back. In addition, Claire stepped in to stop Wilhelmina from using the family and also to get Hot Flash ready.

Hilda continued to see Tony, who was still married, and when Ignacio found out, it caused a rift between the two. Unfortunately, thanks to his wife, Hilda breaks it off after she talks to her after the woman mistook her for the "other woman [Betty]." Meanwhile, Justin is getting ready to break into show business in Broadway, in what is said to be a "musical episode".

Christina is dealing with Stuart's drug problems and her pregnancy with the unborn Meade baby, which in turn would take a turn for the worse after she is pushed down a flight of stairs. Daniel is framed for it and Betty decides to prove he is wrong. After using some help from Marc and Amanda, they find out Daniel's sister did it. Alexis turns herself in afterwards. While in jail, Alexis reveals to Daniel that a paternity test for Daniel Jr. revealed that Daniel is not the father. Alexis is the father, since she slept with DJ's mother back when she was a man. As a result of the revelation, Daniel Jr's grandparents get custody of the boy.

In the meantime, Wilhelmina puts pressure on Alexis to give up her entire control of the Meade company, in exchange for Wilhelmina's help in getting Alexis' charges dropped. In the end, a compromise is reached, and control of the company is divided equally between Wilhelmina (in actuality, the baby get the share) and Daniel. The two become co-owners and co-editors of the publishing empire. This means Wilhelmina only has 50% to go until she controls the whole empire by herself. Alexis, free of all charges against her, and with no shares in Mode, leaves and plans to get to know her son DJ.

The baby, William Slater-Meade, would be born during "Fashion Week 2009" in the middle of the catwalk. The question of William's birthright will also become a issue, as Christina's bonding of the boy has become evident as of late.

Amanda continues the quest to find her father and also moves in with Betty when her spending spirals out of control and her credit card bills became too much for her. Her financial problems result in Amanda taking on a second job at a pizza parlor in a effort to pay off her debts. Together they plan a "Mode Afterparty." Betty invites Jesse and his band to perform, and he agrees. At the party, he has a sudden case of stage-fright, which Betty helps him get over. However after Betty caught Jesse kissing Amanda and later found him to be self-involved, Betty gave up on him. She also moved out of the apartment and sublet it to Marc.

As Betty returned home, she found herself and her family deal with Ignacio's heart attack and a new love interest (and his nurse) Elena; Hilda falling for New York City Councilman Archie Rodriguez, who wanted Hilda to apply for a license to operate her beauty shop and Justin's befriending of — and rejection by — a bully named Randy. Ignacio would later get a new job at restaurant owned by TV chef Frankie Burrata, whom Ignacio would challenge on his cooking show "Kitchen Rumble."

In the meantime, Wilhelmina falls in love with the new associate and Daniel's business partner Connor Owens, who turned out to be an embezzler after Betty discovered that he was transferring money from the company to him. Surprisingly enough, Daniel would fall for Connor's fiancee Molly, a schoolteacher who later revealed to Daniel that she has cancer.

Marc is invited to move in with Cliff, but he doesn't know and rejects it. This would cause Marc to fret over this, and in the process would lead to a one-night stand with a guy he met at Betty's rooftop party. Marc then shocked Cliff with a wedding proposal afterwards, but would later confess to Cliff about what he did and the two broke up.

Betty and Marc also become students, participating in the Young Editors Training Initiative (YETI) program. While there, the two must deal with Jodi Papadakis (Bernadette Peters), their professor who wants results from her students. But that was nothing compared to Betty meeting a rival from Elle, Terri O'Shaunessey (Nikki Blonsky), who succeeded by stealing a cover story idea from MODE. Then Betty fell for aspiring sports reporter Matt Hartley, whom Betty later found out that he came from a wealthy family.

Finally, the truth of "Fashion Buzz" presenter Suzuki St. Pierre is discovered by Betty and Daniel after they went to New Jersey and discovered that Suzuki (who viewers thought to be gay) was actually Byron Wu, a straight guy who was also married with two sons. It turned out that Byron used the Suzuki alter ego because he could not find work as a serious journalist. Both Betty and Daniel agreed not to expose him.

As the series continues, we see Betty and Matt’s relationship grow as Betty meets his mother who is not too fond of Betty. We later learn that Matt has had impulsive sexual issues and had slept with several women over the years to counteract his loneliness. It isn’t until Betty that he finds someone he truly loves for the first time. Meanwhile, things at Mode are not going well. Conner stole the company’s money and ran. Daniel decides to avoid layoffs and cut backs by liquidating his assets as does Wilhelmina eventually. The company, however, continues to slide downhill and eventually people get fired (like Amanda). It isn’t until Betty and Daniel see inspiration in the form of Matt’s father, Cal Hartley who is interested in helping struggling publications.

While things are starting to look up for Mode, Wilhelmina soon becomes invested in discovering the true identity of her baby, William. She is concerned that the baby was actually Christina’s hence the lack of resemblance with Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina quickly learns that the child is not hers but to keep her stake at the Meade empire, she fakes a DNA test. Christina is shocked and does not believe Wilhelmina. She ends up stealing baby William. Eventually, Wilhelmina admits the child is not her own but only did it to show Cal the power she has and therefore was not fired from Meade once Cal signs the contracts. As a result however, Christina and Stuart along with their child decide to return to Scotland to have the child closer to family (Note: this was done due to Ashley Jensen’s desire to leave the show due to the move to New York and the complications that arose from that for her). Things are better at Meade as Daniel decides to make Molly’s dreams come true by marrying her. Also, Ignacio decides to take his relationship with Elena to the next level. However, once a job opportunity arises for her, Ignacio decides to let her go to follow her own dreams.

At Yeti, Betty and Marc have their final interviews and wait for job call backs. Marc is offered a job at Vouge. As Betty gets an offer to the New York Review, Henry creeps back into her life as well as an offer from Matt to move in together. Betty, unable to hide her past with Henry, is seen kissing him off goodbye by Matt. Betty’s New York Review job ends up being taken by Jodie in a surprising twist. Claire is promoted to Senior Vice President to Wilhelmina’s hatred. Wilhelmina decides she needs dirt on Claire. Wilhelmina learns that Victoria Hartley despises Claire and seeks information. Willie learns that Claire had an affair with Victoria’s ex-husband Cal where Claire became pregnant! When confronted with the accusation, Claire tells Wilhelmina that she decided to abort the child but had to take a year off to deal with the emotional trauma. Wilhelmina asks Claire to resign her position as Senior VP in exchange for keeping her secret.

In the finale episode, we see a struggling and sick Molly fighting for her life as Daniel is nominated for a Mama Award for the Wedding Issue. As a features editor at Mode dies, Betty and Marc vie for the new job and ask Daniel and Wilhelmina to ultimately decide who gets the position. Meanwhile, Matt confronts Betty about kissing Henry and their relationship takes a halt. The final few moments of the finale involve Mode winning the Mama award for the Wedding Issue where Daniel makes a speech and sees Molly standing behind Betty. He tells her he loves her. Once off the stage, Betty congratulates Daniel but says she did not see Molly at all. We also see that Betty is eventually hired as the features editor over Marc. This was decided over a coin-toss since Daniel and Wilhelmina both decided they were equally qualified. As Betty is getting her new office ready, Matt enters and the couple splits up. Matt reveals that he will be Betty’s new boss since his father offered him a new position at Mode. Wilhelmina’s position at Meade is being threatened when Cal and Claire both agree that their past is none of Wilhelmina’s business. We see Wilhelmina taking to a privately hired hitman whom she asks to find Connor in order to get the money back and push Cal out with that money. As Wilhelmina leaves the meeting with the hitman, she enters her room at her house, drops her glass and exclaims “What are you doing here?” to an unknown character.

We also see Claire burning an adoption notice meaning Claire in fact did have the child and lied to Wilhelmina about the abortion. Daniel returns home only to find Molly dead and being carried out into an ambulance. Heart-broken and upset, he calls his friend, Betty, for support.

Season 4

This section requires expansion.

Cast

The protagonist and the titular character of the show is Betty Suarez (America Ferrera). Other characters include her family, her friends and love interests, and her colleagues. Betty is the show's main focal point, but beside her the show also strongly focuses on her boss Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), a wealthy playboy who inherits the position of editor-in-chief of Mode by his father. The main antagonist of the show and Daniel's enemy is Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams), conceited, self-absorbed diva and former supermodel, responsible for all the schemes in the magazine. She is the creative director of Mode, but is constantly trying to derail Daniel and take his position, and take over the whole Meade Empire. Marc St. James (Michael Urie) is Wilhelmina's openly gay personal assistant and her minion. He helps her in her conspiracies and schemes by any cost. Amanda Sommers (Becki Newton) is the attractive receptionist at Mode, best friend of Marc, Betty's rival, but later friend, and daughter of presumed-to-be deceased former editor-in-chief of Mode Fey Sommers. Betty's family is consisted of her father Ignacio Suarez (Tony Plana), a caring man with health and immigration problems who always supports Betty, Hilda Suarez (Ana Ortiz), Betty's loving sister and single working mother desperate to find love, and Justin Suarez (Mark Indelicato) Betty's nephew and Hilda's son, who is highly interested in fashion and acting.

In the show's first season the character of Christina McKinney (Ashley Jensen) is also introduced. She is the only person from Mode who from the very beginning supports Betty and stays her best friend, although with the series progression she also becomes Wilhelmina's minion, and continues to be one against her will. The actress leaves the main cast with the beginning of the fourth season, but it has been announced that she'll make recurring appearances. She chose to leave the show, after remaining in Los Angeles when the set re-located to New York City. Introduced in the show's first season Alexis Meade (Rebecca Romijn), first introduced as the "Masked Lady" is Daniel's male to female transsexual sister. She at first teams up with Wilhelmina, but later makes up with Daniel and eventually becomes the president of Meade Publications. However the actress was demoted to recurring in season three due to her pregnancy,^[8]and eventually leaves the show later in the season. Daniel's and Alexsis' parents are Claire Meade (Judith Light) and Bradford Meade (Alan Dale). Both of them are introduced in the first season, Claire is alcohol addict mother and the presumed murderer of Fey Sommers, later, free from all the charges, she opens her own magazine. Bradford dies in the middle of the second season. Henry Grubstick (Christopher Gorham), a nerdy accountant at Mode, is Betty's love interest in seasons one and two. After leaving the show the actor returns in the season three finale to shake up the things between Betty and her new boyfriend.

The show also features a lot of guest recurring stars. Stuart McKinney (Derek Riddell) is Christina's estranged husband. Nico Slater (Jowharah Jones; Yaya DaCosta) is Wilhelmina's estranged daughter, the character is returing in the fourth season. Walter (Kevin Sussman) played Betty's boyfriend for the first half of the first season. The character that he is based on is very popular in the other versions of the show. Giovanni "Gio" Rossi (Freddy Rodriguez) is another love interest for Betty who ultimately asks her to come with him in Rome, but she refuses. Matt Hartley (Daniel Eric Gold) plays Betty's love interest in season three whom she broke up in the end of the season, but was reported that the actor was joining the main cast of the show in its fourth season.^[9][10] The characters Molly (Sarah Lafleur) and Connor Owens (Grant Bowler) become regular characters in the show's third season playing love interests for Daniel and Wilhelmina respectively. Lafleur leaves the show at the end of the season resulting in her character's death and Bowler exits the show in the middle of the season but confirmed his return in the fourth season.

Production

The idea to bring Ugly Betty to American TV screens began in 2001 when NBC was planning to adapt Betty as a half-hour comedy, which would be produced by Sony Pictures Television^[11] but it never made past the planning stages (It took three writers to come up with a concept based around the character)^[12] until ABC and Hayek's company came on board in 2004 and retooled it as an hour-long comedy-drama.^[13] Two years later, on May 16, 2006, ABC announced that Ugly Betty would be part of the 2006–2007 North American season lineup as a weekly hour-long series; the initial order was for 13 episodes.

ABC had announced the title of the series would be Betty the Ugly, a change from its developmental title, but changed it back to Ugly Betty on July 14,^[14] although the Ugly Betty title was already being used in promotions prior to this date on Citytv. There was speculation that the show would be a daily serial that would have debuted as a summer 2006 or midseason 2007 entry, but given the buzz and growing interest in the show, the network decided to make it a weekly series instead. On August 8, 2006, ABC decided at the last minute, a schedule change to move Ugly Betty from its previously announced Friday 8 p.m. (ET) time period to Thursday at 8 p.m. replacing sitcoms Notes from the Underbelly and Big Day as a lead-in to top-rated program Grey's Anatomy, due to the growing interest in the show.

The program's pilot was tested on several cable providers to gauge interest and feedback from viewers, most notably the Hispanic community, including those who are fans of the original Betty, who hoped that ABC would maintain the integrity of the original. ABC also allowed its affiliates to show free off-air screenings to the public at various events ahead of the show's debut. In addition the network screened the debut episode on the web and made the episodes available for download on iTunes after their initial airings on January 5, 2007. The encore episodes also have run on ABC Family and SoapNet, both of which have aired marathons of the show.

On October 13, 2006, ABC ordered a full season pick-up for the series, beyond the original 13 ordered at the May Upfronts^[15] due to its premiere ratings. ABC originally announced 22 episodes for the season 1, but increased the number of episodes by one to 23 . The season finale is the episode called "East Side Story." On March 21, 2007, ABC renewed the series for a second season.^[16]

Although he is joining NBC as their new entertainment head, Ben Silverman will remain co-executive producer on the show, but in a limited role.^[17]

In November 2007 the cast of the series made headlines when they threw their support behind the 2007 Writers' Strike by joining them on the picket line in solidarity. Ferrera commented on the reason why they did this: "The issues coming up with the actors’ contracts are very similar to what the writers are dealing with right now, and we have to stay united and stand strong within the creative community for what we believe is fair."^[18] On November 25, the cast appeared in a 38-second video for "Speechless Hollywood" in which a black & white camera pulled away from a close up of Ferrera to showing her co-stars sitting next to her as they look directly at the camera without speaking.^[19]

On February 11, 2008, ABC picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008-09 television season, along with nine other shows.^[20] Unfortunately on the day the renewal was announced, two of the show's executive producers, Marco Pennette and James Hayman, were let go. The departures of Pennette and Hayman adds to the constant turnovers on the series off-camera, which has so far seen five writers having exited or fired.^[21] In a Q&A from TV Guide, Michael Ausiello criticized the decision, saying "that someone saw fit to fix what wasn't broken" and praised the two men for writing several of the show's best episodes.^[22] These turn of events may have also contributed to Rebecca Romijn's decision to no longer be a full time regular on the series in the third season, citing the move by new writers to make changes in the direction of several characters, especially Romijn's role as Alexis^[23].

With the strike now over as of February 12, there is now the possibility that they could have seven new episodes completed by April, bringing the number of second season episodes produced to 20,^[24] but so far it has been adjusted to 18. As a result of the strike, creator Silvio Horta has delayed plans for a musical episode and having Lindsay Lohan onboard for a possible storyline until the third season.^[25] Four days later on February 16, 2008, ABC picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008-09 television season.^[26]

On March 12, 2008, Horta inked a two-year, seven-figure deal with ABC Studios, which guarantees the show's future and gives Horta a chance to produce other projects aside from Betty.^[27]

On April 17, 2008, the show's podcast, which is usually presented in audio and hosted by stars Urie and Newton, became available on video for the first time.^[28]

On May 6, 2008, ABC announced that starting with the third season, Ugly Betty will return to New York City and start production there. The move was done to bring the authenticity of the series' setting into the show and to take advantage of a tax credit offered by the State of New York's Governors Office of Motion Picture and Television Development.^[29] The production is returning to Silvercup Studios in Queens, where the original pilot was produced.^[30] The move resulted in several crewmembers in Los Angeles being let go.^[31] These events would lead California Assemblyman Paul Krekorian to introduce bill AB X315, the "Ugly Betty Bill", which would keep television and film production from leaving the state by using tax incentives. The bill was passed by the assembly and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law on February 19, 2009^[32][33].

In January 2009, ABC announced that it was putting Ugly Betty on hold to make room for a new comedy In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? in the Thursday night time slot. The series' last original episode aired on March 19, 2009 and the current season would have finished up sometime in June 2009.^[34][35] It was then announced on Sunday, March 15, 2009, that Ugly Betty will return for its final five episodes of the season on Thursday, April 30, 2009 from a five-week break. Technically it was supposed to be back on May 7, but due to low ratings for Motherhood, ABC moved it up a week. ABC has since pulled Motherhood from the schedule after their April 16, 2009 airing. The two-episode season finale aired on Thursday, May 21 from 8-10pm.^[36]

The move by ABC and along with that, the show's declining ratings, lead viewers to believe that ABC would cancel the show. But on February 17, 2009, Becki Newton stated that the show has been picked up for a fourth season.^[37] That statement would later be confirmed on March 5, 2009, when Stephen Mcpherson, president of ABC Entertainment Group, announced that ABC plans to renew Ugly Betty.^[38] On April 23, 2009, just as it was predicted by Newton and McPherson, ABC gave an early fourth season renewal to Betty.^[39]

Competition with other "Betty" offshoots

Although Disney-ABC Domestic Television (Buena Vista Television) has sold the series to foreign territories, the English-language version is expected to compete with the in-house versions in several of the locations.^[40]

As noted by the international broadcast posted below, several of these broadcasters have not only acquired this version, but the counterparts as well, including those that were produced by the broadcasters themselves. So far the series has been sold to TV networks and broadcasters in over 130 countries, making this version the most successful of the "Betty La Fea" franchise.^[41]

In the U.S., Univision aired the Mexican counterpart La fea más bella, which ran weeknights at 8 p.m. (E/P), including Thursdays during the same time Ugly Betty airs. The star of the Mexican version, Angelica Vale, was anticipated to make a cameo in the 22nd episode, playing Betty's "counterpart" from the series, Leticia 'Lety' Padilla Solís,^[42]; Vale instead appeared in the season finale playing Angelica, an orthodontist's assistant who looks exactly like Lety (pre-makeover).

Inspired versions

While the original Betty la Fea has spawned serialized versions globally, it appears that the weekly American version has also begun to pique interest as well.

A version of Yo soy Betty, la fea made by Bosnian Federalna Televizija (FTV), Croatian RTL Televizija and Serbian Fox Televizija began airing in October 2007. The title of the show was Ne daj se, Nina ("Don't give up, Nina"). After a long audition, newcomer Lana Gojak, who resembles America Ferrera, was cast in the role of Nina (Betty). Other cast members were established actors such as Robert Kurbaša, Edvin Livarić, Bojana Ordinačev, Petar Ćiritović, Andrija Milošević, Kristina Krepela and Sloboda Mićalović. The first, and only, season consisted of just over 50 episodes. Although the storyline basically followed that of Yo soy Betty, la fea, Lana Gojak's appearance as Nina seemed to be based more on the heroine of Ugly Betty than on that of Yo soy Betty, la fea. The series had a number of other elements that were directly borrowed from Ugly Betty, rather than from Yo soy Betty, la fea. The series did pretty well in the ratings, but was too expensive to produce, so a second season was never ordered.

There has even been talk of an Arabic version of Ugly Betty, which would be produced and shot in Dubai. This would be the first Betty, la Fea-inspired series to be directly adapted from the American version.^[43]

Criticism from Colombia

In November 2007, Sony Entertainment Television began airing Ugly Betty in South America with Spanish subtitles. However in Colombia there were criticisms over the American version, calling it a pale imitation and counterfeit copy of their original version.^[44] Both series differ greatly, the Colombian version aired as a soap opera with daily cliffhangers, while Ugly Betty airs as a weekly comedy, only sometimes ending with cliffhangers.^[45] The American version also has a different main plot and explores different themes. While the American version has more than half a dozen core characters, the Colombian version turns only around Betty and her boss's life with its main plot being Betty's unrequited love for her handsome and promiscuous boss, whom she marries on the series' last episode. When it comes to the series' themes, Silvio Horta says that the American version explores economic disparity and race issues while the Colombian version was specifically about appearance.^[46]

Syndication

The TV Guide Network has purchased the rights to air reruns of Ugly Betty on cable television.^[47]

DVD releases

International broadcasts

Australia

Its debut episode on the Seven Network pulled in 2.03 million viewers, beating Nine's airing of 60 Minutes and Ten's airing of The Biggest Loser in the same time period. Since its debut the series has remained in the top five in the Australian TV ratings.^[54] The season one finale aired August 5, 2007, and received the lowest rating of the year - 1.051 million and only in the 13th slot of the night. This was predominantly because it aired in the same timeslot as the season premiere of rival program Australian Idol.^[55] After holding off on the 2nd season, it was announced in April 2008 that Seven would begin Ugly Betty's second season in a new 7:30 pm Wednesday timeslot, beginning on the 7th of May. The show has lost its large following, only drawing around 900,000 viewers despite strong advertising attempts by Channel Seven. The show was "shelved" after the ninth episode was shown on July 2, and will resume airing the remaining episodes until after the Olympics. It was replaced by 'RSPCA Animal Rescue."^[56] Ugly Betty returned to Seven on August 28th 2008 at a new and later timeslot of 9:30pm Thursdays. The episode aired, "Bananas For Betty" was viewed by only 597,000 viewers and was removed. Seven later announced that Ugly Betty will return twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, starting when Summer begins. It was then moved to only once a week at Thursday 7:30pm. Soon after, the show was pulled from screening (after finishing the second season) due to moderately low ratings. It was later confirmed on October 23, 2009, that Ugly Betty would return to Australian screens on Seven's new secondary digital channel 7Two. It will resume with the premiere of Season 3, The Manhattan Project, starting Tuesday 3rd November, 7:30pm.^[57] It is expected to air right through summer.

Belgium

VIJFtv began airing the show on March 13, 2008. The ratings for the first two episodes were 165,000.^{[citation needed]}. Its rival, Sara (the Flemish adaptation of Betty, la fea which aired on VTM), had a weekly audience between 650,000 and 750,000. It aired weekdays at 6:25 pm, while Ugly Betty is a weekly show that aired every Thursday at 9:00 pm. The show started almost five months after Sara premiered on VTM, which was a disadvantage for Ugly Betty. Betty failed to draw in more viewers because of the extremely successful Sara. VIJFtv decided to put a hold on the last six episodes of the first season of Betty. The possibility of VIJFtv continuing with Ugly Betty in September is still an option. Sara ended in June.

Brazil

Sony Entertainment Television on Wednesdays at 9pm and later on Thursdays at 8pm and SBT on Wednesdays at 10pm. Brazilians first saw Yo Soy Betty La Fea on RedeTV! in 2001 and its Mexican counterpart La Fea más Bella on SBT in 2006. in 2009, Bela, a feia, the Brazilian version, on Rede Record.

Bulgaria

Nova Television aired Season 1 from October 19 to November 20, 2007. Season 2 was aired from 11 November to December 5, 2008. Repetitions of Season 1 are aired on Fox Life.

Canada

Citytv owns the English-language rights to the series, which airs in the same timeslot as the American broadcast, while Radio-Canada, the French language television arm of the CBC, owns the francophone rights. The French version, known as Chère Betty ("Dear Betty"), debuted in Quebec and in the rest of French-speaking Canada on April 7, 2008 at 8:00 pm local time, 9:00 pm AT.

Chile

The show premiered on Canal 13 (Chile) on July 4, 2008, at 11:30 pm (GMT -04)

Croatia

The show started in October 31, 2007 on HRT, and Croatian version was aired on RTL named Ne daj se, Nina.

Czech Republic

TV Prima began airing the show's first season on March 5, 2008.

Ecuador

Season One started in October 31, 2007 in Sony Entertainment Television after the reality show America's Next Top Model.

Estonia

Kanal 2 has showed 2 seasons of Ugly Betty as Inetu Betty.

Finland

The show's third season runs on Nelonen Mondays at 8 pm as Ruma Betty, which literally means "Ugly Betty" in Finnish.

France

The first two episodes aired on TF1 on January 7, 2008 at late-night time, averaging about 3.8 million viewers (28.4% share) and 3.3 millions viewers (39.4% share). Ugly Betty did really well on key demos 15-24 (First episode: 46.8%, second episode: 56.7%) and 18-49 (First episode: 39.7%, second episode: 56.6%). But week after week the show has lost more than 1 million viewers, in part due to the late night schedule. In an effort to attract more viewers, two weekly TV magazines, Arthelius and Series TV Magazine, placed a cover of Ugly Betty on their February 12, 2008 issues.^[58][59]

Germany

This was the only country where Ugly Betty failed to connect with audiences. Sat.1 cancelled the show after two episodes due to low ratings. Germany has had its own local adaptation of Betty la Fea, Verliebt in Berlin, which also aired on Sat1 and was more popular with viewers than Betty.

Greece

ANT1 waited for the Greek version of "Betty la fea", Maria, i Aschimi, shown on the rival network Mega Channel to end on June 2008, and it started broadcasting the series a week after, on July 1, 2008 at 9.00 pm. The first episode got a 13.1% share. On July 8, 2009 at 7.00 pm, ANT1 will show season 3 of the series.

Hong Kong

Season one premiered on March 17, 2007 on TVB Pearl while the second season aired one year later, starting on April 14, 2008, on Monday nights at 10:35 pm, and ended on August 4, 2008. Season 3 will be premiering on April 20, on Monday nights at 9:35 pm. Season one is also available as a video on demand program on now TV.

Hungary

Season one premiered in March 2007 on RTL Klub at 7:00 pm Sunday. After the first couple of episodes, the show was removed to a time slot with fewer viewers at 5:30 pm. The first season was a huge failure, so the airing of the second season on RTL Klub is uncertain.

India

Season One premiered in July 2007, on Star World at 9:00 pm every Wednesday evening. India had aired Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. Indian fans believed that Jassi was the inspiration for the American adaptation of Betty, although Gaitan notes in interviews that the American version was inspired by the Colombian version.^[60] However, Jassi, despite being a success, did not last as long as Betty did.^[61]

Ireland

The European premiere took place on RTÉ Two on January 1, 2007. Season two again premiered on RTÉ Two on October 4, 2007. Ugly Betty airs Thursdays at 8:00 pm on RTÉ Two and has proven to be successful among viewers. The second season returned after a break on March 24, 2008 at 8:05 pm.

Season Three premiered on November 6, 2008, at 8:40pm on RTÉ Two and finished on June 4, 2009.

Israel

Season premiere aired in Israel in March 2, 2007 on Channel Israel 10. The rights were bought by the Israeli Cable Company Hot Telecom and has started during April 2008 the re-runs of season 1 which will be followed by season 2, broadcasting on Channel 3. The second season is broadcast these days parallelly on the Israeli Satellite television provider yes, channel yes Stars 2, on Wednesdays, 21:15 o'clock. The name of the series in Israel is only "Betty" (בטי).

Italy

The season premiere aired on Italia 1 in May averaging about 3.5 million viewers making it one of the most watched program of the night. The first part of season one (episodes 1-14) aired from May until June averaged 3.2 million viewers, and the second part (episodes 15-23) aired in September averaging 2.5 million viewers. The series did especially well in the 18–49 years old target with an average share of 13%. Second season started airing on July 2, 2008.

Japan

Season one started in October 1, 2007 and has been aired on NHK BS2 at 11:00 p.m. every Monday evening. Also re-run started in October 19, 2008 and has been aired on NHK Sohgoh at 01:20 a.m. - 02:05 a.m. every Saturday midnight (actually Sunday).^[62] The Japanese title is as same as the original Ugly Betty though it is written in Japanese Katakana ("アグリー・ベティー"). Satellite and cable channel Super Drama TV have also picked up the show as Season One began airing in April 2008. Season two started in September 30, 2008 and has been aired on NHK BS2 at 11:00 p.m - 11:45p.m. every Tuesday evening.^[63]

Kuwait

ShowSeries airs Ugly Betty every Monday, and Fox Series will start showing the season starting August 2009.

Lebanon

ShowSeries airs Ugly Betty every Monday.

Latvia

TV3 began showing season one on March 5, 2008.

Lithuania

LNK, the same channel that aired Yo Soy Betty, la fea began airing the show on January 7, 2008.

Malaysia

8TV (Malaysia) began airing the show in 2007, and finished airing the second season on June 3, 2008. The third season has recently concluded on the July 21, 2009

Mexico

There is a dispute over who owns the rights to Ugly Betty in that country. TV Azteca had acquired the rights in 2006 and was set to debut it in 2007, but Sony Entertainment Television, which is also airs on cable and satellite systems in Mexico, has the Latin American rights, resulting in several delays until the matter is settled. Sony Entertainment Television started airing Ugly Betty in Mexico in May 2008.

Middle East and North Africa

Showtime Arabia aired Ugly Betty season 2 on ShowSeries in July 2008. Fox Series in 2009

Morocco

The show is currently being aired on 2M.

Netherlands

Net 5 began airing Ugly Betty on August 20, 2007 to excellent ratings. Its rival Tien aired Lotte, the Dutch adaption of Yo Soy Betty, la fea. Lotte gained an audience of between the 250,000 and 300,000 viewers, while Ugly Betty does better with a weekly audience of between 400,000 and 600,000 viewers. Since the third season began in the Netherlands the ratings started to decline, even with Desperate Housewives as lead-in. It now has an audience of between 250.000 and 350.000.

New Zealand

Season 3 aired at 5.30 on Sunday night on TV2 finishing on the 2nd of August 2009. The the show used to air at 7.30 on Sunday nights (Season 1-2) but TVNZ moved it.

North Korea

The show is aired at private weekly meetings hosted by Kim Jong-Il's third son, Kim Jong-un.

Norway

The show airs on TV Norge, Wednesdays at 08:45 pm. It premiered in January 2008 and had 365,000 viewers.

Philippines

It is currently being shown on Studio 23 (which also aired Betty La Fea) and Star World. The Philippine version of Ugly Betty debuted on Studio 23's mother network ABS-CBN in September 2008, entitled I ♥ Betty La Fea. It features Bea Alonzo in the titular role as Betty and uses some of the elements from Ugly Betty in this adaptation.

Poland

The first season of Ugly Betty premiered in Poland on May 14, 2007 on Fox Life, and on September 3, 2007 on TVP2. Season two premiered on FoxLife on March 23, 2008 and currently airs on TVP2. The Polish version of Yo soy Betty, la fea premiered in October 2008 on TVN (Poland). The title of the show is BrzydUla (which translates into "Ugly Ula"; it is a portmanteau of the word "Brzydula" which is a polish word meaning an Ugly Woman and the name Ula, a popular polish nickname for the name "Ursula").

Portugal

It is airing both on national television (SIC) and on cable (Fox Life). The first season premiered on April 7, 2007, while the second aired for the first time on October 21, of the same year. Both seasons were premiered on SIC. The Portuguese version was transmitted in 2001, with the title Tudo Por Amor (All For Love).

Puerto Rico

Season one was aired this year 2008 on WAPA-TV at 9:00 pm every Thursday evening, with repetitions on Sunday evenings at 10:00 pm. It is shown under the Spanish title "Betty, Mi Fea Bellas" with Spanish voice actors providing the dubbing over the show's cast.

Romania

The show is broadcast by Acasă TV, the same channel that aired Yo Soy Betty, la fea.

Russia

The show airs on Channel One Russia and MTV Russia as "Дурнушка" (Durnushka) or "Plain Girl".

Singapore

MediaCorp's Channel 5 airs the series' second season on Thursday Nights at 10PM. The first season aired on Sunday nights in 2007.

Slovakia

Markíza began airing the show on January 12, 2008.

Slovenia

POP TV began airing the first season in September 2007. On September 8, 2008, the second season premiered. The third season was to premiere in September 2009, but didn't. It is now rumored that it will premiere in January 2010.

South America

Sony Entertainment Television, which airs on cable and satellite, has the Latin American rights and began airing the series in those territories in November 2007.

South Africa

Ugly Betty premiered in South Africa on Pay Channel, M-Net on Tuesday 17 July, 2007. It later was re-broadcast on sister channels, GO and M-Net Holiday. The first season fared well with audience's and was a hit for the channel with a strong buzz around the show. Due to heavy promotions for the show across all media spectrums by M-Net, the premiere episode of Ugly Betty attracted 80% more viewers than Smallville which previously occupied its time slot. M-Net marketing General Manager, Koo Govender, says the first episode was watched by about 432 000 viewers.^[64] Generally for its first season, Ugly Betty often generated 350 000 viewers with each airing, bringing in good ratings for the channel. Seasons 2 and 3 aired in the same timeslot as its premiere season; Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm CAT, with Season 2 premiering on the 25 March 2008. The channel recently premiered Season 3 on Tuesday January 13. In its third season the show still pulls in strong ratings similar to its premiere season keeping a consistent fan base. M-Net repeats the show on Wednesdays at 5:00pm CAT.

Southeast Asia

The show currently airs on Star World on Wednesday and Saturdays, especially in countries that also owns the broadcast rights to the show.

Spain

Cuatro began airing the show on June 10, 2008. The premiere was delayed several months as competing channel Telecinco was airing the Spanish version of Betty, Yo Soy Bea.^[65] In addition to its run on Cuarto, the show also airs Cosmpolitan Television Espana.

Sweden

The show began airing November 7, 2006 on Kanal 5. The show always airs on Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm. Season 2 aired the fall of 2007 and after the half season, on January 29, 2008, the first season of Gossip Girl aired. The rest of season 2 and season 3 aired in the spring of 2008 and the rest of season 3 is going to air in the fall in 2008.

Taiwan

Season One premiered February 6, 2009 on PTS channel at 11:00 pm from Monday to Friday.

Turkey

In Turkey Ugly Betty is broadcast on TNT every Saturday at 20:00 pm, as well as on ComedyMax

Ukraine

On Chanal 1+1 at 16:00 pm every Sunday evening. In Ukraine Ugly Betty is named "American not beauty" (Ukrainain "Не краса по-американськи" [ne krasa po-amerykansky]).

United Kingdom

The premiere on Channel 4 on January 5, 2007 attracted 4.5 million viewers.^[66] Two weeks later, Ugly Betty hit a new high, with 5.5 million viewers watching the third episode.^[67]

The figures and shares were similar each week, around 2-3 million viewers with 10-15% share; however, the finale rated less than the premiere episode, attracting 3.1 million viewers with 15% share.^[68] This could have been due to Channel 4 moving the show half an hour later that evening to accommodate an extended edition of Big Brother.

Due to the show's success and the fanbase it has achieved in the UK, Channel 4 decided to move up the second season premiere to Friday, October 5, 2007, thus allowing viewers to watch episodes one week after their U.S. airing.

The show went on hiatus from Friday December 12 due to the WGA strike, the last shown episode was Bananas for Betty. Season 2 resumed on September 5, 2008 at 9pm with the episode "Zero Worship". Season 2 finished on Channel 4, the last episode being shown on Friday 17th October 2008.

Season 3 started on Wednesday 24th June 2009 with "The Manhattan Project". The show aired on Wednesday nights up until Wednesday 30th September 2009, and it has now been replaced by True Blood which now shows in it's timeslot. Ugly Betty has moved to Monday nights at 10pm.

United States (Insular Territories and Overseas Military locations)

In Guam, ABC affiliate KTGM airs the series twice a week, with the current original being shown on Saturdays at 8:00 pm followed by a repeat on Sundays or during the week when a timeslot is available. They are the only ABC affiliate in the United States to air it twice.

The Armed Forces Network's AFN-Spectrum channel airs the series on Wednesdays. The network will usually start airing the latest episodes a couple of months after the US broadcasts, as opposed to waiting a year after its stateside airing.

Venezuela

The show premiered on Sony Entertainment Television and now airs on Venevision on Sundays at 11:00 pm.

Vietnam

The show now airs on Ho Chi Minh City Television on every Thursday and Friday.

Merchandising

On April 15, 2008, Hyperion Books, a Disney owned publisher, released a companion book to the series, aptly titled Ugly Betty: The Book, a 175-page softcover about the show in general, which covers the first season and portions of the second, complete with interviews from the cast and crew, tips and quotes from the characters, and mock ads for Fabia Cosmetics and Atlantic Attire. Around the same time, Random House's children's books division will publish a "magazine"-inspired book tied into the series, complete with photos and mock ads as if they were published by Betty herself, targeted for younger readers.^[69]

In addition, a 2008 calendar for Ugly Betty was released using stills from the first season, while a series of greeting cards was issued in January 2008. These photos were edited to enhance her facial features. A 2009 calendar is scheduled to be issued in August 2008.^[70]

Even the main character has been immortalized into a doll, as Angelic Dreamz, Inc's Madame Alexander collection introduced two different versions of Betty Suarez that were featured on their website in February 2008.^[71]

In July 2009, Coca-Cola UK unveiled a special limited edition Diet Coke bottle created by Patricia Field called "The Betty" for sale in the United Kingdom as a exclusive for customers at Selfridges.^[72]

Reception

U.S ratings

Television parodies and references

In the October 7, 2006, episode of "Saturday Night Live," cast member Fred Armisen spoofed the character of Betty by playing a look-alike named Fugly Betsy. Not to be outdone, a February 17, 2007 episode of MADtv has Ellen DeGeneres (played by Nicole Parker) interviewing an actress on her talk show who plays Ugly Betty with Salma Hayek (played by LisaNova) always pointing out how ugly she is. The Ugly Betty actress (played by Crista Flanagan) claims it is only make up and costume but is ignored. Crista later reprised her Betty role in the poorly reviewed parody film Meet The Spartans.^[77]

On April 22, 2007, the 2007 TV Land Awards parodied the series with a spoof aptly titled Ugly Betty White, with White playing Betty Suarez, Charo playing Hilda, Erik Estrada playing Ignacio, Joan Collins playing Wilhelmina, Peter Scolari playing Alexis, and George Hamilton playing Daniel.^[78] Thanks to her performance in that parody, the producers cast White in a guest role in the second season.^[79]

Even the cast poked fun at their alter egos. On October 30, 2006, three of the series' cast members, appearing in their characters (Ferrera as Betty, Mabius as Daniel, and Newton as Amanda) gave New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a 'makeover' to make him look more like quarterback Tom Brady in a spoof that was featured on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown.^[80]

It was also referenced in other shows, most notably in "Up All Night", the February 8, 2007 installment of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, in which Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) says "this would've worked on Ugly Betty" when she fails to crawl out a door without being seen. The scene was patterned after the Ugly Betty episode "Swag" in which Betty crawled through a fashion show.^[81] Interestingly enough, Hayek will also make a recurring appearance on 30 Rock in the third season ^[82].

In an episode of the TV sitcom Scrubs, Christopher Turk has a picture taken of "Ugly Betty" with his daughter, only for it to be torn up by best friend and main character John Dorian.

In March 2009, a spoof of Ugly Betty, called [3] Ugly Yeti was made by Take180. Take180, like ABC, is a Disney company and the parody was featured on ABC's website.

Success abroad

The buildup to "Bettymania" by various broadcasters also began to take shape overseas, especially in the United Kingdom. On December 6, 2006, Channel 4 began to advertise the show. The ad shows seemingly attractive models gathered around a pool, but as the camera angle changes a model comes out of the pool wearing Betty's glasses, then as the models smile, they are all wearing Betty's braces. Another ad parodies Marks and Spencer's successful fashion advertising campaign, as well as Dove and Gap campaigns. A voice over then says, "Fashion has a new face. 'Ugly Betty' Coming Soon To 4." After a week of these teasers, clips from the actual programme were included in the trailers. In mid-January, in the UK, Davina McCall, presenter of Celebrity Big Brother dressed up as Betty live on Channel 4 before the titles of the second eviction show of the evening. Interestingly on February 16, 2007, Ashley Jensen (Christina) also dressed up as Betty during an airing of Channel 4's Friday Night Project, where she was the guest host. The children's channel CBeebies also parodied the title sequence, with one variation mixing faces of regular CBeebies characters until finally settling with Tiny from Little Robots.

In Australia, during the lead up week to the huge Sunday Premiere of Ugly Betty, February 12 to February 17, 2007, Channel Seven devoted a week of Deal or No Deal to the show by having the models dress like Betty, complete with the Guadalajara poncho. Channel Seven also used the series to promote its successful "Beautiful Sundays" schedule.

In South Africa, M-Net teamed up with Ogilve Johannesburg to hype up its campaign for the show, which included a picture of Betty on the mock cover of ELLE magazine^[83]

Also, in New Zealand, TV2 also hyped-up Ugly Betty by promoting Tuesday nights as "True Beauty Tuesday", and when the show moved to Sunday nights, it promoted them as "Beautiful Sunday". TV2 also increased the hype when they launched competitions for a replica of Betty's Guadalajara poncho.

Cultural impact

Ever since the show's debut, the main characters, especially the title character, have quickly become the latest fixtures in the lexicon of pop media culture, and already they found their way onto parodies, news media stories and art-imitating-life situations. The show's impact on issues and culture has also attracted the attention of the United States Congress, where on January 17, 2007 California congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-32nd, El Monte) saluted Ferrera on both her Golden Globe win and for bringing a positive profile to the Latin and Hispanic communities.^[84] In addition to that recognition, on May 8, 2007, star America Ferrera was honored by Time on the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people. The event took place at New York's Lincoln Center and the actress was recognized for defying stereotypes with the show.^[85] The success of Ugly Betty and how it deals with body imaging among women in general would inspire a series of reports on Entertainment Tonight, in which reporter Vanessa Minillo went undercover in a fatsuit to see if women were discriminated on the basis of how they look. Gay awareness groups like GLAAD have also noted the positive impact the show has had regarding Betty's teenaged nephew Justin, who is apparently gay though it is never mentioned or alluded to in any of the episodes, presenting his sexuality as clearly a non-issue. Like the other Suarez family members, Justin is loved, supported and accepted unconditionally.

Awards

Since its debut, Ugly Betty won two Golden Globe Awards on January 15, 2007, for "Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series" (America Ferrera) and Best Comedy Series. Ferrera also won a SAG Award on January 28, 2007, for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series". On June 4, 2007, the series was honored with a Peabody Award for its storylines, which explores clashing concepts of beauty, class, race and footwear with intelligence, warmth and wit.^[86]

Ugly Betty won the Outstanding Comedy Series award by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in April 2007. [4] Judith Light also won a Prism Award for her portrayal as Claire Meade. On July 19, 2007, the series received 11 nominations at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards in the Comedy category (the most of any comedy series),^[87] including Outstanding Comedy Series, Best Actress (Ferrera), Best Supporting Actress (Williams), and Best Guest Starring Actress (Hayek for her role as Sofia; Light for her role as Claire. Both lost to Elaine Stritch). It won three awards — Best Casting in a Comedy Series, Best Direction in a Comedy Series (for the show's pilot episode), and Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Ferrera).^[88] For its second season it received 6 other Primetime Emmy Award nominations,going home empty handed. Overall, Ugly Betty has been nominated for eighteen Emmy Awards.

Although The NAACP Image Awards honors African Americans in the entertainment industry, the series has won five of the Image Awards' eight major TV categories, a rarity among television series with a multicultural cast. In addition to winning an Image award for the TV series in 2007 and Ferrera for best actress in 2008, Vanessa Williams has won back to back honors (in 2007 and 2008) in the Supporting Actress category for her portrayal of Wilhelmina Slater.

The ALMA Awards honors the Hispanic entertainment community. During its first season, Ugly Betty won four of its first seven nominations and in the second season took home three more, along with a Chevrolet Entertainer of the Year Award for Ferrera for her work on the show. Overall the series has received eleven nominations.

Reviews

• Ugly Betty Reviews at Metacritic.com
• first-look in USA Today (August 15, 2006)
• Review in USA Today (September 28, 2006)
• Comparisons between Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada in USA Today (September 26, 2006)
• "It's a 'Bettification' project" from USA Today (October 4, 2006)
• from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (September 27, 2006)
• from The Los Angeles Times (September 27, 2006)
• from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (September 27, 2006)
• from Seattle Post-Intelligencer (September 28, 2006)
• from Canoe.ca (September 28, 2006)
• "Ugly, The American" from Time (November 27, 2006)
• From North Jersey.com (December 15, 2006)
• "Be Ugly '07" campaign announced in USA Today (December 20, 2006)
• Articles from TV Addict

See also

• List of Ugly Betty cast members
• List of Ugly Betty episodes

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ugly Betty

• Ugly Betty at the Internet Movie Database
• Ugly Betty at TV.com
• Ugly Betty at TV Guide
• Official website from ABC
• MODE Magazine online Official spinoff website for the show

v • d • e Official remakes and adaptations of Yo soy Betty la fea Yo soy Betty, la fea (1999): Ana Maria Orozco, Jorge Enrique Abello, Julián Arango, Ricardo Vélez, Celmira Luzardo Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (2003): Mona Singh, Navneet Nishan, Samir Soni, Neena Gupta, Parmeet Sethi, Gaurav Gera Sensiz Olmuyor (2005): Özlem Conker, Emre Altuğ, Yeliz Şar Verliebt in Berlin (2005): Alexandra Neldel, Mathis Künzler, Tim Sander, Laura Osswald Ne rodis krasivoy (2005): Nelly Uvarova La Fea Más Bella (2006): Angelica Vale, Nora Salinas, Juan Soler, Jaime Camil, Elizabeth Álvarez Lotte (2006): Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Lars Oostveen, Ilse Heus, Geert Hoes, Arent Jan Linde, Janna Fassaert Yo soy Bea (2006): Ruth Núñez Ugly Betty (2006): America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Alan Dale, Tony Plana, Vanessa L. Williams, Michael Urie, Becki Newton Maria, i Asximi (2007) Aggeliki Daliani, Anthimos Ananiadis, Antigoni Glikofidi, Tasos Kostis Sara (2007): Veerle Baetens, Kürt Rogiers, Sandrine André, Veerle Eyckermans, Tom Van Bauwel, Gert Winckelmans, Lotte Pinoy Ne daj se, Nina (2007): Lana Gojak, Robert Kurbaša, Kristina Krepela, Andrija Milošević, Bojana Ordinačev Cô gái xấu xí (2008): Ngoc Hiep, Chi Bao, Lan Phuong, Phi Thanh Van, Binh Minh Ošklivka Katka (2008): I Love Betty La Fea (2008): Bea Alonzo, John Lloyd Cruz, Ruffa Gutierrez, Vhong Navarro, Ronaldo Valdez, Sam Concepcion, Alessandra De Rossi, Ai-Ai Delas Alas BrzydUla (2008): Julia Kamińska, Marek Włodarczyk, Filip Bobek Chou Nu Wu Di (2008): Li Xinru Bela, a feia (2009): Gisele Itié, Bruno Ferrari, Carla Regina, Simone Spoladore, Natália Guimarães