La fea más bella

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La Fea más bella
Directed by	Sergio Jiménez
Written by	Fernando Gaitán Palmira Olguín
Script by
Cinematography by	Alejandro Álvarez Aurelio García
Produced by	Rosy Ocampo
Starring	Angelica Vale Jaime Camil Elizabeth Álvarez Juan Soler Patricia Navidad Sergio Mayer José José
Music by	Alejandro Abaroa
Theme song	"La fea más bella", "Aquí Estaré"
Performed by	Bacilos, Angélica Vale
Country	Mexico
Language	Spanish
Network	Televisa
Broadcast	2006-2007
No. of episodes	+/-216 since January 23, 2006

La fea más bella was a Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa. It is the second Mexican version of the popular Colombian telenovela Betty la fea. La fea más bella stars popular actress/singer/comedian Angélica Vale and actor/singer Jaime Camil, with one of the most diverse and popular supporting casts ever assembled in Mexico, including Angélica María, José José, Elizabeth Álvarez, Patricia Navidad and many others.

Telenovelas are wildly popular throughout the Spanish speaking world and their limited run series are very profitable. La fea más bella is the number one Univision TV program according to 2006 Nielsen ratings. It also beats out some American programming in the 8 to 9 PM timeslot. For the week of Nov. 6-12, 2006, La fea más bella averaged approximately 5 million viewers each evening. It was ranked in the Nielsen Ratings's top 100 rated shows at numbers 79, 80, 82, 83 and 86. It is notable that this telenovela's Neilsen rated show, #80, on a Thursday night beat out the CW's Smallville which came in at #84 with 4.46 million viewers.^[1] [2]

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Synopsis 1.2 Here Comes Ugly Lety 1.3 Filmo Imagen is Born 1.4 The Romance Begins 1.5 "I Was for Him What He Was for Me" 1.6 Problems while at Paradise 1.7 Big Changes at Conceptos 1.8 "Aurora" 1.9 "Here come the brides" 1.10 Aldo or Fernando (Series Finale) 2 Cast 2.1 Lety, her family, and her friends 2.2 Conceptos staff 2.3 "The Ugly Women's Club" 2.4 Other adult characters 2.5 Kids 3 Trivia 3.1 Catch phrases 3.2 Facts 4 Names 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Stared: January 23, 2006 - Ended: February 25, 2007 with a three and a half-hour series finale.

[edit] Synopsis

Lety the protagonist, like The Ugly Duckling, leaves her nest to enter the world of high fashion as a secretary/accountant, thinking her brains will overcome her outward appearance while suffering corporate dislike and scourge. Lety falls in love with Fernando her handsome boss, the corporate president, who connives her into cooking the failing company books while tempting her with the apple of his love. Along the way she learns some hard life lessons, compromises her values but eventually realizes that her inner beauty and true love was only skin deep. Fernando will encounter his Paradise Lost when Lety discovers his ruse and is cast out from his corporate paradise by his father.

[edit] Here Comes Ugly Lety

La fea más bella is based on the Colombian telenovela (Yo soy Betty, la fea) which debuted in 1999. This new sequel is another TV series like those aired around the world (Russia, India, Germany, USA, Spain, Philippines (Yo soy Bea)). These spin-offs make Yo soy Betty, la fea one of the most successful Spanish soap operas. This Mexican version tells the story of Leticia (Lety) Padilla Solís (Angélica Vale), a kind, intelligent young woman whose advancement in life is severely hindered by her homely appearance. Leticia leads a lonely and secluded existence: she resides with her humble parents, Erasmo Padilla (José José) and Julieta Solís (Angélica María, who is Vale's mother in real life). Her only friend appears to be Tomás Mora (Luis Manuel Ávila), who is essentially her male double. When the story begins, Lety is having difficulty securing a job. Despite having graduated from UNAM, a prestigious university, Lety's talents are overlooked in a job market that values beauty over brains.

Meanwhile, Don Humberto Mendiola (Carlos Bracho), president of Conceptos (Concepts), one of Mexico's most important media production firms, announces his plans to retire. Two candidates will subsequently vie for the presidency of the firm: Fernando Mendiola (Jaime Camil), Humberto's son, and Ariel Villarroel (Raúl Magaña), Humberto's foster son. The contest reaches a stalemate. However, when it becomes clear that the tie-breaking vote will fall to Marcia Villarroel (Elizabeth Álvarez), Ariel's sister and Fernando's long-time girlfriend, Fernando decides to propose to her. This move wins Fernando her vote and, much to Ariel's displeasure, Fernando Mendiola is chosen as the new President of Conceptos.

Meanwhile, Lety is increasingly frustrated because of her inability to secure a good job. She decides to send her résumé to Conceptos just as Fernando is about to hire a secretary to start his term. This time, however, in hopes that her appearance does not overshadow her qualifications, she decides not to include a photograph.

This move works in her favor, and she soon receives a call from Conceptos for a job interview. On her way to the interview, she finds out that her only competitor for the position of executive assistant is Alicia Ferreira (Patricia Navidad), who, despite being rather physically attractive, is grossly unqualified for the job. When they are both interviewed by the womanizing director of human resources Raúl López (Sergio Acosta), Lety realizes that Alicia is likely to land the job purely on account of her looks. Extremely discouraged, she returns home, where she and Tomás sulk over their unsuccessful lives. Tomás also discovers a picture of Alicia. From afar, she quickly becomes the object of his affection.

Back at Conceptos, Fernando argues with López over his decision to hire Alicia as executive assistant. Alicia happens to be Marcia's best friend and would be likely to report to her on his many love affairs (Fernando is a known casanova). Fernando is left no choice but to call back Lety.

After receiving the good news, Lety returns to Conceptos, where she falls in love at first sight with Fernando. He, however, regrets having called her back upon setting eyes on her. Forced to choose between Lety and Alicia, Fernando finds himself in a conundrum: not hiring Lety means losing a qualified assistant, while not hiring Alicia means getting an earful from Marcia. Ultimately, he decides to hire them both in order to test who is better qualified for the job.

So as not to affect the company’s image adversely, Fernando (or Don Fernando, more to Lety's liking) hides Lety away in an office behind his — in a room that is actually a storage closet within his own office.

Lety soon proves herself to be trustworthy. Before long, Fernando entrusts her with his "black book", which contains information about all of his love affairs, dates, etc. Marcia, now Fernando's fiancée, soon learns that Lety has this book in her possession. From this point onward, Marcia becomes Lety's sworn enemy, considering her to be an accomplice to Fernando's constant infidelities,

At Conceptos, Lety initially feels like an outsider, judging herself quite the ugly duckling in comparison to Alicia and the many models who do work for the firm. Soon, however, she meets the so-called cuartel de las feas--or the Ugly Club--a clique of largely middle-class female employees who, not measuring up to the widely-accepted standards of beauty that give women like Alicia such an advantage in society, share many of the problems that Lety faces.

The group's members are: Irmita (Luz María Aguilar), the kind, gentle and matronly assistant of fashion designer and director Luigi Lombardi; Martha (Maribel Fernández), a wife and mother struggling with her weight; Lola (Rosita Pelayo), a hot-tempered woman trying to win back her husband, who recently left her for a younger woman; Paula María (Niurka Marcos), a sassy young girl and single mother constantly in search of a rich husband; Sara (Raquel Garza), an unusually tall woman whose height hinders (in her opinion) her search for love; and Juana (Gloria Izaguirre), the young and good-humored cleaning lady who surprisingly is the only one who doesn't complain all the time.

With the help of the Club, Lety eventually becomes Don Fernando's right hand, falling in love with him in the process. She is soon permanently instated as executive assistant.

Alicia, on the other hand, is constantly plagued by financial troubles on account of her taste for luxuries that she cannot afford.

[edit] Filmo Imagen is Born

In the meantime, business at Conceptos is slow. Wishing to follow through on his promise to double the company's capital in a short span of time, but lacking the necessary experience to do it, Fernando undertakes projects that leave Conceptos deeper in debt. When the banks threaten to seize Conceptos, Fernando devises a plan: he asks Lety to create a dummy company which would appear to acquire Conceptos but in fact leave it in Fernando's control, though under Lety's ownership. Both Lety and Fernando are conscious of the illegality of such an undertaking.

By this point, Lety is wholly infatuated with Fernando and decides to look the other way regarding her boss's unethical business practices. Not hesitating to get herself embroiled in this illegal undertaking, she creates a dummy company called Filmo Imagen and hires Tomás as its general manager. His task will be to invest the company's funds, which he does adeptly with the aid of Lety's father.

Before the first general board meeting--during which the firm's finances are to be reviewed by its stockholders--Fernando asks Lety to doctor various balance sheets so as to conceal the acquisition of Conceptos by Filmo Imagen. Lety follows her boss's orders without hesitation.

Before long, however, Tomás begins bragging about his new position as manager of Filmo Imagen. This bragging indirectly comes to Fernando's attention. He and his vice president, Omar Carvajal (Agustín Arana), who also happens to be Fernando's best friend, fear that Tomás and Lety might make use of their position of power over Conceptos to take over the firm. In order to avoid such an outcome, Omar suggests that Fernando attempt to seduce Lety, not having realized that she is already in love with him.

[edit] The Romance Begins

Fernando reluctantly agrees and tells Lety he is in love with her (which is totally fake). Blinded by love, she falls for her boss and the two start dating. Fernando tells Lety they should keep their relationship a secret and instructs her to say Tomas is her boyfriend to not raise suspicions of their affair.

Ignoring his true feelings, Fernando is disgusted because he is going out with Lety, but keeps on doing it to "save" his enterprise. Despite Omar's ugly comments about her appearance, Fernando makes love with Lety. Lety completely gives herself passionately to Fernando and he finally finds out what true love really is, and that his love for Marcia is really an illusion. Because of this, Fernando promises Lety he will cancel his marriage to Marcia as soon as the second Committee Meeting is over, conscious that in fact he will not be able to do it, although he wishes to do it.

Business at Conceptos improves thanks to Lety, and soon they get an invitation to produce a sports wear commercial in Germany because of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Seeing that he and Marcia have to travel to Germany to oversee the production of the commercial while Fernando stays in Mexico, Omar leaves an instruction sheet in which he describes thoroughly the instructions Fernando must follow to keep Lety in love, reminding him their motives so he does not give up, cheering him up and telling him his "routine of horror" is to end as soon as Lety disguises the balance sheet for the second Committee Meeting, after which Fernando will finally marry Marcia. Of course, the letter is unnecessary, for Fernando already loves Lety and does not need any convincing to keep on doing it.

[edit] "I Was for Him What He Was for Me"

Unfortunately, Lety discovers this letter accidentally which completely shatters the world around her. Broken hearted, Lety thinks (mistakenly) that Fernando has played with her the whole time and that he will not cancel his wedding after all. After she goes through a mourning phase during which all her happiness and joy for life seem to fade, Lety decides not to disguise the balance sheet at the Committee Meeting as a revenge. Meanwhile, she plans to pretend she still loves Don Fernando, so he does not suspect anything. She puts all of Fernando's presents in a garbage bag.

At the same time, Alicia, whose monetary problems are now really serious, discovers that Lety has a very rich "boyfriend" (Tomás) and starts looking for him. Tomás is amazed by this, and with his dream finally coming true, he does not mind being "unfaithful" to Lety. Lety finds out about Tomás' relationship with Alicia and would not have had any problems with it had Alicia not been her sworn enemy at Conceptos.

Fernando, who is now totally in love with Lety, decides to indeed cancel his wedding after the Meeting. For he realizes, he would not be happy with Marcia. However, he senses that Lety is not as loving as she was before. He tries desperately to win her back, but thinks her heart now belongs to Tomás (who has been pretending to be her boyfriend ever since Fernando asked them). Fernando finally gets jealous, to the point of getting in a fight with Tomás.

Carolina Ángeles (Nora Salinas), Conceptos' public promoter, discovers Lety and Fernando's affair. Carolina proposes that Lety quit Conceptos and travel with her, which Lety plans to do just after the Committee Meeting.

Lety asks Tomás to prepare to quit Filmo Imagen, as she is planning to deliver the company at the Committee Meeting alongside her letter of resignation. She also tells him to end his relationship with Alicia Ferreira, who only wants him because of the money he will forfeit upon his termination.

However, Lety briefly surrenders to Fernando's supplications and reconsiders disguising the balance sheets. But all that vanishes when she overhears a conversation between Fernando and Omar in which they discuss where they will send Lety after the Meeting (to protect her, although she does not know this). So, she presents the real balance sheet at the Meeting.

Humberto, Fernando's father, expresses his disappointment for Fernando's handling of the enterprise, and asks Fernando and Omar to resign the enterprise. During the Meeting, Lety presents her letter of resignation to Marcia, who is angry at her for ruining the empire.

Lety retrieves her belongings from her "office" and gets ready to leave, but is stopped by Marcia, who insists on seeing what is inside Lety's garbage bag. Marcia then discovers Fernando's unfaithfulness and Lety explains what he did and why he did it, and asks Marcia to forgive her.

[edit] Problems while at Paradise

Lety finally leaves Conceptos for good and travels by airplane to Acapulco with Carolina, becoming her personal assistant in supervising the development of the Nuestra Belleza Mexico beauty pageant. At the airport, Carolina is surprised to see Lety's arm in a cast but promises Erasmo and Julieta that she will take care of their "baby". There they toast for the sake of leaving Lety's past behind and for the changes that await her.

Meanwhile, Fernando drives to the Padilla house in search of Lety, but she told her parents not to tell anyone where she is. Tomás tells Fernando in no uncertain terms that Lety wants nothing to do with him.

However, Lety feels she does not fit in that world of beauties. So, after telling Carolina she wishes to leave, Lety visits the Acapulco sea for the last time. She nearly drowns there, but is rescued by Aldo (Juan Soler), a charming and good-looking chef. Lety mistakes him for a fisherman, who befriends her and increases her self-esteem. After that, Lety decides not to leave after all.

Aldo gradually changes Lety's view of the world and teaches her that what matters is not the "wrapper", but what is inside.

Back in Mexico, Fernando just can't forget Lety. That weakness makes him more careless about his commitment to Conceptos, which makes his father even more displeased with him.

Aldo discovers he is in love with Lety and tries to win her heart, but Lety still loves Fernando unwillingly.

Meanwhile, business at Conceptos does not go well, as Humberto struggles to get his enterprise out of financial trouble. The Conceptos staff believes Lety wants to keep both enterprises for herself, which makes Fernando wonder whether Lety is really worth being in love with.

Fearful about getting sued, Tomás phones Lety, telling her she has to return to Mexico to clear everything up. Lety refuses, saying she has commitments to Carolina, and tells Tomás to go to Conceptos himself instead. He does it reluctantly - fearful of Alicia - and tells Humberto and the staff that Lety does not intend to keep Conceptos, but they do not believe him.

Troubled by his conflicting feelings, Fernando drives semi-unconsciously out of México and reaches Acapulco, where he visits a bar. He gets drunk and starts a fight with a bunch of wrestlers, who almost kill him. Fortunately, Marcia - who followed him to Acapulco by airplane - arrives at the bar and drives him back to her home at Mexico, where she heals his wounds.

There, Fernando realizes he might still feel something about Marcia and goes back with her.

Throughout Nuestra Belleza, Lety and Aldo's relationship evolves slowly until it becomes "a great friendship". Lety manages to solve a model's self-confidence conflicts and helps Aldo overcome the death of his wife (which happened some years ago) and reunites him with his father. All these experiences help Lety realize the great potential she has and how much she is really worth.

Seeing all the problems Lety and Tomás are going through, and seeking an explanation, Julieta reads the diary Lety left behind and learns about Lety and Fernando's affair and how her daughter was treated at Conceptos.

Desperate to get his enterprise back, Humberto urges Fernando to contact Lety and to get back on good terms with her, threatening with suing her. Not knowing what to do, he calls Lety's home, but Julieta, knowing what he made Lety do, challenges him to talk to Erasmo and to tell him what he did. Feeling the growing pressure from his father and the Conceptos staff, Fernando contacts Erasmo, but tries to tell him very little.

Puzzled, Erasmo visits Humberto at Conceptos and explains the whole situation to him (at least what he knows). Humberto agrees not to sue Lety and Erasmo vows that, apart from legal situations, they will never have to have anything to do with his daughter again.

[edit] Big Changes at Conceptos

Lety returns to Mexico City with a seashell Aldo gave her and a picture of them both, proud, confident, and definitely changed.

The situation changes, however, when the Conceptos committee sees no other solution than to liquidate their stock to keep the enterprise afloat and to beg Lety NOT to give them Conceptos back after all, to avoid bankruptcy. Humberto and his lawyers see no other way out other than making Lety President of Conceptos. They also make Tomas vice-president to make Lety feel comfortable.

Aldo then comes to work at Conceptos. Fernando becomes jealous of Aldo because he senses that Lety has fallen in love with him. With this thought, Fernando becomes even more stressed. Alicia thinks that that she will marry Aldo, but actually Aldo doesn't even like Alicia. Tomas, who has loved Alicia since he set his eyes on her picture, becomes upset when he hears that. He confronts Aldo, but when he discovers that Aldo doesn't like Alicia, he and Aldo become good friends. All this time Aldo is in love with Lety, but he doesn't tell her, so when Lety tells him that Fernando is still in her thoughts and she may still have feeling for him, he becomes upset. Also, Lety tells her friends all about her relationship with Fernando.

Fernado gets so jealous that he gets in a fight with Aldo for Lety, however everyone believe that the fight is just to save his company and not for Lety. Marcia also gets jealous that they both are fighting for Lety. Lety gets sad because she doesn't know what to do and goes to talk to Tomás.

Fernando then goes on a trip to New York while Marcia goes to London. Before Fernando leaves to his trip, he follows Lety into a restaurant where Ariel is waiting for Lety to speak about business. Fernando becomes very jealous but then finally manages to find Lety outside and starts talking to her about what has happened. Fernando tells Lety that he is going on a trip and that when he returns, he will show her how much he loves her. Fernando tells Omar that while he's gone, to keep Lety away from Aldo and to make sure that Lety doesn't forget about him. Also, to send him pictures of Lety constantly so that she can "be with him" always.

[edit] "Aurora"

While in New York, Fernando tries to get a taxi when he runs into this beautiful woman named Karla (Mariana Seoane). They are astounded when they meet. After, they both go their separate ways. Fernando takes a taxi and meets up with some business people to talk about their current project with Conceptos. He is surprised to see Karla walk in and to find out that she is part of the team that he will be working with.

The small chance of romance with Karla does not last long, however, not even when Karla attempts to seduce Fernando. Fernando doesn't give in to the temptations because he still loves Lety. Meanwhile, Fernando and Aldo are still competing for the love of Lety. Fernando tells Lety's mother that he is in love with Lety, and later confesses that to his own mother. Back at the office events take a most peculiar turn... Alicia is made president and immediately puts the full power of her charms to have Tomas disburse substantial company funds to her. Needless to say, her reign in office is brief.

When Luigi wastes a lot of money, Conceptos has an even larger debt and just as Lety is about to lose everything Aldo pays the debt. But Fernando tries to buy Conceptos by selling all his belongings.

After the debut of Aldo's new cookbook, Carolina changes Lety's look by turning her into a 1950's style, film noir femme fatale, whom she called "Aurora" who is from Brazil (also an allusion to the original name of Betty). Omar falls in love with Aurora (without knowing it was Lety) and tries to seduce her, failing in all attempts.

But Aurora only brought more trouble because Conceptos wants her to be their new model, but Lety doesn't want to do it. Fernando eventually discovers Lety's secret and asks her to marry him, but she turns down his proposal and accepts Aldo's.

[edit] "Here come the brides"

When Alicia has no financial resources she decides to date Tomas, and eventually they get married in a beautiful wedding. Alicia steals Tomas's money and buys cars and jewelry while telling her new husband that her father has been buying these items.

Marcia begins to date a man while she's simultaneously having a secret admirer who has been writing her love notes.

Luigi receives a call from Irmita who informs him that his mother is dying and wishes to see him, but Luigi declines. A heartbroken Lety convinces Luigi that he should go, despite the differences with his father.

Alicia realizes that she is pregnant with Tomas's child and they grow closer. Fernando tries to get Lety back any way possible and he confesses to Lety's mother that he proposed to Lety, but she declined. Meanwhile, Lety and Aldo prepare plans for their wedding in Monterrey.

Luigi and Lety arrive at the hospital where Luigi's mother is and there Luigi's father accepts him the way he is. Then a nurse informs him that his mother has suddenly recovered and the family is reunited again. Luigi rewards Lety by changing her look, again becoming another new Lety, surprising everyone.

Alicia learns the password of the Conceptos bank account and steals one million dollars from Tomas's computer and makes preparations to leave.

It's Aldo's and Lety's wedding day, they are about to marry when Fernando enters and interrupts the ceremony, but Omar and Tomas get him to leave. Fernando manages to escape again to interrupt the wedding in the middle of the kiss, so Lety has to choose between Fernando and Aldo... but what he doesnt know is that he is madly in love with Raquel and Carmen.. they eventually get married.. then they live a happy life.

[edit] Aldo or Fernando (Series Finale)

Lety chooses Aldo but in the end she decides for Fernando. She suddenly wakens from a nightmare.

Lety tells Fernando about it and Fernando tells her that the dream represents what she really wants, so Lety begins to have doubts about marrying Aldo.

Tomas finds out about Alicia's deed and accuses her of the theft of the money, but Ariel arrives with the police and accuses Tomas of the robbery. Tomas runs away with Lety, with the police close behind them. Alicia, realizing how much Tomas loves her for taking the responsibility of the robbery, decides to return the money and confess to Tomas how much she loves him.

Fernando and Aldo begin to fight but when they see that the police are chasing Lety they follow her on motorcycles, but they begin to fight again along the way. Marcia realizes that her secret admirer is the same guy that she was dating.

The police catch Tomas, but Alicia arrives to save him. Tomas tells her that he doesn't love her anymore. Aldo and Fernando fall off a cliff while fighting, but don't get hurt.

Alicia says goodbye to Tomas and Tomas lets her go without knowing that she loves him. Fernando finally repays Aldo the debt he owed him and he regains the presidency of Conceptos, but he then decides to give the job to Marcia and announces he will be leaving. Lety officially transfers the presidency to Marcia and the two finally become friends.

Lety says goodbye to Marcia and they hug. As Fernando leaves, Aldo arrives and tells Lety that she has to read Fernando's diary. After Lety reads the diary she confesses she is in love with Fernando and Aldo leaves.

Tomas finds Alicia in the graveyard at her father's tomb, where she confesses she is in love with Tomas and that they will have a baby. Sara adopts a child.

Lety goes with Marcia, who tells her that Fernando has left. Martha informs Lety that Fernando is still in the airport, so she tries to catch him, but fails to reach him in time. Martha sends a message to the pilot, who informs Fernando that Lety is in love with him, so he decides to leave the airplane. Lety goes to the hotel where she and Fernando consumated their relationship the first time and then Fernando suddenly arrives and proposes and she accepts.

The happy couple go to Lety's house to announce their engagement where Fernando explains how he got off the plane. Lety and Fernando decide to marry in Monterrey, where Aldo and Lety were supposed to wed.

At the wedding everybody expects Aldo, but Fernando arrives instead. Lety and Fernando realize that Aldo was an angel who helped to keep them together and they finally get married.

In Acapulco, Aldo saves a boy who lost his parents and he befriends the kid, who calls Aldo an angel.

The series ends with Lety and Fernando learning that the exterior is not the most important thing, but rather what is inside. They kiss and begin their honeymoon.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Lety, her family, and her friends

• Leticia (Lety) Padilla Solís (Angélica Vale) - She is an intelligent and charming but a very ugly lady. She seizes the chance to prove herself when she gets hired at Conceptos, one of Mexico's most important enterprises. She will irremediably fall in love with Fernando Mendiola. She is also hated by most of Conceptos ' staff.

• Tomás Mora (Luis Manuel Ávila) - He is Lety's best (and only) friend. Being as ugly as Lety is, they have always been like siblings, giving each other moral support. Alicia Ferreira becomes his platonic love after he finds a picture of her in a magazine. He might be sometimes a little show-off. When he fancies himself as the general manager of Filmo Imagen, he transforms himself from an ugly duckling to a charming but not fully confident person. Food and women, in that order, are his Achilles' heel.

• Erasmo Padilla (José José) - Lety's father, he's extremely strict. He still sees his daughter as a girl who cannot look after herself. He values good morals above all else. He's terrified of big changes but helps Tomás' with Filmo Imagen 's books.

• Julieta Solís de Padilla (Angélica María) - Lety's mother. She is an excellent cook and an excellent mother. Even when Lety does not want to tell her what goes on in her life, her maternal instinct tells her what to do.

• Carolina Ángeles (Nora Salinas) - Formerly Conceptos ' public promoter, she seems to appear when Lety is going through personal conflicts and helps her out. Carolina can quickly size up a situation and put people or things in their rightful place. She goes out with Omar at the end of the show.

• Aldo Domenzaín (Juan Soler) - A charming and good-looking chef and part-time fisherman who befriends Lety. He eventually falls in love with her and teaches her the beauties of life. Sometimes when Aldo has a heart to heart with Lety near water, a swan is seen swimming nearby.

• The Ugly Women's Squad

[edit] Conceptos staff

• Fernando Mendiola (Jaime Camil) - Son of Humberto Mendiola, president of Conceptos, and a shareholder himself, he is elected as the new President when his fiancée, Marcia, votes for him. But his inexperience leads him to commit many mistakes, and only Lety might be able to help him out.

• Marcia Villarroel (Elizabeth Álvarez) - Fernando's fiancée. She knows her fiance's reputation as a Casanova, the reason why she keeps Fernando under surveillance while she can. She looks forward to her wedding anxiously. She is very supportive of other women.

• Alicia Ferreira (Patricia Navidad) - Alicia Ferreira is everything that Lety is not: dumb and graceless but quite beautiful. She gets hired at Conceptos, not for her abilities or her resume, like Lety, but as Marcia Villarroel's spy on Fernando. She's "The Ugly Women's Squad's" nemesis. She also has serious monetary problems. She likes to think of herself as the "Executive Secretary to the President" when in actuallity she is a gofer.

• Omar Carvajal (Agustín Arana) - He is Fernando's best friend and accomplice. He is also Conceptos 's vice president. He believes firmly in bachelorhood, and how to make the most of it. He usually supports Fernando's worst ideas, believing them good, and the advice he provides Fernando often turns out to be even worse.

• Ariel Villarroel (Raúl Magaña) - Marcia's brother, Ariel is a greedy and selfish man only able to look after himself and his money. He wants to get the presidency of Conceptos no matter what. He's always sneaking behind Fernando's back, looking for flaws in his work.

• Luigi Lombardi (Sergio Mayer) - Conceptos 's homosexual fashion director. He's obsessed with beauty and glamour and will not stand anything less. He will declare himself Lety's enemy because of that.

• Simón José (Simon Joseph) Contreras (Julio Mannino) - He has a great crush on Paula María, although his job as the Conceptos Messenger is not good enough for her standards. He is charming, happy, and always on the move.

• Humberto Mendiola (Carlos Bracho) - Founder and first president of Conceptos, he is Fernando's proud father. He appreciates honesty and loyalty.

• Teresita de Mendiola (Julissa) - Fernando's mother, she likes to see her family together. She likes everything to look the way it should be.

• Celso Durán (Erick Guecha) - He is Conceptos 's doorman. He is very humble and honest. He is usually accompanied by his bulldog, Sansón.

[edit] "The Ugly Women's Club"

• Sara Patiño (Raquel Garza) - Her great height has impeded her from getting a good husband. Sara is very brave and will do anything to protect herself and the rest of "The Ugly Women's Club".

• Martha de Hurtado de Muñoz (Maribel Fernández 'La Pelangocha') - A sweet woman with a weakness for anything edible and for gossip. She is "The Ugly Women's Club's" ears.

• Irma Ramírez (Luz María Aguilar) - She is the oldest member of "The Ugly Women's Club" and Luigi Lombardi's right hand. She is always there to advise her friends or to give her boss his valerian drops when the "mimisky" (mee-mees-kee) hits him.

• Lola Guerrero de Rodríguez (Rosita Pelayo) – Lola is "The Ugly Women’s Club" member who is always complaining about something: whether because her husband (whom she is planning to divorce) hasn’t paid her what he should or because her mischievous kids are up to something.

• Juana Valdez (Gloria Izaguirre) – She is the only member of "The Ugly Women’s Club" who does not complain about whether she has a husband or not as often as the others. She is very good at anything esoteric, such as reading crystal balls or tarot cards.

• Paula María Conde (Niurka Marcos) - Although she belongs to "The Ugly Women's Club", she is very sexy (men think). Because she wants the best for her and her son, Jaimito, she is very picky with the prospects she gets, always waiting for Prince Charming to come rescue her.

[edit] Other adult characters

• Efrén Rodríguez (Carlos Benavides) - Lola's irresponsible husband, whom she refers to as Señor Cheque. He abandoned her and their children and he never has their monthly support payment on time. As he is not yet divorced from Lola, his relationship with his new sweetheart, Yazmín, can still be considered an affair.

• Yazmín García (Aleida Nuñez) - Yazmín is Efrén's lover and the cause of many of Lola's attacks of rage. Yazmín has a different face to show to each person.

• Paco "Gordolobo" Muñoz (José Luis Cordero (Pocholo)) - Martha's faithful husband. He is a taxi driver and, when Martha needs it, the kids' baby sitter.

[edit] Kids

• Adriana Rodríguez Guerrero (Adriana Ahumada) - Daughter of Lola and Efrén.

• Cuco Rodríguez Guerrero (Alex Correa) - Son of Lola and Efrén.

• Jimmy Conde (Miguel Jiménez) - Son of Paula María.

• Clarita Muñoz de Hurtado (Fernanda Jiménez) - Daughter of Martha and Paco.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Catch phrases

• ¡Ay, Marcia! - Alicia uses this phrase with a particular catch tone, most of the time to Marcia, every time she gets offended.

• Tlacoyo bigotón (corncake with a mustache) - Alicia's insult to Lety.

• ¡Me va a dar el mimiski (or mimisqui)! (I'm having a mimiski/mimisqui!) - A hilarious reference to heart attacks. Luigi uses this whenever mayhem takes place or when he has too many problems to deal with.

• Valerian Tea/Drops - it helps Luigi to calm down or lessen his Mimiskis.

• ¡Pero es que yo nunca acabo! ¡Nunca, nunca acabo! (It seems like I never, ever finish) - Lola's cry of anguish when confronted again and again in difficult situations, especially problems related to her ex-husband and his mistress, Lola's kids, and her job at Conceptos. At the series finale she finally says "Ay ya acabé"(I finished already)

• Tu gargolita (Your little gargoyle) - Omar's reference to Lety when speaking to Fernando.

• [Anything] de altura ([Anything] high, or of height) - Sara uses this catch phrase when she talks about anything big or noteworthy, making allusions to her great height.

• Irmita always uses traditional Mexican sayings to instruct the other Club members.

• Mi muñequita de porcelana, mi selva tropical (My porcelain doll, my tropical rainforest) - Simon's nicknames for Paula María, referencing her good looks and ability to dance to tropical Latin rhythms.

• Ornitorrinco (platypus) Luigi's insult to Lety.

• Soy el gerente general de FilmoImagen, toma mi tarjeta. (I'm the general manager at FilmoImagen, take my card) - Tomás trying to impress the ladies.

• Yo estudié seis semestres de finanzas en la Anáhuac [later changed to "una universidad de mucho prestigio" to avoid issues with the real Anáhuac University] (I studied 6 semesters at a very prestigious university) - Alicia bragging about her higher education

• Eres un animal, Carvajal, ¡un animal! (You are an animal, Carvajal, an animal!) - Fernando to Omar when Omar suggests something that isn't agreeable to Fernando.

• Maldito Carvajal! (Damn Carvajal!) - Fernando to Omar when Fernando is mad at him.

• ¿En dónde estás, de seguro andas con la otra, verdad? (Where are you, you're with the other woman, aren't you?) - Insecure Marcia questioning Fernando about his whereabouts.

• Nacos! Pobres! Feos! (You're ghetto! You're poor! You're ugly!) - Alicia to anyone who's ghetto, poor, and ugly. Also to anyone who doesn't meet up to her high standards of expectations.

• "Oh Tomy!"-Alicia's phrase to seduce Tomas

• "Oh! por favor Marcia! Yo sería incapaz de hacer algo así!..."-Fernando's response to Marcia's accusations.

• Luigi sometimes uses some English words in his sentences. His most common ones are "OK," "excuse me," "jokey" (his form of the word joke) and "Divine!"

• ¡Hellow! & ¡Ciao! - Luigi's greetings

• Petuca, Petaca - how Luigi sometimes call Fernando and Omar

• Ferni - how Luigi calls Fernando

• Aldo Domenzain, con acento en la i, de los de aya! Fernando and Omar use that phrase when they are talking about Aldo..

• Fritangas- Thats how Fernando calls Aldo.

• Ahogate..Asfixiate thats what Aldo and Fernando said when they were fighting

• Don Mensolin Is the name that Fernando gave to Aldo to make funny the Aldo's character

• Don Mandiola- Tomas name to Fernando Mandiola to show disagreement with him

• Don Fernando, tan divino! ( Don Fernando, so divine) When Fernando did something to protect Lety and Lety hears him she said it.

• Calme Don Fernando, Calme (Calm down Mr. Fernando, Calm Down) When Fernando got stressed, Lety usually said that.

• Con permiso Don Fernando, Con permiso Don Omar. (Excuse me Mr. Fernando, excuse me Mr. Omar) Lety repeated this phrase so many times when she leaves the Fernando's office to go to her office.

• Propio Propio. Fernando and Omar said this phrase when Lety said "Con permiso Don Fernando, Con permiso Don Omar".

• Esperpento Omar also called to Lety in this form.

[edit] Facts

• A photo of Ana Maria Orozco, the actress who starred in "Yo soy Betty, la fea," can be seen in Lety's house.
• Just after Lety discovered Fernando's intention to dump her as per the letter she discovered, Lety is seen in a restaurant's stairwell where Fernando has taken her to convince her he is still true to her. While on Fernando's cellphone, Lety stands next to a poster where Ana Maria Orozco appears in an outfit similar to what Lety is wearing. During the course of her conversation with Tomás, Lety looks at the poster, its picture and words (La suerte de la Fea or the luck of the ugly). This is an homage from the current fea to the original fea.
• Angélica Vale had to use a splint during the whole Acapulco plotline because of a muscle injury she got when pushing a crystal object off a table with rage while filming a nightmare sequence. On episode 168, the show just after board meeting, Vale appeared with her arm in cast and supported by a sling.
• Tropical Storm Aletta, Hurricane Carlotta, and Tropical Storm Emilia hit the port of Acapulco during the Acapulco plotline, which delayed production.
• The original novela was called "Yo soy Betty, la fea," which aired in Colombia.
• Angélica Vale and Jaime Camil sang a duet version of the telenovela's main theme song. It played at the end of several of the daily shows. They sang the song in character.
• Angélica Vale sang a very tender love song, Aqui Estare (Here I will be) that is currently played at the begining and end of the program as the theme song. The accompanying video shows a scene from where Fernando romanced Lety in a swimming pool.
• On Univision, the show opened differently on December 5, 2006 from the normal opening screen showing it was a Televisa presentation following by the theme song. This show had the announcer outline four possible cliffhangers that could arise at or before the board meeting shown as video clips. First, would Lety reveal the true status of Filmo Imagen along with Tomás's and her role? Second, would Marcia ask Fernando if he truly wanted to marry her? Third, would Fernando beg Lety not to reveal the true ledger balance? Finally, how will Lety resolve her dilemma? These cliffhangers were not revealed in this episode but were resolved when the board met in the next episode.
• In episode 161, Ha-Ash appeared as themselves singing several songs. During their first song, Marcia had flashbacks of moments depicting her love for Fernando, while he dreamed about Lety. Ha-Ash is listed in the credits as background vocals for several songs.
• At the end of episode 157, which was the board meeting, Aqui Estare was played with scenes of Angélica Vale doing an off-key parody in character, singing to Fernando along with the recorded version.
• In episode 170, after the Nuestra Belleza Mexico contestants get on the bus along with Lety, they sing the Cuartel de feas's theme, El Club de feas (The Uglies Club) but change "feas" to "bellas" which now makes the song, The Pretties Club".
• On January 3, 2007 KMEX announced that this show's producer, Sergio Jiménez, had died of a heart attack.^[2]
• In addition to working on this program, Rosy Ocampo also produced the 'faux' telenovelas Vidas de Fuego and Muchas Muchachas for the American Dramedy series Ugly Betty, which, like "La fea mas bella," is also based on "Yo soy Betty, la fea."
• Throughout the soap opera, Martha thought about food constantly. Sometimes she tried to lose weight but she failed each time she tried.
• The first telenovela to end on a Sunday. In Mexico, Lety had higher ratings than the Oscar Awards ceremony. Seventy percent of Mexican televisions were tuned to La fea mas bella that night.
• La fea mas bella is transmitted in over 19 countries around the world.
• La fea mas bella is now repeated by televisa at 5:00 o' clock from Monday to Friday.
• La fea mas bella has had three different openings, the second one being currently shown as the current opening in the U.S. The third opening showed the soap opera's story and ending with with Fernando standing on Lety's right and Aldo standing on Lety's left

[edit] Names

The names used in La fea más bella either rhyme, begin or end with the same sounds, or have the same last name as those to the original Yo soy Betty, la fea's, for example: Leticia Padilla Solis- Beatriz Aurora "Betty" Pinzón Solano

Fernando Mendiola - Armando Mendoza Sáenz

Marcia Villaroel - Marcela Valencia

Alicia Fereira Birman "La oxigenada" (later changed to Alicia Ferreira de Mora) - Patricia Fernández de Brickman

Ariel Villaroel - Daniel Valencia

Luigi Lombardi - Hugo Lombardi

Tomas Mora - Nicolas Mora

Humberto Mendiola - Roberto Mendoza

Teresita De Mendiola - Margarita Sáenz De Mendoza

Carolina Angeles - Catalina Ángel

Erasmo Padilla Galarza - Hermes Pinzón Galarza

Julieta Solis De Padilla - Julia Solano Galindo de Pinzón

Simon Joseph Contreras - Freddy Stewart Contreras

Irmita - Inesita

Paula Maria Conde - Aura María Fuentes

Lola Guerrero de Rodriguez - Sofía de Rodríguez

Sara Patiño - Sandra Patiño "La Jirafa"

Juanita Valdéz - Mariana Valdéz

Martha Urtado de Muñoz - Bertha Muñoz de González

Additionally, the vice-president character in both shows (Omar in La fea más bella and Mario in Yo soy Betty, la fea) both have the syllable mar in the name, plus the letter O, though in a different place.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• La fea más bella at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website (Spanish)
• (Spanish) La Fea mas Bella en Univision.com