Ugly Betty

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Ugly Betty

Ugly Betty Cast in latest Promo image after Episode # 14
Genre Comedy-Drama
Developer(s) Silvio Horta
Starring America Ferrera
Eric Mabius
Alan Dale
Tony Plana
Ana Ortiz
Ashley Jensen
Becki Newton
Mark Indelicato
Rebecca Romijn
Vanessa L. Williams
Michael Urie
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 18 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 60 min (approx. 42 min without commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Picture format 480i (SDTV),
720p (HDTV)
Original run September 28, 2006 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Ugly Betty is a Golden Globe Award winning American television dramedy series starring America Ferrera and Eric Mabius. It premiered on 28 September 2006, on ABC in the United States, on Citytv in Canada and on 5 January 2007 on Channel 4 in the UK. It airs on Thursday nights at 8 PM ET/PT and Friday nights at 21:00 GMT/BST in the UK. The plot follows the work lives of Betty Suarez (Ferrera) and Daniel Meade (Mabius).

The series is based on the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea ("I am Betty, the ugly)[1], which is also known as simply "Betty la fea" ("Ugly Betty") written by Fernando Gaitán (also author of Café, con aroma de mujer), and is adapted into an American setting by producer Salma Hayek, whose production company, Ventanarosa, partnered with Touchstone Television on the hour-long program. Hayek also appears on the show as Sofia Reyes, in addition to playing a cameo role as an actress on a fictional telenovela watched by the main character's family in early episodes.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Ugly Betty follows the daily life of Betty Suarez, a young woman from a struggling Latino family in Queens, who works as an executive assistant at MODE fashion magazine in Manhattan. Most of her female co-workers are more attractive than she is; they often humiliate and insult her because of her appearance (one of her only friends is Christina McKinney, the Scottish seamstress). Betty is not very interested in fashion and is sometimes clueless about the company's motives and organizations, although she does have a passion for photography. Her boss, the womanizing Daniel Meade, also lacks fashion experience. However, both are intent on performing well at their jobs, even at the expense of those trying to stop them, most prominently Mode's creative director, Wilhelmina Slater.

The series includes a serialized plot involving Daniel's predecessor Fey Sommers, who was supposedly killed in a fiery hit-and-run accident. Fey's name was actually used as the backdrop for a plot to take over the company, thanks to a hospital patient swathed in facial bandages who was actually Daniel's post-operative transsexual brother Alex/Alexis Meade. Alexis was first seen in The Pilot Episode, though she was only known as "The Masked Woman" until the episode "In or Out." Alex staged his death in order to undergo gender reassignment surgery and become Alexis, then frame their father, Bradford Meade, as the person who murdered Fey. In "Brothers", however, Claire Meade, the family matriarch, confessed to Betty that she was Fey's actual murderer. But because Claire (an alcoholic) was drunk at the time of the confession, there had been doubt cast on her story, up until the episode 17 "Icing on the Cake" in which Claire turns herself in to authorities, having admitted that she was sober when it occurred. Claire was also revealed to be the real owner of MODE; Bradford's company only publishes the magazine.

Another recurring storyline involves Betty's father, Ignacio Suarez, who admitted to coming to the United States as an illegal immigrant which could put his family in a legal bind. He revealed his reason for immigrating was to avoid being arrested in Mexico for murdering a banker in self-defense after falling in love with the banker's abused wife, who happens to be Betty and her sister Hilda Suarez's now deceased mother.

It mostly remains true to the original Betty La Fea. It is similar to another ABC dramedy series, Desperate Housewives, in that it combines elements of drama, comedy, mystery, farce, camp, soap opera, and satire, though in a lighter way. The show is filmed like a traditional network drama (with motion picture film), rather than the videotape production of the original telenovela.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Slogans

  • Fashion has a new face - Channel 4 (UK)
  • Ugly is the new Beautiful - ABC (US)
  • Style-challenged girl meets high-fashioned world - Citytv (Canada)
  • The new face of Ugly - Seven Network (Australia)

[edit] Cast

Core regulars

Recurring

Other/minor roles

Guest stars Season One

Notes

  • ¹ - Was listed as "Guest Starring" in opening credits, but became full time regulars after "Sofia's Choice"
  • ² - Became recurring regulars after their second appearance; Both Gorman and Light will become fulltime regulars in the second season.
  • ³ - Alexis Meade was initially played by Elizabeth Penn Payne (when she was listed in the credits as "The Mystery Woman"). Rebecca Romijn took over the role in In or Out.
  • # - Dual role; Newton will also play Ruthie as a recurring character in future shows.[2]

[edit] Production timeline

  • NBC was planning to adapt Betty in 2001 as a half-hour comedy,[3] but never made it past the planning stages until ABC and Hayek's company came on board in 2004 and retooled it as an hour-long dramedy.[4]
  • 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 thirteen 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,[5], although the Ugly Betty title was already being used in promotions prior to this date on Citytv.
  • For a time, 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 in a last minute schedule change to move "Ugly Betty" from its previously announced Friday 8 p.m. (ET) time period to Thursday at 8 p.m. replacing the originally announced sitcoms Notes From the Underbelly and Big Day as a lead-in to top-rated program Grey's Anatomy, in part 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 and who hoped that ABC will maintain the integrity of the original. ABC has 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 have also run on ABC Family and SoapNet, both of which have been airing 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[6] due to its premiere ratings.
  • ABC had announced 22 episodes for season 1, but it has now been changed to 23. (The season finale will be the episode called "The Number 23."

[edit] International broadcasts

Country TV Network(s) Series Premiere Weekly Schedule Notes
Flag of United States United States ABC September 28, 2006 Thursdays 8:00pm ET In Guam, KTGM airs the show on Fridays at 7:00pm and Sundays at 4:00pm. It is the only ABC affiliate that airs the show twice.
Flag of United States United States Military-Overseas AFN-Spectrum February 7, 2007 Wednesdays 9:00pm & 3:00am
Flag of Canada Canada Citytv September 28, 2006 Thursdays 8:00pm ET
Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Channel 4 (First Run) 5 January 2007[8] Fridays 9:00pm, Sundays at 3:55pm (Repeat) GMT The premiere on Channel 4 on January 5, 2007 attracted an impressive 4.5 million viewers. It is one of only a handful of foreign imports to become a breakout hit in the UK.[9] Two weeks later Ugly Betty hit a new high on Channel 4 with 5 million viewers watching the third episode on January 19, 2007.[10]
S4C (Wales Only) Fridays 10 or 11pm (varies)[8]
E4 10 January 2007 Wednesdays 9pm (Next Episode)[8] GMT
4oD 5 January 2007
Flag of Sweden Sweden Kanal 5 7 November 2006 Tuesdays 8:00pm CET
Flag of Fiji Fiji Fiji One 9 November 2006 Thursdays 9:05pm
Flag of Republic of Ireland Ireland RTÉ Two 1 January 2007
(first two episodes together)		 Mondays 7:00pm GMT
2007-02-01 Thursdays 8:00pm Moved, and caused two episodes to be shown in the week it moved.
Flag of Italy Italy Italia 1 April, 2007
Flag of Norway Norway TVNorge 3 January 2007 Wednesdays 8:45pm
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand TV2 January 16, 2007 Tuesday 8:30pm
Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
and Arab World		 Showtime Arabia, Tv Land January 22, 2007 Mondays at 20:00 PM Shown with subtitles
Flag of South Korea South Korea KBS February 3, 2007 (어글리 베티, List of Ugly Betty Korea voice actors)
CJ Media Channel CGV Summer 2007 TBA
Flag of Malaysia Malaysia 8TV February 6, 2007 Tuesdays 9.30pm GMT
Star World 2007
Flag of Australia Australia Channel Seven[11] February 18, 2007 Sundays 7:30pm Debut episode 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.[12].
Flag of Israel Israel Israel 10 March 2, 2007 Fridays and Saturdays 10:15pm
Flag of Hungary Hungary RTL March 17, 2007 Saturday 7:00pm Hungarian title is : "Címlapsztori" as: Pagestory. Also airs 'El amor no es como lo pintan' (Másnak tűnő szerelem, Zone Romantica); Yo soy Betty, la fea (Betty, a csúnya lány, TV2); Verliebt in Berlin (Lisa csak egy van, TV2) and La fea más bella (Lety, a csúnya lány, Viasat3)
Flag of Singapore Singapore Channel 5 March 4, 2007 Sundays 10:30pm/10:00pm Was originally scheduled to debut in February 2007 and used the promo 'Be Ugly in 2007'
Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong TVB Pearl March 15, 2007 Thursdays 10:35pm (「俏」Betty / Ugly Betty)
Star World 2007
Flag of Romania Romania Acasa TV March 2007 Romanian title: "Betty cea urâtă din New York" ("Betty In New York"); Also airs "Betty la fea" with subtitles
Flag of Finland Finland Nelonen April 2007
Flag of Poland Poland FOX Life May 2007 Also airs Yo soy Betty, la fea (polish title: Brzydula) but on TVN station tv.
Flag of France France TF1 Spring 2007 Also airs Le destin de Lisa
Flag of Germany Germany Sat. 1 April 27, 2007[13] Fridays 8:15pm Also airs Verliebt in Berlin
Flag of Mexico Mexico TV Azteca Spring 2007
Flag of South Africa South Africa M-Net September 2007[14]
Flag of Portugal Portugal SIC April 7, 2007 Saturdays 3:00 pm Portuguese title: "Betty Feia" ("Ugly Betty"). Shown with subtitles.
Flag of Chile Chile Canal 13 Summer 2007
Flag of Spain Spain Cuatro TV Also airs Yo Soy Bea
Flag of Greece Greece Mega Channel Also airs Maria i Ashimi (Ugly Mary).
Alpha TV airs I ashimi pu egine omorfi (La fea más bella).
Flag of Bahrain Bahrain Star World
Flag of Indonesia Indonesia
Flag of Kuwait Kuwait
Flag of Maldives Maldives
Flag of Oman Oman
Flag of Pakistan Pakistan
Flag of Philippines Philippines TBA
Studio 23 Studio 23 also airs Betty la fea
Flag of Qatar Qatar Star World TBA
Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
Flag of Republic of China Taiwan
Flag of Thailand Thailand
Flag of United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates

[edit] Competition with other "Betty" offshoots

Although 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.[15]

Ugly Betty also has an Indian connection, as the original telenovela was adapted as 'Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin' which was a major hit on Indian prime-time television. Which came years before the show aired.[16]

In the U.S., Univision currently airs the Mexican counterpart La fea más bella, which airs weeknights at 8PM (E/P), including Thursdays during the same time Ugly Betty airs.

[edit] Honors

Year Result Award Category Recipient
2006 Winner Family Television Awards Best New Series[17]
2007 Winner Golden Globe Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical America Ferrera
2007 Winner Best Television Series � Comedy or Musical
2007 Nominated People's Choice Awards Favorite New TV Drama
2007 Winner Writers Guild Awards New TV series
2007 Winner DGA Awards Television episode Pilot
2007 Winner Satellite Awards Best Television Series -- Comedy or Musical
2007 Winner Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture made for Television Tony Plana
2007 Nominated Best Actress in a Series -- Comedy or Musical America Ferrera
2007 Nominated Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture made for Television Vanessa Williams
2007 Winner Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Comedy Series America Ferrera
2007 Nominated Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2007 Winner ICG Publicists Awards[18] Outstanding Television Series
2007 Winner ELLE Style Awards[19] Outstanding Comedy Series
2007 Winner Costume Designers Guild Awards Outstanding Contemporary Television Series Eduardo Castro
2007 Winner Art Directors Guild Awards Excellence in Production Design -- Single Camera Television Series Mark Worthington
2007 Nominated NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series America Ferrera
2007 Winner Outstanding Comedy Series
2007 Winner Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Vanessa Williams
2007 Winner Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Silvio Horta
2007 Nominated GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Comedy Series

[edit] Ratings

In the following summary, "Rating" is the estimated percentage of all televisions tuned to the show, and "Share" is the percentage of all televisions in use that are tuned in.

"Viewers" is the estimated number of actual people watching, in millions, while "ranking" is the approximate ranking of the show against all prime-time TV shows for the week (Sunday to Saturday).

Episode # Title Air Date Rating[20] Share[21] 18-49[22] Viewers Rank[23]
1 "Pilot (aka I Am Not Going To Sell Herbalux)" September 28, 2006 10.7 17 6.5 16.09 #9
2 "The Box and the Bunny" October 5, 2006 9.5 15 4.9 14.20 #18
3 "Queens for a Day" October 12, 2006 9.3 15 4.4 13.80 #21
4 "Fey's Sleigh Ride" October 19, 2006 8.9 14 4.3 13.07 #21
5 "The Lyin', the Watch and the Wardrobe" October 26, 2006 8.9 14 4.3 13.15 #21
6 "Trust, Lust, and Must" November 2, 2006 9.3 14 4.4 13.72 #22
7 "After Hours" November 9, 2006 8.6 13 4.1 12.87 #27
8 "Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral" November 16, 2006 8.9 14 3.9 12.96 #23
9 "Lose the Boss" November 23, 2006 5.3 11 2.9 8.73 #48
10 "Fake Plastic Snow (aka Five Platinum Rings)" November 30, 2006 9.0 14 4.3 13.33 #21
11 "Swag" January 4, 2007 7.8 12 3.9 11.64 #18
12 "Sofia's Choice" January 11, 2007 10.4 16 4.4 13.48 #12
13 "In or Out" January 18, 2007 9.5 15 4.5 14.10 #13
14 "I'm Coming Out" February 1, 2007 9.3 14 4.8 14.27 #11
15 "Brothers" February 8, 2007 9.1 14 4.7 14.30 #20
16 "Derailed" February 15, 2007 9.1 14 4.5 13.70 #17
17 "Icing On The Cake" March 15, 2007 7.4 12 3.5 10.80 #19
18 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" March 22, 2007 7.4 13 3.2 10.50 #18
19 "Punch Out (Footloose and Meade-Free)" April 19, 2007 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
20 "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" April 26, 2007 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
21 TBA May 3, 2007 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
22 TBA May 10, 2007 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
23 "The Number 23" Season Finale May 17, 2007 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

[edit] Trivia

  • There was an actual fashion publication titled MODE, geared toward plus-size women. The magazine ceased publication in 2001.
  • Despite being set in New York and its pilot being filmed there, the remaining episodes have been filmed entirely in Los Angeles. Much like other television programs, stock footage is used to establish that the show is set in New York.
  • Patricia Field created all of the costumes in the pilot episode. Field, a resident of New York, left the show when production permanently moved to Los Angeles.
  • Two Ugly Betty cast members were also formerly on The O.C. Alan Dale played Caleb Nichols (Seasons 1-2), and Eric Mabius played Dean Jack Hess (Season 3).
  • The success of Ugly Betty has inspired a Halloween costume in America after the series' debut.

[edit] In popular culture

  • On December 6, 2006, the United Kingdom's 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.
  • On a February 8, 2007 installment of the NBC series 30 Rock, "Up All Night," series character Liz Lemon tried to duck out of Jack Donaghy's office by crawling like Betty Suarez, but Jack sees her anyway, prompting Liz to comment that "It would've worked great on Ugly Betty!" The scene was patterned after the Ugly Betty episode "Swag" in which Betty crawled through a fashion show.
  • After the first episode of Ugly Betty was shown on Channel 4, Big Brother host Davina McCall dressed up as Betty, as she announced the show was back on air in 4 minutes. Interestingly on February 16, 2007, Ashley Jensen also dressed up as Betty during a airing of Channel 4's Friday Night Project, where she was the guest host.
  • 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 fat suit to see if women were discriminated on the basis of how they look.

[edit] See also

Related articles

Other related materials

  • Betty la fea, The original Colombian soap-opera and its international spinoffs.

[edit] Reviews

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Yo soy Betty, la fea" (1999)
  2. ^ from TV Guide (01-17-07)
  3. ^ The Futon Critic
  4. ^ The Futon Critic
  5. ^ The Futon Critic, July 14, 2006
  6. ^ From ABC medianet, October 13, 2006
  7. ^ From The Futon Critic (03-21-07)
  8. ^ a b c Digiguide, January 5, 2007
  9. ^ The Guardian, January 8, 2007
  10. ^ The Guardian, January 22, 2007
  11. ^ From ebroadcast October 17, 2006
  12. ^ From ebroadcast.com (02-19-07)
  13. ^ http://www.quotenmeter.de/index.php?newsid=19142
  14. ^ From IAfrica.com (01-22-07)
  15. ^ Variety, October 9, 2006
  16. ^ Bollyspace, August 2006
  17. ^ From Yahoo (11-30-06)
  18. ^ "Variety" February 7, 2007
  19. ^ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/6360929.stm From BBC (February 14, 2007)
  20. ^ TV Ratings ... on Zap2it.
  21. ^ TVWeek.com.
  22. ^ TV Ratings ... on BroadcastingCable.
  23. ^ Week of December 11th-17th/2006 complete ratings.
  24. ^ The Futon Critic, October 27, 2006
  25. ^ http://solis.house.gov (01-17-07)

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  Ugly Betty
v • d • e
The Suarez family
Betty • Hilda • Ignacio• Justin
MODE magazine
Christina McKinney • Alexis Meade • Bradford Meade • Daniel Meade • Marc St. James • Wilhelmina Slater • Fey Sommers • Amanda Tanner
Recurring characters
Fabia • Gina Gambarro • Steve • Constance Grady • Henry • Claire Meade • Sofia Reyes • Santos • Nico Slater • Walter
Related content
Be Ugly • Characters • Episodes • Vidas de Fuego (Lives of Fire) • Minor characters • Muchas Muchachas • Official Website
  Ugly Betty, Season One
v • d • e
Pilot • The Box and the Bunny • Queens for a Day • Fey's Sleigh Ride • The Lyin', the Watch and the Wardrobe •
Trust, Lust, and Must • After Hours • Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral • Lose the Boss • Fake Plastic Snow •
Swag • Sofia's Choice • In or Out • I'm Coming Out • Brothers • Derailed • Icing On The Cake • Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Upcoming episodes
Punch Out (Footloose and Meade-Free) • Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? • TBA • TBA • The Number 23
Series based on Yo soy Betty la fea
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