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Ugly Betty is an Emmy-winning American television comedy-drama series starring America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Rebecca Romijn and Vanessa Williams. The series premiered on September 28, 2006, on ABC in the United States and on Citytv in Canada. It follows the life of the unglamorous but good-natured Betty Suarez (Ferrera), and her incongruous job at the ultra-chic New York City fashion magazine "Mode". Betty's status as a "fish out of water" drives much of the plot.
The series is an adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea ("I am Betty, the ugly one")] also simply known as "Betty la fea" ("Ugly Betty") written by Fernando Gaitán (also author of Café, con aroma de mujer). It is adapted into a New York City setting by creator/developer Silvio Horta and co-producers Salma Hayek and Ben Silverman, whose production companies Silent H, Ventanarosa and Reveille respectively partnered with ABC Studios to create the hour-long program for US audience. Hayek has appeared 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.
The show is filmed like a traditional network drama (with motion picture film), rather than the videotape production of the original series. Ugly Betty's second season is now airing.
As the series began viewers were introduced to Betty Suarez, a young Latina who lands a job as a personal assistant to newly-installed editor-in-chief Daniel Meade at MODE magazine. Betty is good-hearted and brave, but sorely lacking in social skills, self-confidence, fashion sense, and aesthetic polish. She sports thick-framed eyeglasses and a large and 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 aesthetically-centered world of New York City fashion, and she is quickly saddled with the show's eponymous nickname.
As Betty and her boss quickly become the success story of the fashion industry, they also must deal with how they got there and how it has affected their working relationship. At work the two find themselves dealing with Creative Director Wilhelmina Slater, who wanted the Editor-In-Chief position, while Betty found herself dealing with Marc St. James, Wilhelmina's assistant/henchman and receptionist Amanda Tanen, who wanted Betty's job in large part, initially, because of her attraction to Daniel. The only friends that Betty trusts at MODE are seamstress Christina McKinney and accountant Henry Grubstick, to whom Betty is attracted. Their home lives are also a challenge. At home in Queens, Betty must deal with her illegal immigrant father Ignacio's visa troubles, older sister Hilda and Hilda's son Justin. In Daniel's case, the issues in his home and personal life revolve around his demanding father (and boss), Bradford, who gave both Daniel and Betty their current positions; his alcoholic mother Claire; and, after returning from a two-year disappearance, his transsexual and competitive sister Alexis (formerly known as Alex), who bears a strong grudge against their father; as well as Daniel's own sex and later drug addictions.
- Cast (Past, Present & Recurring)
Core regulars
America Ferrera - Betty Suarez
Eric Mabius - Daniel Meade
Rebecca Romijn - Alexis Meade
Vanessa L. Williams - Wilhelmina Slater
Becki Newton -Amanda Tanen
Ana Ortiz -Hilda Suarez
Ashley Jensen - Christina McKinney
Tony Plana -Ignacio Suarez
Michael Urie - Marc St. James
Mark Indelicato - Justin Suarez
Christopher Gorham - Henry Grubstick
Alan Dale - Bradford Meade
Judith Light - Claire Meade
Illeana Douglas - Sheila
Recurring
Ava Gaudet - Gina Gambarro
Jowharah Jones - Nico Slater
Gina Gershon -Fabia
Bailey Chase - Beckett 'Becks' Scott
Max Greenfield - Nick Pepper
Lorraine Toussaint - Yoga
Ashley Rickards - Sharra
Freddy Rodriguez - Gio
David Blue - Cliff
John Cho - Kenny
Mo'Nique - L'Amanda
Former cast/recurring members
Kevin Sussman - Walter
Salma Hayek - Sofia Reyes
Octavia Spencer - Constance Grady
Jayma Mays _ Charlie
Kevin Alejandro - Santos
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 but it never made past the planning stages until ABC and Hayek's company came on board in 2004 and retooled it as an hour-long comedy-drama. 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 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,, 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 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 due to its premiere ratings. ABC originally announced 22 episodes for the season 1, but increased the number of episodes to 23 by one. The season finale is the episode called "East Side Story." On March 21, 2007, ABC renewed the series for a second season.
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.
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.
The Complete First Season - The Bettified Edition:-
Region 1: August 21st 2007
Region 2: September 17th 2007
Region 4: October 13th 2007
This six disc box set contains all 23 episodes from the first season. Special features include an exhibit of the "Best and Worst Fashions of Season One", a discussion with the cast on the show's origins, a behind-the-scenes documentary with the production, costume, and set designers, as well as English and Spanish audio tracks.
United States
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).
Based on average total viewers per episode of Ugly Betty on ABC:
Season |
Timeslot (EDT) |
Season Premier |
Season Finale |
TV Seaosn |
Rank |
Viewers (Millions) |
18-49 (Rank) |
1 |
Thursday 8pm |
Sept 28 2006 |
May 17 2007 |
2006-07 |
#35 |
11.3 |
3.7/10 (#40) |
In other countries
United Kingdom
The premiere on Channel 4 on January 5, 2007 attracted 4.5 million viewers. Two weeks later, Ugly Betty hit a new high, with 5.5 million viewers watching the third episode.
The figures and shares were very much similar each week, flirting around 2-3 million viewers with 10-15% share. Disappointingly, the finale rated less than the premiere episode, attracting 3.1 million viewers with 15% share. Yet still, it managed to perform reasonably well, when pending on Channel 4's standard and expectations with viewing figures.
Because of the show's success and the fanbase it has achieved in the UK, Channel 4 has decided to move up the second season schedule launch to Friday October 05, 2007, thus allowing viewers to see the series one week after its US airings, a rarity in UK television, though now increasing due to television networks wishing to offset the use of illegal downloading for watching US shows (other examples Lost, Desperate Housewives and Prison Break).
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 5 in the Australian TV ratings.
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.
Ireland
The European premiere took place on RTÉ Two on January 1, 2007. Season Two again premiered on RTÉ Two on October 4, 2007.
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. SET will air the series in the rest of Latin America, including Brazil, in November 2007.
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, which by the way is a daily serial. 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.
New Zealand
"Ugly Betty" joined Greys Anatomy and Desperate Housewives as TV2's highest-rated overseas shows. It went on a two month hiatus after airing Sofia's Choice as the audience for sister channel TV1's Dancing with the Stars was deemed too similar. In the meantime, TV2 aired Day Break.
Germany
This was the only country where "Ugly Betty" failed to connect with audiences. Sat1 cancelled the show after two episodes due to low ratings. Germany has had its own local adaptation of the "Betty la Fea," "Verliebt in Berlin", which also aired on Sat1 and was more popular with viewers than "Betty."
Italy
The season premiere aired on italia 1 in May averaging about 3.5 million viewers making it one of the most watched programme of the night, the first part of season 1 (episodes 1-14) aired from May till June averaged 3.2 million viewers and the second part (episodes 15-23) aired in September averaging 2.5 million viewers. The series did really well in the 18-49 years old target with an average share of 13%.
India
Season One premiered in July 2007, on Star World at 9:00 pm every Wednesday evening. It has been a success among teenagers mainly. India had aired Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin which was a Hindi adaptation of Yo soy Betty, la fea. It was a grand success, and Ugly Betty has been mistaken as the original, although it premiered much later than its Hindi counterpart, which in turn had been mistaken as the inspiration for the American adaptation.
Turkey
Season One was aired in early 2007, on Mymax at 10:00 pm every Wednesday evening.
In April 2008 Hyperion Books, a Disney owned publisher, will release a companion book to the series, aptly titled "Ugly Betty: The Book", which will be a 160-page hardcover about the show in general. 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
