Everything about Ugly Betty totally explained
Ugly Betty is a
Golden Globe,
Peabody and
Emmy Award-winning
American television comedy-drama series starring
America Ferrera in the title role, along with
Eric Mabius,
Judith Light,
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.
The series is an adaptation of the
Colombian
telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea (
"I am Betty, the ugly"), 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 the pilot episode.
On
February 11,
2008, ABC picked up
Ugly Betty for the
2008-09 television season.
Setting and storylines
As the series began viewers were introduced to Betty Suárez, 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 single-minded world of New York City fashion, and she's 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 Sommers (originally Tanen until the end of the first season), 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
Jackson Heights in the borough of
Queens, Betty must deal with her father Ignacio, 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 Meade, who gave both Daniel and Betty their current positions (prior to his passing from a heart attack); his mother
Claire Meade; and, after returning from a two-year disappearance, his transsexual and competitive sister
Alexis Meade (formerly known as Alex).
The show contains a degree of
surrealism used to express the inner thoughts of its characters. For example, in "
I See Me, I.C.U.", Betty speaks with an earlier version of herself about how far she's 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 must decide what to do after her first boyfriend Walter cheats on her with the Suarez's neighbor,
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 another man. Betty's sister
Hilda fails to sell beauty products door-to-door and becomes unemployed, but discovers her talent as a beautician. Betty's father
Ignacio has health and immigration problems, and he admits to a history of murdering his employer after falling in love with his employer's wife, Betty and Hilda's future mother.
Other Season One plot lines involve
Daniel's womanizing, his affairs with fellow editor
Sofia Reyes and lawyer Grace Chin, and his sudden drug addiction;
Bradford's affair with Daniel's late predecessor
Fey Sommers; the revelation that
Claire murdered Fey; Claire's battle with alcoholism; and Alexis' attempts to repair her relationship with Daniel at Bradford's expense. 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', until she reveals to the world that Alex Meade hadn't died in a skiing accident but was now a woman, Alexis). Wilhelmnia also plots to marry Bradford so she can take over the company, and she attempts to deal with her rebellious daughter Nico while winning acceptance from her father.
Finally,
Marc deals with multi-tasking for his boss, his homosexuality and family acceptance.
Amanda becomes a binge eater, is the target of a prank, and discovers that her true birth mother was Fey Sommers.
Christina is used by Wilhelmina even as she helps Betty.
Season 2
The 2nd season of Ugly Betty began on
September 27,
2007, and ended on
May 22,
2008. The season's theme was "Brighter, Bolder, Bettyer" with a reworked version of
Mika's "
Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" being used as the featured song in its promos.
This season introduced viewers to nine new recurring characters who will be played by
Freddy Rodríguez,
Illeana Douglas,
Alec Mapa,
David Blue,
John Cho,
Gabrielle Union,
Gene Simmons,
Eddie Cibrian and
Juliette Goglia, while
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 as well 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's going to leave for Tucson, AZ, in a few months (so he can be at Charlie's side and help raise the baby). In between these events, a deli shop owner named
Giovanni "Gio" Rossi starts building a platonic 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 but Alexis forgets the last few years of her life, including the fact that she was changed into a woman and that her father mistreated her. Bradford decides to use this to his advantage and doesn't remind Alexis of how he mistreated her; instead, he claims that he was always supportive of her. Wilhelmina's scheme to marry Bradford unravels when (1) Betty learns of the affair she's having with her bodyguard (they were even together the night before the wedding) and (2) Bradford has a heart attack at the altar and later dies from it. Wilhelmina would later be fired from the company by the Meade Family. Amanda tries desperately to find out more about her family, and with Wilhelmina's help, she gets a list of people that could be her dad, leading her to Rock legend
Gene Simmons. Marc finds a partner in
Cliff St. Paul, a photographer who isn't as handsome, but Marc accepts him as a boyfriend anyway. Claire Meade escapes from jail with her "friend" Yoga, and they hide away in the Hamptons. Claire is later recaptured, and thanks to a clever (and ironic) scheme by the late Fey Sommers, Claire is acquitted of her murder (Fey had poisoned Claire's perfume in an attempt to kill her, but instead it made Claire become crazy and violent, and eventually she cut Fey's brakes and killed her). Hilda tries to get over Santos and to start her new career as a beautician while Justin, who became an intern at MODE, tries to be more like his dad and goes into a "bad boy" phase until Hilda intervenes, prompting the the two to restore their mother-son relationship. Christina is surprised to see her ex show up, but when she learns that he's sick and in need of money for an operation, she's determined to help. When Wilhelmina offers to pay Christina if she becomes her surrogate (by being impregnated with Bradford's sperm, which Wilhelmina went to great lengths to remove from his body so she can get control of the Meade empire), Christina agrees to carry the baby, not knowing that this latest plan has more expectant twist and turns when Wilhelmina's troubled sister Renee shows up and starts dating Daniel, resulting in Wilhelmina taking great lengths to conceal her scheme.
Production was halted in November 2007 due to the Writers' Strike. It was then announced the season would be cut short to 18 episodes instead of a proposed 23. New episodes didn't air on U.S. television until
April 24,
2008, starting with
Twenty Four Candles. This season will be the last one being produced in Los Angeles.
Season 3
Main Article: Ugly Betty (season 3)
The show was officially picked up for a new season by
ABC on
February 11,
2008. Production will move to
New York City from
Los Angeles beginning with this season.
Cast
Core regulars
Recurring
Former cast/recurring members
====
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ugly Betty'.
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