TVSquad

Ugly Betty is a bit different. And, yes, I'm talking about both the show and its determined main character. The show funny, soapy, bitchy, and sweet all at the same time. And while part of it is about the superficial and competitive world of fashion magazines, it also delves into the decidedly unglamorous life Betty Suarez and her family lead in a middle-class Queens neighborhood. As long as they keep that balance, ABC might have a winning combination, especially now that it has moved Betty into the pre-Grey's Anatomy slot (It premieres Thursday at 8 PM).

Ugly Betty is based on a telenovela that has become a worldwide hit; it was brought to this country by Salma Hayek, who we see on the fake telenovela the Suarez family always watches. In true American fashion, this version of Betty is probably the cutest of all the Bettys working today: you can still see the sweet sexy quality that America Ferrera brings to the role underneath the braces, thick glasses, and thrift-shop clothing. But no matter; in the world of Mode Magazine, where she's just been hired to be the assistant to the publisher's son and new editor-in-chief Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), she's goes from a diamond-in-the-rough to, as a photographer calls her, "fugly."

The scenes where she tries to make her way at the magazine are both funny and cringe-inducing, making any normal person think, "can people really be that shallow?" The answer, if you've spent any time in Soho, is yes, yes, a million times yes. The magazine's creative director Wilhelmena Slater (Vanessa Williams) and her assistant Marc are too busy injecting Botox in her face and scheming against Daniel (who Wilhelmena thinks stole a job she thought was rightly hers), to delve into real human emotions. And, if you look at some of the ridiculous clothes Marc wears, you start to wonder why they think that Betty's silly "Guadalajara" poncho is completely déclassé. It doesn't help that Amanda (Becki Newton) is also after Daniel, but she goes about things a slightly different way. That part, which is the soapier part, is what is going to start to grate on you after a while if you're not into that world at all.

But Betty's story is what will keep you coming back. At first, Daniel looks like he's going to be the typical spoiled cad boss; he mistreats Betty, whom his dad hired so Daniel wouldn't be tempted, in an attempt to get her to quit. But when he sees the light, and sees her great proposal for a cosmetics layout, his compassion is sincere. We know that the two of them are going to make a good team, which they're going to need, since Wilhemena, working on behalf of someone everyone thought was out of the picture, is out to get them.

Betty's home life needs to be explored more. She is the rock of the family to her father Ignacio (Tony Plana), and while her sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) doesn't believe in her, Betty's nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato) does. Maybe it's because Justin -- who's a little more attuned to the fashion world than most little boys -- knows more about the fashion world than Betty does. I'd love to see more episodes where we see her Queens family and neighbors start to interact with the Mode folks, just to each group's reactions to each other. Daniel will probably be the bridge, as will Betty's only friend at the magazine, Christina (Ashley Jensen), who works in the magazine's "closet," and adapts all the leftover clothes to her non-size-0 frame.

The funniest scene? As part of the smoking out process, Bianchi and Daniel have Betty squeeze into a tight leather outfit and thigh-high boots for a test shot. Considering the outfit is designed for a woman who's a foot taller and about fifty pounds lighter, the resulting visual is very funny. But this show is not about guffaws. It's about relationships and about rooting for Betty to become a success. There is going to be a soapy element to the show; it wouldn't be a telenovela without it. But if the writers do a good job of balancing the soapy with the sweet, Ugly Betty is going to get better looking every week.