(S01E01) The other day, I gave an extensive review of the Ugly Betty pilot. But after the jump, I'm going to talk about a few of the details in the pilot that I didn't want to discuss in the preview, lest I reveal some mild spoilers. Suffice to say, the show's gotten me interested (which is less than "hooked," but more than "feh, I couldn't care less.").
What has me interested in the show, despite the fact that it's going against my favorite sitcom pair in Earl and The Office? America Ferrera. She plays Betty Suarez with such enthusiasm and confidence that her beauty shines from behind the bad hair, braces, thick glasses and crappy clothes. The parts of the show where she's dealing with her new boss, Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) and the chirpy harpies at Mode make you want to root her on every chance you can get. You also feel bad when her feckless boyfriend Walter (Kevin Sussman) dumps her for a neighborhood skank who's only using him for his discount. But when she confronts said skank, breaking her plasma TV in the process, you know that Betty is going to be OK.
The cattiness at Mode? I can take it or leave it. Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams) is too cartoonish right now to even go in the "I love to hate her" category, and her assistant Marc (Michael Urie) and magazine receptionist Amanda (Becki Newton) are so shallowly drawn they don't even seem like human beings. I did like it, though, when Amanda eyes Betty for the first time and asks her if she's here for the "before" photo shoot.
Gina Gershon was really good as Flavia, the magazine chain's biggest customer. I especially liked it when she threw nuts at Daniel after he showed her the initial layout, which didn't go over well. I wonder if we're going to have cameos like that every week; while Gershon was good, it's not all that necessary.
The soapy subplots don't interest me right now. We're not sure if Fey Sommers, the Anna Wintour-esque figure who Daniel replaced after her death, is really dead or not. We know that Wilhelmina is scheming to take over the magazine, but the depth of what she knows is a mystery right now. Daniel's father Bradford (Alan Dale) is involved with a P.I. to see what Fey knew about his family and business, which is somewhat intriguing. But all of this just seems like melodramatic throw-ins, distracting us from the story we actually want to see: Betty with her family, Betty in the neighborhood in Queens, Betty at Mode, Betty pretty much anywhere.
If they stay with the heroine, the show will be fine, and I'll keep watching. If it floats into Dynasty territory, I won't. I'm betting EP Salma Hayek and her writers know what they have in America Ferrera. At least I hope they do, if this show's going to compete against Earl and The Office.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-28-2006 @ 9:26PM
jake said...
I didn't expect to like this show as much as I did, but this is so heartfelt with characters that make you feel something. I LOVE UGLY BETTY and everyone who loves television should take a look at the pilot. I think they are repeating it free on abc.com.
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9-28-2006 @ 11:43PM
Mike McNamara said...
I like Ugly Betty tons more than I thought I would -- though I actually think the Dynasty-like subplots made it more, not less, awesome (and I don't sound like I'm on Selma Hayek's payroll like jake who posted above) When the maybe-dead lady started chatting with Vanessa Williams, I knew there was going to be more to this show than braces and ponchos, and I was almost hooked.
But I agree that America Ferrara's should be ABC's biggest breakout superstar find since Jennifer Garner put the red wig on.
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9-29-2006 @ 4:31AM
az1324 said...
Interesting to note where this show originated:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233127/
Also take a look at their betty:
http://www.anamariaorozco.galeon.com/album/HELLO1.jpg
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9-29-2006 @ 8:50AM
tv junkie said...
I've learn that in the original "ugly betty," Betty became a beautiful lady and got together with her boss. but even though they're together, his boss is still a jerk and sleeps with other women behind Betty's back. the idea is, even though Betty was no longer ugly, her life became the ugly one. I don't know what the writers have in mind for the US version, but I hope Betty don't get together with that boss of hers or become beautiful...we don't need another one of those romance on television, plus, Betty is beautiful in that she has a good heart. With that said, kudos on the first episode. i thought it was gonna be a huge cliché, but turns out it was sweet and heartfelt. all the characters are pretty likable, even the villains. it's fun to see how show doesn't hide the element of tele-novella at all. Wilhelmina's evil plan to take over the magazine was so soapy that it was funny. overall, a pretty fun show, i'm gonna keep watching. (does anyone notice the fact that KT Tunstall's songs are in like every TV shows now? I mean, they're fine, but...can't those music supervisors find other music to put in tv shows?)
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9-29-2006 @ 9:22AM
Vance said...
I'm now torn between The Office and Ugly Betty, The Office being the best comedy on TV at this moment (I found the first two eps of My Name is Earl slightly less appealing this season), but Ugly Betty was SOOOO CHARMING that I simply adore it (and America Ferrera!).
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9-29-2006 @ 10:12AM
Porchland said...
There have really been some smart new comedies this season. On-shaky-ground "'Til Death" and probably-cancelled "Happy Hour" are both well-acted, sharp and LOL-funny at times. I hated the premiere of "The Class," but the second episode was significantly better.
And now "Ugly Betty." I hope the show follows the style of the pilot -- a big, noisy, flashy, Zoolander-y romp with lots of soap opera storylines and over-the-top shenanigans.
It reminded me a LOT of a great Spanish movie called "The Perfect Crime" about a department store manager that gets blackmailed into dating an unattractive co-worker. There are obvious similarities in subject matter -- clothing, style, ugly, etc. -- but the tone and production are also similar.
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9-29-2006 @ 7:30PM
RAD said...
The problem with this show is that it's masquerading as a progressive show that emphasizes a good heart over good looks. Yes, it does make a couple of clichéd points--looks aren't everything and beauty on the outside does not indicate inner beauty. But I found myself asking why this still being discussed at all? I understand that we are not yet at a point in our society where women in the workforce are not judged on aesthetics. This is unfortunate. It is also unfortunate that young girls have to worry about whether they are pretty enough to be taken seriously in the "real world" without being too pretty to be taken seriously.
A truly progressive show would move beyond aesthetics as a plot point and simply allow the characters to be. Suiki on Gilmore Girls is a good example. The fact that she has a different body-type than Lorelai is not a plot point. No judgment is passed on her by the townspeople; and therefore the audience is not forced or reminded to make a judgment based on aesthetics. The character is allowed to look “different.”
My concern is that this show will reinforce unhealthy body images in the young girls that this show is targeted towards. (I was shocked to find an advertisement for the show on the "Toys R Us" in Time Square.) Instead of being encouraged to look beyond aesthetics, these girls will be reminded that they are judged every day, and they will judge themselves. "Am I an Ugly Betty? Is everyone laughing at me?"
This show does nothing to move society away from superficial judgments.
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10-05-2006 @ 4:42PM
fishpatrol said...
Coming late to the comment game here, but I was amazed at how much the pilot read like a Saturday morning cartoon! She shows up for an interview, who knows how she got it, and the company owner overhears her botched entrance and gives the girl her first job out of college--a very high assistant position--to someone who has no apparent knowledge of or interest in fashion? Yet she's a whiz at research, has a steel-trap memory, and is only terribly (though unpurposefully) insulting part of the time? You can call for characters to be characters all you like, but this is a what-if gone wild.
Not to say I didn't enjoy it at all. I'm just not sure where this story could go except to pretty up ugly Betty and find her a man. I mean, are we supposed to take the drama at Mode seriously? Is the not-yet-dead-editor supposed to be an interesting plot for adults to follow? I don't at all think that's a "soapy subplot". Placed at the end of the episode like that, that looks pretty clearly like a hint at the greater story arc, ala "Ugly Betty has to save her pathetic but sexed-up boss from the increasingly dire plots of Madame Fey while trying to find her place in the" blah blah. People this is the primetime version of Inspector Gadget!
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10-23-2006 @ 9:05PM
Ross said...
UGLY BETTY is an awesome show, its really funny.. America Ferrera and the rest of the crew do a gr8 job. Its horrible to see some of the comments people wrote.. If u dont think its funny, dont watch it, its that simple. Dont talk crap about the show just because u dont like it.
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