. (web series). External links Ugly Betty is an American television series developed by, which was originally broadcast on between 2006 and 2010. It revolves around the character who, despite her lack of style, lands a job at a prestigious fashion magazine. The series is based on 's Colombian, which has had many other international adaptations. It was produced by Silent H, and partnered with and executive produced by, and Joel Fields.
The pilot was filmed in New York; seasons one and two were filmed in Los Angeles and seasons three and four in New York City. During its first three seasons, it aired on Thursday nights, where it was mostly successful. However, viewership dropped significantly in the show's third season, particularly in the important 18–49 age group. In October 2009, the series was moved to Fridays, The backlash from its fans prompted ABC to move the show to Wednesdays at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central starting January 6, 2010, where it was thought that it would better complement its Wednesday hits and.
Despite this, on January 27, 2010, announced it was canceling the series due to low ratings. Since the show's cancellation, it has gained a. With the end of the series, there was talk of a push by and for an Ugly Betty movie. Contents. Production 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 but it didn't get past the planning stages (It took three writers to come up with a concept based around the character) 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 13 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, 2006, 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, decided at the last minute to make 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 and as a lead-in to top-rated program, 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 would maintain the integrity of the original. ABC 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 after their initial airings on January 5, 2007.
The encore episodes also have run on and, both of which have aired marathons of the show. On October 13, 2006, ordered a full season pick-up for the series, beyond the original 13 ordered at the May Upfronts due to its premiere ratings. Originally announced 22 episodes for the season 1, but increased the number of episodes by one to 23. The season finale is the episode called '.' On March 21, 2007, renewed the series for a second season. Although he joined NBC as their new entertainment head, Ben Silverman remained co-executive producer on the show, but in a limited role. In November 2007, the cast of the series made headlines when they threw their support behind the by joining them on the picket line in solidarity.
Ferrera commented on the reason why they did this: 'The issues coming up with the actors’ contracts are very similar to what the writers are dealing with right now, and we have to stay united and stand strong within the creative community for what we believe is fair.' On November 25, the cast appeared in a 38-second video for 'Speechless Hollywood' in which a black & white camera pulled away from a close up of Ferrera to show her co-stars sitting next to her as they look directly at the camera without speaking. On February 11, 2008, picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008–09 television season, along with nine other shows. Unfortunately on the day the renewal was announced, two of the show's executive producers, and, were let go. The departure of Pennette and Hayman added to the constant off-camera turnovers on the series, including the exiting or firing of five writers.
In a Q&A from TV Guide, Michael Ausiello criticized the decision, saying 'that someone saw fit to fix what wasn't broken' and praised the two men for writing several of the show's best episodes. These turn of events may have also contributed to Rebecca Romijn's decision to no longer be a full-time regular on the series in the third season, citing the move by new writers to make changes in the direction of several characters, especially Romijn's role as Alexis. With the strike over as of February 12, there was the possibility for seven new episodes to be completed by April, bringing the number of second-season episodes produced to 20, but only 18 episodes were eventually produced. As a result of the strike, creator Silvio Horta delayed plans for a musical episode and having on board for a possible storyline until the third season. Four days later on February 16, 2008, picked up Ugly Betty for the television season. On March 12, 2008, Horta inked a two-year, seven-figure deal with ABC Studios, which guaranteed the show's future and gave Horta a chance to produce other projects aside from Betty. On April 17, 2008, the show's podcast, which was usually presented in audio and hosted by stars Urie and Newton, became available on video for the first time.
On May 6, 2008, announced that starting with the third season, Ugly Betty would return to New York City and start production there. The move was done to bring the authenticity of the great series' setting into the show and to take advantage of a offered by the 's Governor's Office of Motion Picture and Television Development. The production returned to in Queens, where the original pilot was produced. The move resulted in several Los Angeles crew members being let go. These events would lead California Assemblyman to introduce bill AB X315, the 'Ugly Betty Bill', which would keep television and film production from leaving the state by using tax incentives. The bill was passed by the assembly and Governor signed it into law on February 19, 2009.
In January 2009, announced that it was putting Ugly Betty on hold to make room for the new comedies and in the Thursday night time slot. The series' aired one more original episode on March 19, 2009. On Sunday, March 15, 2009, announced that, after a five-week break, Ugly Betty would return for its final five episodes of the season on Thursday, April 30, 2009. Ugly Betty's return was originally planned for May 7, but due to low ratings for Motherhood, moved it up a week. The two-episode season finale aired on Thursday, May 21 from 8–10 pm. The move by and the show's declining ratings led viewers to believe that ABC would cancel the show.
But on February 17, 2009, stated that the show has been picked up for a fourth season. That statement would later be confirmed on March 5, 2009, when Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment Group, announced that ABC planned to renew Ugly Betty. On April 23, 2009, ABC gave an early fourth season renewal to Betty. Ugly Betty began airing on Friday nights starting October 16, 2009, at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central, although it was originally scheduled to start a week earlier on October 9.
This caused fans and critics to worry that ABC wished to end the show, since that time slot is perceived as the. On July 24, 2009, announced that it had acquired the exclusive cable rights to the show and would air the fourth-season episodes two weeks after its ABC run with an option to strip the show daily, with plans to air it weekly starting in the fall of 2010. With recently canceled, ABC began considering moving Ugly Betty to the Wednesday night 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central timeslot, although there was talk of moving to that same timeslot.
On December 1, 2009, ABC, sensing a backlash from viewers over its decision to move Ugly Betty to Fridays, its sliding ratings, and praises from critics over the improved storylines, made the move to Wednesday official by announcing that it would start airing new episodes on its new night starting January 6, 2010. Main article: Season one premiered in the United States on September 28, 2006 and aired 23 episodes. Main article: The season's theme was 'Brighter, Bolder, Bettyer' with a reworked version of ' being used as the featured song in its promos. Nine new recurring characters, played by, and were introduced. Continued in her role as Claire's fellow prison escapee, Yoga, as a recurring character. Production was halted in November 2007 due to the; ultimately the season episode order was cut to 18 instead of a proposed 23. New episodes did not air on U.S.
Television until April 24, 2008, starting with ', and ending on May 22, 2008, with '. This was the last episode to be produced in Los Angeles.
Main article: ABC renewed the series for a third season on February 11, 2008. In addition, production was moved to New York City from Los Angeles to make the series more realistic and to take advantage of increased tax incentives in New York. The third season premiered on September 25, 2008. This season added ten new recurring regulars, played by, and., and returned from the second season for more appearances. 'The Show' by Australian singer Lenka is used as the promo theme for the season.
The seasons begins with Betty moving to an apartment in the city, after rejecting both Henry and Gio. Major plotlines include Daniel and Wilhelmina's respective relationships with Molly and Connor - a former couple; Betty and Marc both competing in the YETI program, a series of classes for aspiring editors; Betty's new relationship with Matt Hartley, a wealthy sports editor also taking part in YETI; Christina's surrogate pregnancy for Wilhelmina, and later belief that the baby is in fact her own; Molly developing terminal cancer and Ignacio's heart problems resulting in Betty having to return home, resulting in Marc and Amanda taking on Betty's apartment. The season was the last that featured and as regulars, with Romijin's character Alexis moving to France to be with her son early in the season, and Jensen's character Christina returning to Scotland with her family in episode 20.
Season 4: 2009–2010. Ugly Betty logo. Ever since the show's debut, the main characters, especially the title character, have quickly become the latest fixtures in the lexicon of pop media culture, and already they found their way onto parodies, news media stories, and art-imitating-life situations. The show's impact on issues and culture has also attracted the attention of the, where on January 17, 2007 California (, ) saluted Ferrera on both her Golden Globe win and for bringing a positive profile to the Latin and Hispanic communities. In addition to that recognition, on May 8, 2007, star America Ferrera was honored by TIME on the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people. The event took place at New York's Lincoln Center and the actress was recognized for defying stereotypes with the show.
The success of Ugly Betty and how it deals with body imaging among women in general would inspire a series of reports on, in which reporter went undercover in a to see if women were discriminated on the basis of how they look. Gay awareness groups like GLAAD have also noted the positive impact the show has had regarding Betty's teenaged nephew Justin, who realizes that he is gay.
Awards and nominations. Mark Indelicato and America Ferrera at the 2010 Voice Awards. Since its debut, Ugly Betty won two on January 15, 2007, for 'Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series' and Best Comedy Series. Ferrera also won a on January 28, 2007, for 'Best Actress in a Comedy Series'.
On June 4, 2007, the series was honored with a 'for demonstrating that wit and humanity never go out of style.' Ugly Betty won the Outstanding Comedy Series award by the in April 2007.
Also won a Prism Award for her portrayal as Claire Meade. On July 19, 2007, the series received 11 nominations at the in the Comedy category (the most of any comedy series), including Outstanding Comedy Series, Best Actress (Ferrera), Best Supporting Actress (Williams), and Best Guest Starring Actress (Hayek for her role as Sofia; Light for her role as Claire. Both lost to ). It won three awards — Best Casting in a Comedy Series, Best Direction in a Comedy Series (for the show's ), and Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Ferrera).
For its second season, it received six other Primetime Emmy Award nominations, going home empty handed. Overall, Ugly Betty has been nominated for eighteen Emmy Awards. Although The NAACP Image Awards honors African Americans in the entertainment industry, the series has won five of the Image Awards' eight major TV categories, a rarity among television series with a multicultural cast. In addition to winning an Image award for the TV series in 2007 and Ferrera for best actress in 2008, has won back to back honors (in 2007 and 2008) in the Supporting Actress category for her portrayal of Wilhelmina Slater. Owing to the massive success of 'Ugly Betty' in the United Kingdom, Ugly Betty was nominated for most popular Comedy Program at the in September 2008, but lost to. The ALMA Awards honors the Hispanic entertainment community.
During its first season, Ugly Betty won four of its first seven nominations and in the second season took home three more, along with a Chevrolet Entertainer of the Year Award for Ferrera for her work on the show. Overall the series has received 162 nominations. See also. References. (1969). (1970)., / (1971)., / (1972)., / (1973)., (1974)., / (1975)., / (1976)., / (1977)., (1978). /, / (1979)., / (1980)., / (1981).
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