Aye Carumba! (Ugly Betty)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Ugly Betty
Date:	15/02/07 (396 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well made, great characters

Disadvantages: Shown after the watershed

These days, it’s difficult to get to my TV, what with my teenage daughter dominating the viewing schedules. She’s at an age where she has a string of television series on the go (“Lost“, “The Lost Room“, “The OC” etc.) and wobetide anyone that comes between her and her programmes. One of the beneficial side effects of her small screen addiction is that she will rope me and my good lady into the occasional, watchable series and this is exactly what happened when we discovered the mutual delights of “Ugly Betty”. Shown on Channel 4 and E4, the programme follows the adventures of Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), a young Latino woman from the Queens area of New York. Having got a job as an executive assistant at MODE fashion magazine in swish Manhattan, appointed by Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) in order to stop the womanizing Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) from bedding any further personal assistants (based on the premise that she is ugly), the series follows her comic capers amongst the superiors of the fashion industry and contrasts her life in Queens with that of the jetset of middle Manhattan.

“Ugly Betty” is essentially another fish-out-of-water scenario that works well. It’s staged in separate, disparate worlds, each with their own contrasting issues and opportunities and, of course, the concept of someone supposedly ugly (needless to say, Ferrera is actually glamorous in real life) operating successfully in the superficial world of high fashion is meant to underline the thin veneer of skin deep beauty amongst the movers and shakers of the upper echelons of society. In essence, the programme sets out to underline once more that beauty is only skin deep. The programme has been a huge hit in the States. Winning Golden Globes, SAG and DGA awards amongst others, it has only been going since its premier on ABC in September 2006. Still in its first series, the idea for the programme was spawned from the Colombian telenovela “Yo soy Betty, la fea” (“I am Betty, the ugly“) and adapted for American audiences by producer Salma Hayek.

Where the series wins is in its characterizations. America Ferrera is inspirational in the title role. Clumsy, nervous and sometimes coy, she has a dignity that shines through in her constant battle to be accepted in the beautiful world of Mode Magazine. Her dark, stilted hair style and over the top teeth braces make her look plain and not a little scary whilst her “Guadalajara” poncho and complete disregard for fashion sense mark her out as the odd one out throughout the various plots. Her boss, Daniel Meade, looks every bit the playboy son of the magazine’s owner, philandering most of the week away while Betty is often reduced to clearing up the mess he has left behind. He also engenders a naïve charm that makes him appealing to audiences, making his womanizing forgivable when taken in context although the feeling that this may prove his ultimate downfall is never very far away. The gorgeous Vanessa Williams plays fashion editor, Wilhelmina Slater, and the initial ice-maiden veneer and calculating bitch looking to undermine Daniel Meade in order to get his job is chipped away by the realisation that she has problems with her teenage daughter. This slowly reveals a vulnerable side of her character that endears her to the viewer. For me, Michael Urie as Marc St James is a revelation. Playing the gay assistant to Wilhelmina Slater, his camp, over the top antics always bring a smile to my face and when he was challenged to drink shots off a cowgirl’s midriff in the most recent episode and scuttled off feigning illness instead, I simply howled with laughter. He verges on a Rocky Horror kind of campness, but with a petulant pout and a mincing skip, he may appear stereo-typical for some but his propensity for comedy overrides all of that for me. Bubbling below the surface throughout the episodes is the sub-plot revolving around Daniel Meade’s predecessor Fey Sommers, who was supposedly killed in a hit-and-run accident. The question is frequently asked as to whether Bradford Meade had anything to do with it and a series of shadowy encounters between Wilhelmina and a mystery woman serves to fuel the mystery and intrigue as veiled accusations and clues are left for Daniel through a succession of anonymous phone calls in an attempt to implicate his father as a means of revenge.

One of the big attractions for me in watching the series is its New York setting. At times, we get some great location shots and with the skyscrapers of Manhattan used as a popular backdrop for some of the scenes, it brings a level of authenticity that enhances the programme’s production values. In contrast, the other half of the programme is set in Queens, a working class area of New York with a different culture and an alternative way of life. Set at the Suarez home, the sub-plots of the Latino family form a soap opera within a comedy. Betty's father, Ignacio Suarez (Tony Plana), is an illegal immigrant and Betty and her sister Hilda Suarez (Ana Ortiz) feel compelled to raise the money to pay for a lawyer to help them get their father a Green Card. Ignacio is the proud, family man who has established a better life for himself and his family and his tragic past provides the tension that stops the Suarez unit from becoming a mere sideline in the episodes. Often profound, occasionally morose, Ignacio is the glue that keeps the family together and is the archetypal American immigrant fighting to survive in the land of opportunity. The ridiculous scenes from the Latino television series he is often found watching provide a rye comment on the world of soap opera and for fans of “The Simpsons” there is a clear similarity to the Mexican Bumble Bee sketches that are always making Homer Simpson laugh.

I’ve watched every episode so far and am enjoying the “Ugly Betty” series immensely. Shown after the watershed at 9pm on Friday nights on Channel 4 and earlier on Wednesday nights at the same time on E4, “Ugly Betty” will appeal to all generations with nothing in the way of swearing, sex or violence to restrict its potential audience (no idea why it's shown in that time slot other than maximizing its viewing numbers). I’d heartily recommend the show and, if you do decide to watch it, I hope you enjoy it as much as my teenage daughter……and we do.

Thanks for reading

Mara

More info including details re downloading previous episodes and times and dates for catch up are at: http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsite s/U/ugly_betty/

Summary: Overview of "Ugly Betty"