Ugly Betty

OK..so I am from the UK and have cheated a little, got my American friend to send me all the first season of ugly Betty and I love it :)

When I first heard about ugly Betty I thought...yes a show about a girl who isn't drop dead gorgeous - forgive me for being so clique - but I felt I could relate to her. Although point 1 Betty is NOT ugly, sure she has glasses, who doesn't now a days? braces, with the most perfect teeth I have ever seen and some questionable eyebrows but who cares? To me Betty is not ugly! Let's just get that out the way.

This show is one of the best American show I have seen in a long time -apart from DH which I very much enjoy. The characters are fabulous, Betty a sweetheart who everyone would love as a friend, Daniel some eye candy, Willamina, I was surprised how much I have grown to like her over the season. Amanada and Marc are a fabulous double act, can I join please? Christina :D:D being a Scot myself I love her and even though some characters make fun of her being Scottish, like calling her "braveheart" I love the character and the jokes about her accent :) The show to me has everything, and I am not just saying this but in the very first episode I laughed, I cried (at people laughing at Betty) and overall I was left with a warm feeling, that my dreams are possible and that beauty is on the inside also I was left wanting more.

The only one thing "bad" I have to say about it is that the message "beauty is on the inside, your dreams are possible" is smacked a bit too much in the audiences face, I think it was at least once an episode - we get it.

Overall, Ugly Betty is an enjoyable sitcom, that although people may be put off by its warm side has a great storyline with most of the central characters...my only request for season 2 more Christina

Ugly Betty is one of my all-time favorite shows, the first season is still one of my favorite seasons, and in my opinion one of the best seasons of television ever produced. The way it blended telenovela sensibilities with the American sitcom was genius. I think the show is extremely underrated, by audiences and critics alike. The user score here is a testament to that, and while Ugly Betty might not be everyone's cup of tea it accomplished most of what it set out to do, and it did it well.

Although I think the first season and a half are excellent, near perfect television, the show floundered a bit in its third season, where a new locale and crew changed the tone and a post-writers strike group of writers took the series into new, and sometimes bizarre territory. I must say that Patricia Field taking over costumes from Eduardo Castro was extremely noticeable, and the quality was still high, but the show never matched its soap opera antics of its first season, instead it become a lighter family comedy with some dramatic elements thrown in, and it still worked.

The thing that amazes me every time I rewatch the show is how timeless it feels, how groundbreaking it was, and how it paved the way for so many shows, and originated so many trends. I don't think Ugly Betty truly gets enough credit for what it did, blending comedy, drama, heartfelt storylines with grittier elements, transgender storylines and gay youth representation, in a show centered on a Mexican-American family no less.

Today there are shows like Pose, where the cast is made up of mainly transwomen, shows like Jane the Virgin that feature telenovela storytelling mixed with comedy, and a noticeable trend in sitcoms to feature more long arc story structure and greater continuity, all while including some more dramatic elements. At the time of its release, Ugly Betty was a contemporary to The Office, 30 Rock, Glee and other mainstream sitcoms that kept the tone light and the stakes lower. Meanwhile, Ugly Betty wasn't afraid to feature surreal moments and serious stories about coming out, murder and alcoholism.

Ugly Betty will forever be one of my favorite shows. And although it's never gotten the credit it deserves, its influence lives on in the risks taken by the shows that came after it, and the people who were touched by it.

I have been an Ugly Betty fan since episode 1 back in 2006. The minute America Ferrera's plucky Betty Suarez walked through the doors of Mode in her Guadalajara poncho, I knew I was going to love this show. I've been a faithful fan for all four seasons and was truly sad to see it go. So much so that I put off watching the series finale until today - nearly a month after it originally aired. Throughout it's four seasons, Ugly Betty remained witty and engaging. Ugly Betty knew how to play up the drama, but what made this show so endearing was its expert use of comedy. Vanessa Williams, Ana Ortiz, and Becki Newton and the rest of the cast provided constant moments of hilarity throughout the years.

For anyone who needs a good laugh, a twist of drama, and a downright feel good show to watch, Ugly Betty is the show for you. It certainly was for me. It was definitely a bitter sweet goodbye. My only complaint is that the series was cut far too short. ABC tends to do that however. They tend to not know what a good thing they have until its gone. The Ugly Betty series finale is one of those finales you will watch with a nagging pit in your stomach as you realize your journey with these characters has come to an end. But after it's over, the resolution is so perfect that you can't help but feel relieved that despite the end of your journey, their stories will continue to live on in your head.

Okay, yes, the theme is kinda like Bridget Jones's Diary. I got that from the title and ads. I'm sure you did too, so don't go wailing that you're SO disappointed, or that it's a ripoff. Does having one plot point in common (overweight girl) make a show a ripoff? A majority of Americans are now overweight. Is breaking the taboo against depicting someone overweight so out of the ordinary that it's derivative? But I digress...

Salma Hayek is behind this, and she clearly wants us to like this Latina girl and the show. So I'm sure she'll hire dialog coaches for those who have poorly feigned foreign accents. But other things that would otherwise have taken me out of the pilot didn't happen. Surely you thought they were going to do something trite and cliché with her idea, didn't you? But they didn't. People behaved like real people. What a concept.

The menace and intrigue they allude to in the future is kinda one dimensional, but I'm going to give this show a chance.

A dramedy with a lot of heart. The humor can be pretty subtle which makes it more effective and does not detract from the story line. It also has a moral point of view that shows that the consequences of behavior can be long lasting and far reaching, and that other people are affected even when you want to believe that no one else is being hurt. The fact that Salma Hayeck, who is one of the producers, is willing to make fun of herself by being shown in an over the top Latino soap opera on the TV in Betty's house that her father is hooked on also adds to the levity and fun of the show. The ongoing story thread about Fey is a good hook, since you keep watching to find out what is going on. You find out a little more about the plot line each episode, much like a good mystery.