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Hey CC somehow I like that idea. I said it before. I don´t mind Jesse being the “rebound guy”. He sings nicely and they say that Betty will focus in other things than her love life. Having fun is fun!
Now later in season 3 they can bring romance if they like. But I don´t mind if Gio sticks around as a friend encouraging her to work in her writing or maybe pissing her off every now and then.

In the meantime, Jesse could be a fun distraction. But I have to agree, it stretches reality *too* much for her to have all these guys falling at her feet. For that matter, isn’t it contrary to much of the show’s message? Betty is a wonderful role model because she is so unabashedly herself – she has strong individuality. If the message of the show becomes “ugly girls can get boyfriends too” then I think it has lost touch with what was so special about it – with the real message it started out with in Season 1.

anyway, I think It would be a waste of time and of such a great character if they decided to take Gio out of the picture; and of course the show would be still good without him, but again it would be a waste, cuz im not really sure how long this program will last, hopefully for at least a couple of more years, and I do agree that Betty needs a steady love life at least; but we are in 3rd season already and lets not forget that at the end of this show Betty will end up with Daniel (as according to the original plotline of the latin Soap-opera) so Im guessing that the writers need to grow on a more powerful story this year than to be playing around with potentially “weak” on-and-off-characters (Perhaps Jesse?) and stories. They need to build up a hell of a good storyline this season, if we are ever to be prepared to slowly see Betty falling in love with Daniel and watch her makeover eventually…

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True (in a way), but I think I know what angie was getting at. To me, Freddy’s career in movies really started to take off after he was done with “Six Feet Under”. Sure, he did a few movies while he was on that show, but his “visibility” on the big screen was more apparent after he finished his long-term stint on television. Now, after having his movie career take off so well (and having a production company of his own), I’m sure it would be a tad difficult to go back to being a regular on TV – where he would be, in reality, only a second fry to the other major characters on UB. And perhaps in that sense, it would tie back to what you’re saying, Sarah – that he probably didn’t like the direction the show would take with his character in the long run – that he would always be a second fiddle or that he’d be cast off eventually. Or, chances are, it has nothing to do with that at all. Maybe it’s just a scheduling conflict that came up for him, which affected any storyline that the writers had in mind for Gio and Betty.

Honestly, though, I really never expected Freddy to be around for the long haul. I expected to see him more often during Season 3, but somehow, it makes sense to me that he would eventually leave. I just never had the feeling that he’d stay around for, say, four or five years – or even to the series finale, especially since this show operates more as a “soapish” comedy.

bgfan says: “George Clooney did it for 6 years. Besides this actor doesn’t seem the type to see TV as ‘beneath him’. And there’s nothing like a steady paycheck.”

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Yes, and when his “star” status really started taking off, he eventually left “ER” to take on more projects that were of more interest to him on the big screen. Before Freddy came to UB, he already had a movie career in motion, along with a production company of his own, right? So, like George, maybe that would be a reason that he could never commit to another long-term stint on the show to begin with. Now that he has his own projects in mind, it’s probably harder to take on anything else.

In that sense, it may not be about Freddy seeing TV as being “beneath” him. As mentioned earlier, it could be that either (a) some scheduling conflict came up that took precedence over UB or (b) he didn’t want to stick around b/c Gio’s storyline on the show wasn’t palatable enough for him.

And with that in mind, that’s something else that we could consider: Freddy agreed to be a recurring character as of Season 2. But perhaps TPTB had “backup” storyline ideas in place just in case they couldn’t get him to commit to Season 3. That really is a possibility, and sometimes, circumstances like that just can’t be helped.

In any case, when I hear that people are planning to give up on this show because secondary characters like Henry and/or Gio are leaving, I actually think that’s pitiable for one reason: The show was always about Betty’s story to begin with – and as someone else mentioned, her story does go beyond whatever romantic interest she happens to have at the moment. The big picture is that this is all about her journey – and well, until that journey ends with the series finale, I’m sticking around.

Very disappointed.

George Clooney did it for 6 years. Besides this actor doesn’t seem the type to see TV as ‘beneath him’. And there’s nothing like a steady paycheck.

“What I do see as a roadblock is the way UB’s writing seemed to be going at the point of the finale–disjointed and slightly off. He might not like where the creators were planning to take his character and opted out rather than have his character go out like they had CG’s character.”

Thank you for saving me a whole lot of typing, stuley, this exactly what I’ve been thinking.

Also, Horta’s trying to keep things under wraps to cash in on the premier (he must be thrilled with CG). Stands to reason even THR won’t have all or even the most accurate information. I too am waiting to hear something ‘official.’ Unfortunately, that too may just be PR spin.