Ugly Betty ‘Ship’-wreck
July 14, 2008 by Tom
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the news that Christopher Gorham has signed on to star in CBS’ midseason drama “Harper’s Island. (What is is with CBS taking the stars of Ugly Betty when they leave the show?).
This was reported at the Hollywood Reporter. The two trade magazines, Variety and Hollywood Reporter, are impeccable sources. If HR says it, I have to believe it’s true.
(As a side note, HR, a spoiler of this magnitude needs to be hidden behind a jump! Yeah, you have a “spoiler alert”, but at that point, it’s hard to stop reading).
What was VERY surprising in the article is that there was a blurb about Freddy Rodriguez, saying he “is not expected to come back for more than one episode”.
I really, really didn’t expect that.
They’re going to have to have a heck of a season premiere to explain this one. Both exits are abrupt, especially Rodriguez (the plot of the show, and the producers had been dropping hints about Henry’s exit for a while).
I would imagine that Gio will stay in Italy, Henry in Tucson. I was kind of hoping one, or both of them could be guest characters, dropping in from time to time to add extra tension. Apparently, Silvio Horta did not agree, and decided that Betty Suarez needed a clean break.
I kind of thought this might happen, but I’m still surprised and a little disappointed. Let’s hope Val Emmich can create enough heat to fill the void.
Image: Newsom
How sure are you that this is true? I wouldn’t think that a show slipping in ratings would want to alienate so many of its viewers.
I’m still kind of iffy on the FR part of The Hollywood Reporter’s news… As a fan of Freddy Rodriguez I’ve been keeping an eye on his upcoming projects, I only know of two–one of which there’s been no movement on in ages and IMDB still only has him listed as a rumored status. As for the other… I believe it is still just in the planning stages and if he’s true to how he’s produced his movies, would probably be filmed in NYC.
I know the status of THR as a trade publication in Hollywood circles, but on that aspect of this news bit, I’m going to have to stay a little guarded on it until it’s tied to an ABC or UB source. I’m a bit surprised that if this *did* have a source like that spill, they didn’t mention it.
As for Val Emmich–man, do I feel sorry for him and the character he’s being asked to do. Because of how they ended last season and how ABC has chosen to promote the new season, ABC and UB creators already have this character fighting his way out of the corner. There is going to have to be some absolutely flawless writing to allow him to gain some acceptance on the show. And sadly, after that disjointed and kinda flat finale, I’m not 100% confident that the writers will be able to do that.
Well let me start of by saying that I agree with all that has been said on this matter so far. Speaking as a Getty fan, I am still not sure how to take this news. It will be a giant leap on the writers’ part to have Gio completely stop his appearance on the show.
However, I feel that the writers have been working hard amidst the writer’s strike and then a possible actor’s strike and then the whole New York move. Money is tight, even in the Hollywood industry and the move to NYC will make production cheaper and more authentic. I believe Gio’s exit is a result of the move.
Now that I’ve said that, I really want to be fair to the show and give Jesse a chance. I know he has a big shoe to fill and all, but I am a fan of the show first and the ships second. I already have the feeling that judgement is going to be placed on this character. Val could be incredible in the role, but it’s something we don’t know yet.
This is something we will just have to wait out and see what happens.
Apparently I read that both Freddy and Chris are already planning on other projects. =/
I am VERY disappointed.
Not just because they won’t be coming back for long, but because they’re already throwing a new guy into the pot with the sole intention of just filling up the romance department where Chris and Freddy are going to leave off.
It’s completely unrealistic and I don’t like it.
Anyway, being a huge Chris Gorham fan I’ll definately be tuning in to his newest project, but Ugly Betty is probably not going to be high on my favorites anymore seeing as how Henry was the main reason I even watched anyway.
I think Bella said it best: “I am a fan of the show first and the ships second.”
Hear, hear. That being said, I am sad to hear about Gio’s exit. I could tell that he wasn’t going to last much longer, but I thought for sure he’d stick around for more than one episode. I blame the abruptness of it on a combination of the writers’ strike and the move to NYC.
Hopefully they’ll write Val’s character well enough that this shift makes sense. I just hope they give themselves time with it (like they did with Henry) instead of rushing things (like they did with Gio). Taking some time to build an attraction seems to work best in TV land.
Oh no,that bad news about Freddy Rodriguez and Christopher Gorham not coming back to Ugly Betty 3 season.But other character intested love of Betty again.I love Freddy Rodriguez on Ugly Betty,cuz he is funny and very sexy on 2 season.
I’m not believing the news about Freddy until I hear it from him or from ABC.
In the event that this is true, it’ll take a really good reason for writing off Gio or a heck of a *believeable* storyline for me to continue watching UB. Gio is the only reason I started watching UB again.
Bella said: “Now that I’ve said that, I really want to be fair to the show and give Jesse a chance. I know he has a big shoe to fill and all, but I am a fan of the show first and the ships second. I already have the feeling that judgement is going to be placed on this character. Val could be incredible in the role, but it’s something we don’t know yet.”
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Amen to that. =) Kudos to you, Bella. I wholeheartedly agree with you.
As for the FR news…for now, I’m going to take it the way it is – that it’s real. I remember the summer before last season when the news came out over Gio being a possible new love interest for Betty, and at first, the Hetty fans didn’t really believe that the news was true, either. And well, we all know what ended up happening…
regarding the imdb comment by ‘Sarah’ above:
imdb credits are not always accurate. in addition to that, anybody can add them and in order to post them it can sometimes take weeks or months. besides, if something is in production, people don’t always run to imdb to put it up, it can take a while. usually the ones that you see up there are credits that are either mainstream popular or well-known enough to warrant the publicity from having it on imdb.
in summary
— just because he doesn’t have any new credits on imdb doesn’t mean he doesn’t have quite a few lined up or in production.
I understand how invalid the entries under IMDB are–I tend to trust it about as much as I trust wikipedia when it comes to some actor listings. I never take movies or listings under pre-production or rumored as truth.
But in terms of Freddy, there are a lot of members at MGSG that are hardcore Freddy Rodriguez fans (far more than even I am) who have followed him before Six Feet Under and even they know of only one concrete project that Freddy himself has talked of, and it’s not the one listed on IMDB. Which is why you’re sure to find a lot of FR/UB fans wondering what these projects are that would make him suddenly unavailable (unless it’s for familial reasons, in which case anyone would be hard pressed to find a disgruntled Rodriguez fan).
However, whatever direction the show takes, I know I’m going to continue watching UB. But am I going to be rushing home from work like I was when I knew Freddy Rodriguez was going to be on so I didn’t miss a second? Probably not. But I am 100% dying to see more of Marc and Cliff S3!
Holly, thanks for trying to making me feel better about potential Freddy Rodriguez upcoming projects. I’m dying to see more of him on the big screen! But as Sarah said so herself in her post she *is* a Freddy Fan. We don’t rely solely in dubious information like IMDB. I guess she was trying to tell us that at IMDB site there is one project listed as rumored: a movie called “Identity”. The only project known of Freddy Rodriguez is called “Bodega Dreams” and it doesn’t seem to be in pre-production stage yet (we only know that it could be filmed in NYC).
Besides, his work in “Bottle Shock” and “Humboldt Park” (acting and producing) didn’t seem to affect Rodriguez recurring presence in Ugly Betty. I don’t think that “working” in other non-existent projects is a valid justification for the dismissal of his character Gio in season 3. So I think it’s just what it is: especulation.
Hopefully we’ll get more information soon. I’d really like to see more of him in Ugly Betty and in films (yeah, I am so greedy…)
You know, I’m hoping that this new guy is not really a love interest. I think Betty needs to take a break from all romance for awhile, maybe focus on her career and her family and if something romantic wants to develop, let it happen more naturally.
All through season 2 and especially after the strike, the writers worked diligently to build a story arc to get the viewers to fall in love with the Betty/Gio pairing. When they came back from the strike, the major thrust of the 1st episode back (24 Candles) was to show that everything Betty had been fantasizing about with Henry she could have in the real world with Gio. Then just before the season ended, they gave us one of the most dazzling episodes on series TV recently with the fabulously written The Kids Are Alright that finally brought the couple together romantically and seemed to be setting us up for a new round of watching Betty surrender to the guy who loved her so long. The message was clearly that when she followed her heart instead of sense of duty this man is where her heart would lead her. I’m convinced that the ratings bump in Jump had way more to do with people wanting to see this story continue to develop than anything to do with the overhyped appearance of Lindsay Lohan. Now in a single episode they’re going to cut away all they were building toward? All that they were deliberately making us hunger for? Just “Oops, never mind!” Henry’s move out of the picture happened through a natural progression of developments, but if Gio’s just disappearing suddenly after so much build-up of expectations, I’m sorry but that’s horrible storytelling. And if it’s happening because the actor doesn’t want to come back, then why didn’t the show’s power people find out about his continuing availability before making him so integral to Betty’s story and making us fall in love with him?
I may not be the biggest Gio fan, but I do agree with the post above that is a sign of bad storytelling. They amped up Betty/Gio pairing in the post-strike eps, that didn’t have that slow blooming development like the other relationships on the show. I am sad to hear that Chris Gorham is leaving the show, but I had the sense of it in the last few eps and the rapid decline of his character to make some people to start to dislike his character.
I’m not sure what actors commitments are towards the show or other gigs are, but I think they should ask or something before creating certain story arcs. The viewers do get invested in certain characters, hence that is the reason why people watch the shows. And to see certain arcs being shoddily wrapped up, I wonder if we’re headed towards a more career-centric show.
And on that note I want to take a moment to lament more characters that are getting the axe so to speak. First Alexis, now Henry and Gio some of the characters that brought a sparkle to the show. I’m interested to see what else changes in the move to NYC and whether more Betty-centric plot means losing a certain something about the show.
This isn’t really a UB question, but more about why CG going to a show that clearly has such a short life expectancy (no pun intended!!). Seems like kinda a weird decision for me. If you’re going to go to another tv show, wouldn’t you want to go to a show that you think is going to last a while?
But then again I’ve never been in a job more than 18mths either, so maybe I’m not one to judge
GetridofGIO cute nickname.
I think Christopher Gorham would have stayed in the show if it didn’t have moved to NYC.
nooooooooo they can”t get rid of gio he is the best,he is really funny and freddy rodriguez plays a really good part. i mean you can really feel the love between betty and gio