If you’ve been paying attention, Ausiello has been giving out his dream Emmy nominations for the 2008-2009 season (those are always fun to read).  As most people do, he has “nominated” Michael Urie as Best Supporting actor, and Vanessa Williams as best supporting Acress in a comedy.

For the record, he also suggested America Ferrera as Best Lead Actress in a Comedy, along with the other usual suspects.

It always interests me, though, that whenever these discussions come around, Ugly Betty is always without a Lead Actor.

But, Tom, you might say, Ugly Betty doesn’t have a male lead.  It’s a female-centric show about a young woman.

Well, that may be.  But, it just doesn’t feel right to me.  I have always considered Eric Mabius the “leading man” of the show.  I know that technically, by the Academy’s standards, he probably isn’t.  But, nevertheless, he’s always seemed like one.

I’ll bet that in the various versions of the show around the world, the Armando/Daniel/etc. character is considered the male lead. Although, those are serialized telenovelas, so it’s had to make a comparison.

And that’s why I don’t think, regretfully, Mabius is ever considered for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy.  And that’s a shame, because I really think he deserves recognition for this season. 

Interestingly, if the storylines for season 4 ramp up from those in season 3, you could almost consider Michael Urie the show’s leading man.  Marc, not Wilhelmina, is shaping up to be Betty’s biggest rival.

But, I know, I know – that picky Academy, always assigning everyone in an ensemble cast to “supporting” categories.

I don’t know – maybe it just seems weird to me.  As much as I love Michael Urie, and I think he REALLY deserves the Emmy this year, I just wish Eric Mabius could get some recognition as well.  Unfortunately, he’s stuck in that “in between lead and supporting character” status.

What do you think?  Do you consider Eric Mabius (or Michael Urie, for that matter) to be the show’s male lead?

Image: Newscom

I have to hand it to Reveille, the production company behind Ugly Betty and The Office.  They’ve never been afraid to roll the dice.  But I have to wonder if they are betting too big on a real longshot: a Twitter-based TV show.

According to Variety, Twitter has been in talks with Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment to create a program based on the Web service. The show has been described as “putting ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format.” (Sounds kind of like entertainment blogging to me )

I’ve been trying to figure out how this would work.  Apparently, contestants in a reality show would be given their assignments via Twitter.  Sounds kind of silly and boring to me.

At the Twitter blog, Twitter says it has chatted with other media execs regarding television programs, but this talks on this particular project have resulted in “a lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement with the producers which helps them move forward more freely.”

Well, that’s pretty committal.

Anyway, I think the ONLY way a Twitter show would work is if a scripted or non-scripted show were “live-Tweeted” by the public, ala PopUp Video from VH1 back in the day.  Of course, it would have to be heavily censored, but it could be a lot of fun.

So, do you have any ideas of what a Twitter TV show would look like?  Has Reveille lost its mind?

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Before we get back to Ugly Betty analyzin’ and speculatin’, I have to compliment ABC on their wonderful promos for next season’s renewed shows, especially this one:

They ran this one during Ugly Betty episode 3.24, The Fall Issue, and it just made me smile.  To see many of the characters from the various ABC shows “living in one house” is wonderful.

This one, of course, heavily features Becki Newton as Amanda.  First, Ty Pennington annoys her with his megaphone.  Then, at the end, she opens the bathroom door to see Sloane from Grey’s Anatomy, looks him over, and says in disgust, “Puleeease…”  Next, she opens the door to find Hurley from Lost brushing his teeth, who exclaims, “Dude…”, which she lustily returns.

Also, there is a quick shot of “Betty” (I’m assuming it’s a look-alike) at about the :38 mark.

But, it’s Amanda and Hurley that make this promo.  That, and Supernanny telling the Wipeout guys to “clean your balls before you come in the house”.  (Wipeout returns tonight, if your inner 12-year-old is dying to be found again)

Here is another music video from Vanessa Williams‘ new album The Real Thing.  This is a song from the Ugly Betty star called Close To You.

This one really makes me want to go find a hammock on a beach and just chill.  It has a real Brazilian feel – Vanessa even sings a verse in Portuguese!

Close To You was written by Babel Gilberto, and produced by, you guessed it, Babyface Edmonds.  The instrumentation is minimal, giving Vanessa’s voice the full limelight.  Nice.

In this video, Williams does quite a bit of dancing (too bad her schedule wouldn’t allow a DWTS appearance as a contestant).  It is quite sensual as well, shedding any connection at all to Vanessa’s character Wilhelmina.

The Real Thing will be available June 2nd – (the album’s page at her website says “At Target”, but I don’t know if it’s an exclusive deal).

The tastefully-named Timmeh! reminded me that there were several cliffhangers at the end of Ugly Betty episode 3.24, which will keep us guessing all summer.  The one that absolutely has me stumped is:

Wilhelmina, after making her deal with the “shady character”, turns the corner in her apartment, and sees someone, someone who shocks her so much, she drops her champagne glass, and says, “What are YOU doing here?”

Before speculating, I’d like to say that there’s no guarantee that Silvio Horta or the writers know who it was.  They may have written the cliffhanger, knowing they can fill in the blanks later.  It’s highly unlikely, but sometimes I wonder if Horta isn’t making it up as he goes.

But assuming he has some idea where this is going, who is it?  Here are some facts that might help us narrow it down:

• The person had access to Wilhelmina’s apartment.  From what I could tell, whoever it was was inside the apartment.
• The person was not someone Wilhelmina normally sees.  Her reaction would have been different, had it been Marc or Betty (both of whom were seen elsewhere during this scene).
• The person made Wilhelmina uncomfortable.

Now, the easy answer would be Wilhelmina’s daughter Nico.  It’s possible, but I don’t think Nico would have gotten that reaction. 

Another possibility is Alexis. After all, the two of them were co-conspirators at one time.  But, I just don’t see it, mostly because Rebecca Romijn is going to be busy at the start of next season.

Yes, it could have been Connor.  He probably still has a key to her apartment.  But, then there would be no intrigue about Connor to start next season, and I think they really want to make the “where is Connor” story line last at least a few episodes.

I suppose Silvio could have gone totally whimsical, and made it the sexy nanny.

But, I’m going to go out on a limb.  I think it was Fey Sommers.

At least, I think that would be the coolest possibility.

Now, in order for this to be the case, Wilhelmina would have had to know that Fey was not dead.  The two would have had to conspire, which is not totally unbelievable.  The story lines, if Fey is alive, would be absolutely juicy; everyone from Claire to Amanda to Daniel would be very interested in knowing that she did not die (considering Claire did time in the slammer for Fey’s murder, she might even be murderous).

It’s a long shot, but I think that a return of Fey Sommers would make for great intrigue/drama/comedy, and I’m betting that Silvio Horta agrees with me. 

Image: Bauer Griffin

At the urging of Ugly Betty News commenter Angel25, I thought I would tell you what I thought the hits and misses were from Ugly Betty season 3.  Instead of doing it episode by episode (although a few might pop in here and there), I thought I’d hit on the major themes.  I think Ausiello (via Twitter) was absolutely right: season 3 was uneven.

Now, any show is going to have its highs and lows in a 24 episode season (especially one with ensemble writers, directors, and actors) , but the highs and lows this year were quite extreme.

These opinions are my own, and everyone has one, so I’d love to hear yours.  Here is my list of hits and misses for Ugly Betty in season 3.  I’m an optimist, so I’m going to start with the misses and end with the hits. 

Misses

• The soapy elements.  They just didn’t work for me this year, because there was less intrigue (like the season 1 Fey Sommers mystery). This leads to…
• Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.  I really thought this was the low point of the season.  First, Papi has what turned out to be the most harmless heart attack in the history of mankind.  It was also the height of the Wilhelmina/Connor romance, which was interesting, but turned Willi into a totally different person.  The sister drama was a little too heavy handed.  (There was one part of this episode that is a “hit”, though, which I’ll get to in a bit)
• Betty’s Independence - I wanted so badly for this to be a “hit”.  At the start of season 3, I had had enough of the “who did Betty choose” drama, and was wondering whether the “single girl in the city” storyline would work.  I thought, OK, a somewhat strange-looking, modern-day Mary Tyler-Moore would be pretty cool.  Then, inexplicably, they dropped the whole idea.  YETI ended up only being necessary to introduce Matt.  Pah.
• Jesse – Don’t get me wrong.  I like Val Emmich.  His music video dream sequence was very funny.  But his character was a needless distraction.
• Betty wins! I added this because I think that every now and then, Betty needs to lose.  She needs to not “save the day” at the end of every episode.  (Most of them, yes, but if can predict it, then it probably isn’t very interesting).  I don’t want to press the issue, because, of course, I want Betty to save the day most of the time – but every now and then, a loss would be pretty cool.
• Betty moving back home. Did the producers REALLY feel that what was missing from the show mid-season was Betty at home?
• Lindsay Lohan.  Fail.  (OK, the food fight scene was good.  But it wasn’t worth the turmoil and distraction).

Hits after the jump

Read more

Here are a couple of pics of Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams at the 2009 Logo NewNowNext Awards.

Vanessa doesn’t wear black much in these public events (forgive me if her dress is navy). The pattern is really interesting, but doesn’t distract from the overall look.

The NewNowNext Awards (produced by cable network Logo),  are celebrate the best in pop culture from a GLBT point of view.  From the website of the awards:

The NewNowNext Awards are bringing you another celebration of fresh, freaky and up-and-coming pop culture, celebs and saliva-inducing stuff. Every year we hand out awards to the new, now and next stars of film, TV, music – and your iPhone.
This year, the awards will air on Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. The event is hosted by none other than the legendary drag racer RuPaul, and will feature tons of special guests and performers like Vanessa Williams, Britney Spears, Cheyenne Jackson, Morningwood, and more.

I have no doubt they will be absolutely fabulous.

As for Vanessa, and her character Wilhelmina, I didn’t think they could pull it off, but the writers of Ugly Betty were able to bring the character back to the scheming, clawing, evil character we knew from season 1 and parts of season 2, almost seamlessly.  I found it interesting that they also added a bit of intrigue with the search for Connor. It reminds me of the intrigue in season 1 with the Fey Sommers mystery.

As an aside, I don’t think the man Wilhelmina hired was a “hit man” per se, but y’all are probably right- he’s not a private detective either, because killing Connor may or may not be part of the deal.  For now, we’ll just call him a “shady character”.

More great pics of Vanessa after the jump!

Read more

Here is the full recap for Ugly Betty episode 3.24, The Fall Issue.   It was my favorite episode of season 3.  OK, maybe it was tied with 3.15, There’s No Place Like Mode.

Of course, I’ve already told you I loved the episode.  I loved the silliness of the Antonio Sabato scenes.   I loved Penny Meadows (she was kind of like an in-house Heinrich).  I even loved Matt in this episode.  He was rightfully hurt, and I like how he gave Betty every chance to come clean.  I loved drunk Amanda.

I still wish they had found another way to resolve the competition for Penny’s job, but in the end, it was nice to see Betty in her new office, pigeons and all.

It’s odd, on second watching, Daniel’s speech was even more tear-inducing.  It was absolutely beautiful, and I’m glad that Molly died off screen, but said goodbye in Daniel’s moment of glory.  That was damn good writing. 

I will miss Sarah Lafleur, but the story had run its course.  This (combined with Curveball), was by far her best episode.

I thought the quick scene of Amanda consoling Marc at the end was sweet.

Of course, the last 5 minutes were the stuff season finales are made of.  They gave us Wilhelmina’s story for next season (the search for Connor), two cliffhangers (who did Wilhelmina see? – and – “if Claire really did have a son, who and where is he?”), and a tear-jerker.

I looked – there’s no revealing information in the certificate of adoption (it just says “Boy child” and “Father unknown”.  Oddly, the dates are left blank.

It was funny, seeing Matt’s demeanor change at the end to something resembling his father.

The Cindy Lauper song was a perfect choice for the ending montage.  Betty and Daniel are wonderful together, if only as “brother and sister”.

Full recap after the jump.

Read more

Although Ugly Betty’s season finale was two episodes aired back-to-back, I decided not to post the recaps for them as one unit; it would have been far too long.  So here is the recap for episode 3.23, “Curveball”.

I mentioned in my “quick notes” that I liked “The Fall Issue” more than this part of the finale, but I should have mentioned that I really liked this episode as well.  I thought it was very good, almost great.

First and foremost, the Henry storyline was well done.  You could almost see how much the two of them had matured in a year.  Their knowing glances were romantic and sad at the same time.  It was very good to see Chris Gorham on the show again – I love to watch his reactions to Michael Urie and Becki Newton.

The Molly/Daniel storyline made me cringe.  Not that it’s not believable; it’s just the idea of a dying person joking about their spouse’s love life after they are gone.  Daniel’s surprise for her at the end was nice, though.

The YETI interviews storyline was a little intriguing; I love the thought of Betty working at The New York Review.  But Betty is like a modern-day George Bailey, stuck in her Bedford Falls of Mode Magazine.  Jodi stealing her job was quite believable (especially in this economy).

Vanessa Williams and Christine Baranski are very good together (both in acting and in song).  Maybe we can see more of that in season 4.

America Ferrera was quite good in this one.  Her voice-overs were nice comedic distractions from all the drama.

Look for a recap for 3.24, The Fall Issue, soon.

Read more

Attention Silvio Horta: I now officially forgive you for Jump. 

For the uninitiated, Jump was Ugly Betty’s season finale for season 2, and it left the show in a mess.  Gio fans were mad.  Henry fans were mad.  Fans of Betty and all the other characters wondered, “What the heck is this all about?”  (Not to mention ABC hyped a 30 second Lindsay Lohan appearance, that foreshadowed her disastrous stint on the show in season 3). Like I said, it was a mess. And Silvio Horta,the show’s creator and executive producer, was solely responsible for the script.

As he was for the final hour of last night’s season finale, entitled, “The Fall Issue”. 

Incredible.  Bravo.  I wish I had an “11″ paddle.

The first hour, entitled “Curveball”, was OK.  It was a good setup, with a properly sad and cliff-hanger-ey ending.  But, there was a noticeable change in the writing (and even the acting), once the second hour. It was much crisper, with the smart-alec banter we all love (which was almost entirely missing from “Curveball”). 

For some strange reason, Amanda totally changed personality once the episodes changed.  In “Curveball”, she reverted to downright mean.  Then, she came back to wacky Amanda in hour two.  This is the problem with back-to-back episodes, written by different people.

I’ll save the spoilers for the recap (boy, two hours is a real haul!), but I can tell you that there were more OMG moments last night (especially in the second hour) than in the entire season.  The last 5 minutes, all I could do was stammer in the live blog.  Some of the moments we knew were coming, but the way they were executed still was shocking.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the writers of the show like to make Betty’s suitors less likeable before a breakup.  They really did that with Matt last night.  Although, to be honest, I don’t blame him for being mad at Betty.

You could tell, the whole Henry storyline was the producers’ way of saying “I’m sorry we didn’t give you Benry fans your proper closure…we’re making up for it tonight”. And it was good closure for the story line, better, I think, than Gio’s – which would have been great had he and Betty remained on-screen friends.

Horta really knows how to write the Marc/Justin scenes.  You can tell, they are really coming from his heart.  Michael Urie and Mark Indelicato are on the same page as Horta – last night’s scene was one of the best the show has ever had.

I want to watch the episode again before I say anything about America Ferrera’s performance. Betty was bounced around like a pinball in the finale, so Ferrera’s job was mostly to react.  Although her kiss with Chris Gorham was hot. 

Eric Mabius proved he could bring the drama last night.  I didn’t really care for the “Molly joking about being dead” story line, but it was carried out beautifully.  When Daniel finished his speech, and Molly wasn’t there next to Betty anymore…we knew.  Then the music started and the tissues came out.  So well executed.

(For those who complain about this – does anyone remember East Side Story?  This was one of the best ever UB episodes.  Remember Hilda and Betty falling to the floor sobbing?  It’s part of Ugly Betty, especially season finales).

The Claire/Wilhelmina story line gave us the two things we’ll wonder about all summer.  Who and where is the adopted child, and who did Wilhelmina see at the end? (OK, I’m slightly giving away spoilers).  It all happened so fast.

The Detty moment at the end just felt right.  The whole Marc/Betty rivalry did not. 

Next season will be interesting.  If it didn’t separate Marc and Amanda, I’d love to see Marc go work for Vogue.

I’m working on the monster recap.  Had “The Fall Issue” been at the level of “Curveball”, I’d really be complaining right now.  But hour two of the finale was so good, I think it made what was a lackluster season a success.

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com