Ugly Betty Enhanced Episode: 3.20 – Rabbit Test

ABC is airing “enhanced” episodes of Ugly Betty on Fridays through September 11.  They started last night with 3.20, Rabbit Test.

Click here to watch the episode on Hulu.com .

For those of you who are old enough to remember, these episodes slightly resemble the old VH1 show “Pop Up Video”, albeit with no annoying bubble sound.  From time to time, relevant facts about what is happening will pop up on the lower third of the screen.  This serves two purposes:

1) The fill in back story, for those who have never seen the show or those who had stopped watching the show in seasons 2/3.

2) For those of is who have seen and analyzed EVERY episode, they pop up little behind the scenes facts, like the title of the currently playing song, or trivia about the set.  (For instance, the images on the monitor in the elevator always reflect the theme of the show).

These are very well done – the pop ups never interfere with the focal point of the screen, and they use them sparingly.

I learned a few things I didn’t know (Cal Hartley was partially inspired by Ted Turner?  Well, I have heard he could be a jackass…)

Here is the schedule for the airings of the enhanced versions of Ugly Betty:

Friday, August 14 – "Rabbit Test" (OAD: 4/30/09)
Friday, August 21 – "The Born Identity" (OAD: 5/7/09)
Friday, August 28 – "In the Stars" (OAD: 5/14/09)
Friday, September 4 – "Curveball" (OAD: 5/21/09)
Friday, September 11 – "The Fall Issue" (OAD: 5/21/09)

These will also be available the day after airing on ABC.com and Hulu.com.

So, what do you think of “Enhanced Ugly Betty”?