More About Ugly Betty’s UN Malaria Crusade

TV Guide has a good write-up about the upcoming Ugly Betty season 4 premiere and it’s tie-in with the United Nations-sponsored program Nothing But Nets.

The show cross-promotes the program in a very creative way, with Betty proposing a story about it in mode, complete with a mosquito-net-clothing photo shoot.  I would imagine some kind of (real) appeal is going to be aired during or immediately after the show as well.

The show’s stars recently appeared at the UN promoting the program (and the episode) in person.

"It’s really a perfect marriage," said Judith Light. "Betty Suarez is a person who has a great heart and a great soul. So in this story, it’s not a stretch at all that she comes from a place that wants to help other people. She’s trying to change hearts and minds about the way we all relate to each other."

Executive producer Silvio Horta wanted to feature the UN on the show, which led to a discussion about Nothing But Nets. 

"We took that back to the writers, and they said, ‘Mosquito netting [and] fashion — that’s very logical," producer Richard Heus joked. "But we put that together and it worked. The storyline resonated with pretty much every member of the cast and crew. It was something we all could easily support and feel is very important. We’re very grateful."

Tony Plana thinks Ugly Betty is the perfect show to highlight the program. 

"We represent inclusion," he said. "We’re already connecting with a set of issues because of our cultural identity, and we are passionate about that. … To know that we are able to extend that [passion] beyond culture and social economics to social awareness about issues of this nature just makes you feel so wonderful about the work that we do."

The season premiere of Ugly Betty is (finally) October 16th at 9/8c.

Image: Bauer Griffin