Michael and Becki celebrate making it to 20 webisodes (not too humbly, either.  )

Director Richard Heus sings their praises.

Also, Mark Worthington, who says that 80% of what the final product is comes from Michael and Becki’s ideas.

Michael and Becki recount the Wedding Episode, where MIchael had to catch a garter on his tongue (hilarious!)

Heus says that they need to use Becki and Michael’s tongues more. 

The two are just so funny together – I cant wait for the next “scripted” Mode After Hours!

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This one is mostly Marc and Mandy physical humor, but gives great clues where Amanda’s storyline is headed.

It starts with Amanda putting the final touches on an outfit on Marc (complete with butt grab).  Marc thinks the outfit is too plain, but Amanda says he looks good.  Amanda says he’s stressed.

She then starts to show him the relaxation program she’s designed to increase productivity at Mode.  Then she proceeds to almost kill Marc.

She first has both of them put on bright fedoras, and turns on relaxing ocean sounds, which Amanda has cranked up so loud neither one can hear the other speak.

She then uses an automobile buffer on his back.

Finally, Amanda puts electrodes on Marc’s face, and starts to hook them to a car battery – but Marc stops her before she can do any harm.

Then, Marc tells her, looking at the clothes they are both wearing, that her true talent is in being a stylist.

They hug, and he then grabs a lead from Mandy’s electrical contraption and shocks her butt.

This webisode gave me one of those “duh!” moments, and gave me a pretty good idea of where Amanda’s storyline is going.  I think she is going to get close to Matt, not to become his lover, but to get him to give her Christina’s job.  I mean, she would most prefer to marry a billionaire, or start out as a designer, but that’s not going to happen.  BUT, working in the closet can lead to a career as a designer, as Christina showed.

I assumed at the end of last season that Amanda would finally try to weasel her way into being Daniel’s assistant (she always wanted the job).   It never occurred to me that she might want Christina’s job, but she’s always in the closet anyway, knows her way around the sex room, and knows a thing or two about design. 

When you look at it that way, it does seem like a perfect fit (Amanda will have to develop a work ethic, though).

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This one is entitles “A Vlog To Remember”.  It looks like the “war” with Meade security is going to be a theme for a while – this one takes the conflict head on.  They even give the person behind the camera a name: Zander.

It looks like the security guard has been posting the most embarrassing antics of  Marc and Amanda on the internet.  (We then see some of last season’s greatest hits in black and white).

Marc and Mandy decide to post a rebuttal.  They introduce themselves, then attempt to give an explanation of Mandy’s two handed butt-grab of Marc in the last episode.  She says she was just debunking the rumor that Marc’s cheeks are uneven. (She whispers they are, much to Marc’s dismay).

Marc then addresses criticisms of their “abusive relationship”.  After giving himself fake tears, he says he would never hurt anyone (all the while violently pushing Mandy away, eventually biting her).

The two then address the camera directly, calling him Zander, and in the course of this discover that each of them had dated Zander in the past.  Well, Amanda didn’t actually date him. she had just given him an “Albuquerque Slider” in the stairwell.

They then threaten to Vlog about Zander himself.  At this point, the lights go out.  Mandy says they can still vlog through her phone if they can find it.  But, when Marc finally finds a flashlight, he looks to the floor and says “st that’s what an “Albuquerque Slider” is.

This one was very good, and sets up the war with Zander, which is beyond hilarious.  Seeing Marc and Amanda yelling at a security camera great comedy.

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IMO, this one could be the best ever.  Both Michael Urie and Becki Newton are on top of their game here, camping it up in the most ridiculous situations.

Here’s the setup: someone has anonymously filed a sexual harassment claim against Mode, so the staff is having to stay late and fill out a sensitivity questionnaire.  Marc and Amanda are both bored with the whole thing, so they spice things up by acting out the scenarios.

First, Amanda flirts with a nerdy "Eugene", played by Marc.  This is the first time I have EVER seen copier/toner maintenance have sexual connotations, but the two pull it off.  The look on Marc’s face when Amanda grabs his behind is priceless.

The next sequence is strange and funny.  Marc plays "the boss", and his entrance is hilarious, with unbuttoned shirt and cigar.  A bespectacled Amanda blows a dog whistle LOUDLY as soon as Marc asks her to do something.  This sends Marc tumbling backwards.

Amanda’s cell phone goes off, and the ringtone is a sexy "oooo baby!"   It’s a text from Mode security.  The texter admits he/she submitted the complaint.  There is then a hilarious sequence where Marc and Amanda yell something at the security camera, followed by a new text from security, complete with "oooo baby! ringtone".

Marc then declares "this is war" and proceeds to destroy the camera.

This one seemed a bit more scripted than some of the other MAHs, but the timing was so perfect that it was impossible not to laugh (especially during the texting sequence).

I’m looking forward to more Mode After hours episodes – hopefully they’ll all be this good!

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I know some there have been some mixed reviews on this one, but I loved it. Becki Newton really uses these Mode After Hours episodes to give us more comedy besides the one-liners she’s gotten recently on Ugly Betty.

She’s very funny in this one – a little strange – but funny.

Michael Urie plays the straight man, for the most part, and mostly sets up Newton to just go wild with Amanda’s craziness.

The webisode seems to be set sometime late last season while Mode was working on the Wedding Issue (the one that won them a MAMA Award). Amanda is fretting that all the wedding gowns and props at Mode are making her sad that she’ll never marry a rich old man with dimensia (a great Marc line, BTW).

Marc proposes they use the gowns and props on-hand to give Amanda a “wedding”. Marc officiates, and Amanda “marries” a mannequin (”Hunter Farlington”). Yes, it’s creepy, but funny.

Marc catches the bouquet (with only mannequin competition).

The two then party into the night (in a montage that brings back memories of episode 1.08, Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral).

In a later quiet moment, Marc mourns the fact that he can’t get married in New York, and that he’d have to take a train (a train!) into Massachusetts to get married. Amanda makes a pact with him that in 10 years, if they are both still single, they’ll be each other’s brides.

Amanda then, of course, shows that she totally misses the point of the gay mariage issue. The look on Marc’s face is priceless.

I’m so glad to see this series back!

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(Of course, since Ausiello has an exclusive on this, it’s not embeddable.  Dang, first Ausiello turns me down on a bro-date, then he won’t return my calls, then he won’t let me embed his exclusive Ugly Betty video – life is tough.  Just kidding.  I made the bro-date part up.  Although I’m sure it would be fun. )

Anyway, this video kind of shows you what they mean when the actors and producers say the show will be ramping things up closer to the edge.  It’s, shall we say, saucy.

Marc (Michael Urie) and Amanda (Becki Newton) are fretting the fact that someone filed an anonymous sexual harassment complaint against “us” (I’m assuming that means Mode).  As a result, Marc and Amanda (and I guess everyone else) have to stay after work and look at pamphlets and fill out an online questionnaire.   The whole time they are talking about this, Amanda is pawing at Marc and pulling him to her chest.

As an aside, Ugly Betty producers…I think this whole Marc/Amanda straight-curious shtick has diminishing returns.  It’s funny THIS time because of the circumstances around it, but I think you should choose your shots carefully.  Anyway…back to the episode…

Then the two role-play, and Amanda tramps it up while Marc plays a Henry-like nerdy character.  This scene is hilarious, especially with Newton throwing out double-entendres left and right.

This is just a snippet of the episode, which goes live on September 25.

Image: Bauer Griffin

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The artist, ibrahim, is extremely talented, IMHO.  He has also speed-drawn Rhianna, Keanu Reeves, and others.

The accompanying song, "The Beauty in Ugly” by Jason Mraz, is of course, perfect.  For those of you who don’t remember, the song is a re-write of another Mraz song, “Plain Jane” that he penned for Ugly Betty’s season two promotional “Be Ugly In 07” campaign.  The song is a kind of unofficial Ugly Betty theme song, even if the show has gone to a more techno soundtrack lately.

But as for the drawing – wow.  Betty, of course, has a few stark features, and it’s easy to overdo them, but ibrahim manages to capture the character’s “hidden” beauty.

As a non-artist, it’s also quite cool to see how a portrait is built.

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The photo shoot involved five Betty Suarez “look-a-likes”, and the video shows their transformations into Betty (time-shortened, of course).

The collector’s bottle was designed by Ugly Betty costume designer Patricia Field, and even comes with its own accessory collection so you can customize the bottle and put your own unique twist onto it.

Here is a close-up Twitpic of one of the bottles.

I’m having the hardest darned time finding news on Ugly Betty’s UK ratings this year, outside this article about the season 3 premier (down from last year but still pretty good, if my math is right).

As for this event, I guess I’m just too used to America Ferrera.  The look-a-likes all have a slighter body type, and are taller than what I’m used to.  Nevertheless, it’s still cool to see a publicity event, any publicity event, surrounding Ugly Betty.

In fact, I’m REALLY hoping Diet Coke runs the same promotion in the US for the beginning of Ugly Betty season four  I want to get my hands on one of those bottles!

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These have got to be some of the cutest little spots I’ve ever seen.

They are produced by London agency Mother, and they feature a marionette style puppet called Eleanor who is “a stylish, sassy, sophisticated puppet who pulls her own strings.”

The idents borrow from Ugly Betty’s sense of style, focusing on fashion and how it can help one express individuality.

Eleanor is showcased “taking control of her own puppet strings,” enabling her to turn her back on what society dictates and channel her signature style in her own unique way.

(Kind of like Betty, although many American fans do not care for the “fashionable, but non-coordinated” style she has shown in season 3)

In these spots, Eleanor refashions a dress using a blow torch, and burns a hole in a hat, making it a scarf.

Diet Coke also has branding on Channel 4’s Ugly Betty website.  I’m just dying to see how they reconcile this with the whole Cherry 7-up scene in episode 3.22, In The Stars. 

Now, if an American ad agency can just figure out a way to get Heinrich into advertising for ABC’s Ugly Betty broadcast….

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Unlike the “Bettys”, the leading males of the show around the world are all handsome.  I’ll leave it to those of you who are experts at rating male attractiveness to pick your favorites.

I think Eric Mabius stacks up pretty well, but what do I know?

From time to time, I’ll see La Fea Más Bella on Telemundo and watch for a while.  Granted, i don’t understand the language, but even with that handicap, I can still tell that Jaime Camil plays Armando much more “seriously” than Eric Mabius plays Daniel.  However, that’s to be expected because of the telenovela nature of La Fea.

By the way, this song seems to be a modern equivalent of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love.

I wonder: do any of you enjoy comparing the various versions of the show around the world as much as I do?

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