(and foolishly, IMHO)

According to TV Guide Magazine, Horta wants to reunite Betty and Henry (Christopher Gorham), if indeed season four is the final season.  Guide says Horta believes Henry "is the true love of Betty’s life."

Hey, I’m just the messenger here. 

Let me first say this:  I don’t think a Benry pairing would be the worst ever ending for the show (that would be if they brought back Walter and Betty ran off with him   ). 

Even though Betty/Daniel is the pairing I’d most like to see, and that hookup has happened in every previous version of the show, I just think Horta shouldn’t have said anything about his Benry preference yet.

Why dash the hopes of Daniel, Gio, Matt, and Bobby fans so soon in this (most likely) final season?

The Ugly Betty writers have been wonderful this season with surprises (did anyone see Justin’s "I’m not gay" declaration coming?), so I have no idea why Horta would tip his hand in such an important area.

Now, for what it’s worth, the TV Guide article does not have a direct Horta quote, but this IS TV Guide, so we have no reason not to believe the gist of the story.  They DO, however, quote Chris Gorham:

“I’m certainly attached to the idea of Henry and Betty being together.”

I’m trying to figure out how this news fits in with EOnline’s Kristin’s story about a divided Ugly Betty writers team.

I’ve told you what I think.  So, tell me what you think of this (let’s play nice!).

Popping popcorn…

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

My apologies if this is restricted internationally.  I hope it isn’t, though.

Some of the feature is a kind of recap of the two characters for people who have not seen much of the show.  There are some neat behind-the-scenes snippets of on set filming (including a quick shot of Amanda and Matt).

Newton mentions that the writers have allowed their characters to evolve, showing their good sides.  They  say their favorite episodes are those in which Amanda, Marc, and Betty have to team up (what Urie calls the “Scooby Doo episodes”).  I have to agree.

They are both thankful that the writers put them together, because they get along so well in real life.  That also gets Amanda out of “the donut hole” and Mark from behind Wilhelmina’s shadow.

Urie walks about the fact that Marc will have more scenes with Justin in season 4.  Those are interesting to me, because Marc is simultaneously sabotaging Betty AND helping her family.

Newton talks about how Amanda is going to be wanting more out of her life, and puts and emphasis on AT MODE, so I guess she’s going to try to work her way into an assistant’s job (maybe Matt’s?  He has one already, but who knows?  She might fall out of a window )

The two also say how much fun it is to shoot in New York City, and make a joke about LA pigeons. 

Remember, TV Guide Network will be airing encore versions of each new episode of Ugly Betty the following Thursday after its original air date.

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TV Guide

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

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We see the cast and crew filming at the UN, working on Betty’s feature article – which of course goes horribly wrong.  There are fisticuffs!

Daniel Eric Gold says that they have the “two nights here at the UN”, and Vanessa Williams, looking fresh as ever, is surprised that she is giving an interview at 3am.

Something about the quotes from the producers struck me, especially when Jim Klever-Weis says that for the first time we’ll see Betty as a leader.  I think that will add a new energy to the show, even more than Betty’s makeover.

Speaking of which, America Ferrera tells us that Betty’s physical transformation will be gradual (I had guessed it will be Nanny-Mcfee like).  Vanessa Williams says that it’s about time and that people want to see some changes in Betty.

Sheila Lawrence says they are taking the opportunity of Betty’s (practically) starting over, to reshape the character as the “loveable underdog” again.

I am so excited for the upcoming season premiere.  Hopefully, there will be heavy promotion on DWTS and the new hits Modern Family and Cougar Town.  With Dollhouse starting badly, there is an opening for Ugly Betty, I think.  Medium looks strong, though, so I’ll be very interested to see how Betty does on October 9.

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The show is heading to the Bahamas next month to shoot an episode on location at the Atlantis Resort and Casino, EW’s Ausiello reports.

Most of the cast is going (wouldn’t you HATE the be one of the cast NOT going?).  The episode they are filming will air in November and revolve around a big Mode photo shoot.

Ausiello’s source says, “Location shoots can make or break you as an editor, so it’s a big deal for Betty.  There’s also some drama with a certain love triangle.”

The triangle involves Betty, Matt and an unnamed third party.  I’m going to refrain from commenting on this for now, till we find out more.  If it’s a one-time thing played for comedy, great.  If the producers are actually introducing a new multi-episode, sappy and drawn out Betty love triangle, they are going to the well one too many times, and might do fatal damage to the show just when it seems to really be hitting a Friday night stride.

There is one possibility to consider, though.  Perhaps it is Matt who has two suitors. Maybe even Amanda is after him?  There’s something about the way Ausiello worded the spoiler that makes me think it’s another woman.

You know, television shows, back in the day, used to do this sort of thing all the time.  The infamous Happy Days “jumping the shark” episode involved a beach trip for the Milwaukee-based show.  I also remember a Hawaii trip on Sanford and Son.  (Yes, really).

I’m looking forward to seeing Ugly Betty out of its element (and seeing all those swimsuits)

Image: Newscom

Post from: Ugly Betty News

Well, it gets a little juicier with this news: Ugly Betty filmed inside the United Nations building this past week.  Well, actually, in the basement, but still, it turns out to be quite a coup (pardon the pun).

According to the Inner City Press, about five dozen film crew members worked in the basement of the UN on August 19th and 20th.  Apparently, it used to be near impossible to film at the UN – even Alfred Hitchcock was once turned down.  But recently, both Law and Order and a panel about Battlestar Gallatica have filmed there – now Betty.

They can do this because the UN is in transition, there are renovations occurring all over and workers in various UN offices are being relocated (I think, temporarily).

We even know a bit a WHAT they were filming, which leads to a lot of speculation as to how it fits into the plot.  It’s spoiler-ish, so I’ll include it after the jump.

The show is filming a segment around a fictional UN program “Nothing But Nets”, a malaria eradication program.  They had a huge (fake) logo, and even a cute mascot mosquito .

I guess now the only question is: which Ugly Betty character is involved in this? 

The best guess would be Cal (he negotiated Middle East peace, remember?).  More intriguing would be Daniel, burying himself in humanitarianism in his grief and in the name of his departed wife. 

Even MORE intriguing would be Wilhelmina, doing good as part of one of her evil plots.  Perhaps she got word of Connor being in Africa, and used the program to try to find him?

Regardless, it should be fun, and a good reminder why it’s great that Ugly Betty is filming in NYC!

Image: Newscom

Post from: Ugly Betty News

According to Ausiello, how much that look evolves is going to depend on focus groups being conducted by ABC.

The executives are "showing test audiences two scenes from early in the season, both featuring a newly glamorized Betty working at her new job as Mode’s associate features editor. In one, she’s rocking a Chanel-esque pastel pink suit; in the other, she’s sporting a short-sleeved black dress with a ruffled V-neck."

According to one participant, “She looks a lot classier, but she’s still far from perfect.”

Hmmm.

The executives are worried that audiences might not think the transformation appropriate, or might not accept a new "awkwardly glam" (my words) Betty. Can Betty still be Betty if she becomes less "ugly"? (not my word).

They’re also asking for opinions about Betty’s new hair, styled eyebrows, and makeup.

This should get quite interesting. They could have asked me, I would have told them that they can’t win. The comments I’ve seen run about 50-50 about whether Betty should change and become more attractive.

One line of thinking says yes, because after Betty has worked for a fashion magazine all these years, it is very unrealistic for her not to learn a few things about superficial beauty. And of course, we’ve discussed the realism of her extremely long-term braces treatment.

The other line says that changing Betty would completely change the nature of the show, and would take away the loveable underdog appeal of her character. And if you want realism, why the heck are you watching Ugly Betty?

I used to be in the latter camp, but I’m starting to come around. I don’t think it should be overnight, but I don’t think the change automatically means Betty isn’t the underdog (the beautiful Anne Hathaway pulled it off, at least).

It’ll be fun to watch early in the season, and try to guess which way the focus groups steered ABC executives.

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Post from: Ugly Betty News

Man, watching all those little snippets, I had forgotten how much the show changed over the course of season 3.   Those Lindsay Lohan scenes seem like they were from several seasons ago.  Some of them were pretty good, but I don’t think her appearance was worth it.  It certainly didn’t help the ratings. 

I am really looking forward to this DVD – I have a feeling several of the episodes will get better as they are viewed again (and in the context of what happened later in the season).  I know that in the course of doing episode recaps, a couple of the episodes grew on me, even though I didn’t care for them at first.

Of course, the bloopers and behind the scenes footage are always fun, so that’s another reason to get the DVD.

Ugly Betty, The Complete Third Season will be released on September 22, which will give you enough time to get revved up for Ugly Betty season4!

****A LITTLE HOUSEKEEPING****

Ugly Betty News is on Twitter now – tweet tweet!  If you follow UBN, we’ll follow you!  Many times something is out there that is cool but maybe not bloggable; I’ll tweet them as often as I can!

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UPDATE: The comment problem has been fixed!

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It looks like I might be a able to put away my wet noodle.  A few weeks ago, I threatened to apply pasta punishment to the Ugly Betty producers if they did not at least try to approach reality sensation Susan Boyle about a guest appearance on the show.

Well, look what’s stuck in the middle of an article about Boyle on Britain’s Times Online:

“There is also the potential to make money from image rights, product endorsements and television appearances — she is said to have been approached to play herself in an episode of Ugly Betty.”

Of course, if it were to come to pass, it would be stunt casting.  But, not all stunt casting is bad.  Right now, Boyle is big news.  Even after coming in second place on Britain’s Got Talent, almost all the news stories are about her.  (This reminds me of when Tiger Woods loses).

ABC and the show’s producers could not buy the kind of publicity they’d receive from such a guest appearance.  Publicity was really the only good thing that came out of the Lindsay Lohan casting (at least until they discovered that Lilo only seems to be liked by the paparazzi).

If it turns out to be true that Boyle makes an appearance on Ugly Betty, I hope they let her sing. 

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

ABC has released their 2009-2010 Fall Schedule, and they have moved Betty to Friday night at 9/8c.  Ironically, Friday was the original scheduled night for the show when it premiered.

I have mixed feelings about this.  If the show was to be moved, a lead-out or lead-in with Dancing With The Stars would have been ideal (yes, I know that might mean going up against American Idol).  It would be nice for the show to grab a few of those 22 million who watch DWTS.

But, Friday isn’t a total disaster (even though it’s scheduling purgatory).  If Ugly Betty can maintain the 6-8 million viewers it currently has, it should contend to win its timeslot, something it would never do on Thursdays against Survivor.  The biggest downside is the that the target demographic of young women usually has something to do on Friday nights.  Of course, there’s the new factor of DVRs (which also factor into ratings).

I’m pretty much in shock, because I didn’t see this coming (I should have, though).

I have the full schedule for ABC next season, after the jump:

DAY TIME SERIES

MONDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” (two-hours)

10:00 p.m. “Castle”

TUESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”

9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”

10:00 p.m. “The Forgotten”

WEDNESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Hank”

8:30 p.m. “The Middle”

9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”

9:30 p.m. “Cougar Town”

10:00 p.m. “Eastwick”

THURSDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Flash Forward”

9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”

10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”

FRIDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Supernanny”

9:00 p.m. “Ugly Betty”

10:00 p.m. “20/20”

SATURDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”

SUNDAY: 7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”

8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”

10:00 p.m. “Brothers & Sisters”

Image: Bauer Griffin

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