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!

Also, I’m aware of some weirdness going on with the comments – y’all hang with us – our crack technical team is working on it as we speak!

UPDATE: The comment problem has been fixed!

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Interestingly, Betty’s season premiere will air on October 9th at 9/8c, a week or two after most of the network’s other premieres.  The first regular showing after the two hour episode will be Friday, October 16.

I wonder if the two hour episode will be two episodes back-to-back.  I’m guessing this is the case – this, along with the back-to-back 2-hour finale episode, makes up a little for the episodes lost during the WGA strike.  This puts the show that much closer to being eligible for syndication.

If that’s the case, (not to look too far ahead), the chances of renewal for a 5th season are higher, especially if the ratings don’t tank any further.

In related news, I noticed from the same release that Dancing With The Stars is having a three-night premiere, with two of the episodes being 2 hours (holy cow!)

But, back on Ugly Betty, now it’ll be a lot of fun to start speculation about what’s going to happen, who the guest stars will be, and what kind of tone the show will take in season 4.

It’s just great to have a date to look forward to!

Image: Splashnewsonline.com

Post from: Ugly Betty News

Despite the, ahem, perception problem that resulted from that whole open-ended hiatus thing, ABC is on the verge of renewing Ugly Betty for a fourth season, sources confirm to me exclusively.

For those of you who are fans of other ABC shows, he says, “The network is also said to be this close to giving early pickups to Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, America’s Funniest Home Videos, and The Bachelor.”

Of course, none of those are a surprise to me, with the possible exception of Brothers and Sisters, which has been in Ugly Betty’s category of “doing OK, but not quite a mega-hit anymore”.

And, as usual , an ABC spokesperson would not confirm the info explicitly:  The network “is not ready to announce any pick-ups at this point.” 

If true, I don’t know if Betty will keep her time slot or move to another day/time, and I don’t care.  The news of the hiatus, Michael Urie’s assurances notwithstanding, made it look like the show was doomed.  It looks like we’ll get Season 4: A New Hope. 

I feel like doing a happy dance! 

Image: Copyright © 2008 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./ PATRICK HARBRON

Post from: Ugly Betty News

[...Pats self on back for resisting and sticking with the word "benching"]

Thank goodness for blogging. Yesterday, Michael Urie, one of the show’s stars, helped calm many of us with this posting at his blog. He says,

come on, really? Here are the facts:

We are going to finish shooting our original 3rd season order – 24
episodes (currently on 16).

At the end of March, we’re going off the air for a while, at a time
when we would normally be on for a few weeks, off for a few,
confusing and angering fans with repeats.

In June, we come back, and finish the last 6 episodes of the season
without interruption!

Then, EW’s Ausiello, in his Ask Ausiello report, gives us a little more insight, and softens his language a little bit from his earlier report. He says the Betty situation is “Not nearly as dire as I first thought. Shortly after my story posted, several very trustworthy ABC insiders came forward to assure me that the perception is much worse than the reality in this case. The reality, they say, is it’s highly unlikely that Betty will be forced to close out its third season in June, as the network’s ominously worded press release seemed to suggest.”

This is a little different from what Michael Urie said in his post, but more on that in a minute. Ausiello then relays the best news of all: “And regarding next season, two of the three sources I queried seemed very confident that Betty would be back next season.”

I think what’s been confusing everyone is that ABC has given no indication (that I can tell) about the length of Samantha Who? and In the Motherhood’s run. The signs seem to point to a shorter run than many of us had guessed. Will this mean Betty will be back in time for May sweeps? We’ll all just have to wait until ABC tells us.

Nevertheless, things are looking much brighter for the show than they were two days ago!

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Post from: Ugly Betty News

The schedule for upcoming episodes will “slide”. Episode 3.12 (Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) will now air on January 22. Episode 3.14 (Kissed Off) will move to February 5.

I am assuming that the rebroadcast of Betty Suarez Land will still happen on 1/29 (is there some event going on that night that ABC doesn’t want to waste a new UB episiode?) I am also assuming that the two subsequent episodes, 3.14 (The Courship of Betty’s Father) and 3.15 (There’s No Place Like Mode) will slide to a week later than their original scheduled dates, but ABC hasn’t said so officially yet.

I guess we should consider ourselves lucky – this is the first time (that I can remember) that Ugly Betty has been preempted in 2 1/2 seasons so far. Heck, I haven’t even had a local weather event preempt the show during my live blogs. (Knock on wood).

So, mark our calendars – episode 3.12 moves to next week!

Image: ImageAfter

Post from: Ugly Betty News

3.14 is entitled, “The Courtship of Betty’s Father”. Most of you probably don’t get the humor in the title, I would imagine. In 1963 there was a movie, and in 1969-1972 a television series entitled “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”. The TV show (which I actually remember) starred the late Bill Bixby.

Anyway, my best guess is that Ignacio is going to live and be relatively healthy, and I foresee a relationship with his nurse (played by Dexter costar Lauren Velez).

If I’m guessing right, I like this idea, as long as they don’t kill her off or make her a whack-job. I’d like to see Ignacio get a little romantic happiness, and it’ll also mean (hopefully) that Betty won’t have to move back home. We’ll see.

3.15 is entitled “There’s No Place Like Mode”. I really have no guess at all what this title means. Sometimes, those episodes (like Zero Worship), are the best of all.

So, here’s the Upcoming Ugly Betty schedule as we know it:

• 1/15/09 – 3.12 – Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
• 1/22/09 – 3.13 – Kissed Off
• 1/29/09 – 3.04 – Betty Suarez Land (Rebroadcast)
• 2/5/09 – 3.14 – The Courtship of Betty’s Father
• 2/12/09 – 3.15 – There’s No Place Like Mode

Can’t wait for these!

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Post from: Ugly Betty News

Here’s wishing you all a happy and healthy 2009!  May your troubles be few, your joys many.

2008 was an historic year, no matter where you live or who you are.  Chances are, it had more down moments than up.  Let us say good riddance to it.

In the Ugly Betty world in 2008, the show had to weather the WGA strike, made some steps forward, and some backward.  Which ones were which depends on your point of view about Betty’s love life. The “choose Henry or Gio” storyline rose to a fever pitch at the end of season 2.

Betty  chose “herself”, and then set her sights on her dreams.  She got an apartment in the city, and got herself into an internship program for young magazine editors.  She got a crush, then got over it.  Amanda moved in with her, because she had nowhere else to go.  The two of them scored an online feature for ModeNY.com. 

Alexis tried to harm Christina in a fit of rage, and moved to France after a small stint in jail.  Speaking of France, Daniel learned he had a son (a French boy), and the two bonded, but alas, in the end, he went back to his homeland.  Daniel has done dome major growing up.

New characters were introduced: Connor, Molly, Jesse.  There is a budding love quadrangle developing between Daniel,Molly, Wilhelmina, and Connor.  Marc cheated on Cliff, and lost him (we think).  Christina learned that Stuart really is dying (we think).

There was a major behind-the scenes move, literally.  The show picked up stakes and moved production from LA to New York.

Who knows what 2009 will bring for the show?  Silvio Horta and the writers certainly have some surprises up their sleeves for us.  Hopefully, the show will remain the darling of the suits at ABC/ Disney, who seem to understand that the ratings may not be overwhelmingly stellar, but they are very consistently good.

My only prediction: America Ferrera will score a major film role.  Oh, and we haven’t seen the end of Jesse. 

OK I cheated on that last one (more info in a future post).

My only resolution is to score interviews with David Blue and Patricia Field. Others might also come, we’ll see.

Happy 2009 to all of you!

Image: Copyright © 2008 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./ PATRICK HARBRON

Post from: Ugly Betty News

I want to wish you all Happy Holidays from Ugly Betty News!  Today is Christmas Day in these parts, so Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad!

I hope this year has been wonderful for you (unfortunately, I feel it’s been quite a challenge for most, including myself), and I pray that next year will bring too many blessings to count.

I also want to send my warmest regards to the cast, crew, writers and producers of Ugly Betty.  I know some of you read here from time to time, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the wonderful work you do, and wish you the happiest of New Years.

May there be peace on earth (even between Daniel and Wilhelmina, Mode and Elle, Marc and Betty), if only for a little while.

Merry Christmas!

Post from: Ugly Betty News

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One question that’s been bugging me: ABC, why no sneak peek this week?  Are you keeping radio silence so you can hit us with a big surprise?  Not that you owe us one or anything, we just kind of get in the routine of seeing them every Friday or Saturday, and we miss them when they aren’t there.

Of course, the big question before Thursday’s episode (3.04, Betty Suarez Land) is: “Does Gio really hate Betty, or is it one of those dreams/visions/flashbacks Betty seems to have quite often?  I think it’s the latter, but this season has already been full of surprises, so who knows?

What is Wilhelmina’s capacity at Mode now, since Alexis is gone to jail?  I’m assuming she’ll still be creative director, although I’d LOVE it if she ended up at Player.  Heh.

Episode 3.06 will be titled “Ugly Berry”.  the synopsis:  Betty finds herself competing with Kimmie (guest star Lindsay Lohan) who finally shows her true colors, and new citizen Ignacio prepares to vote for the first time. Meanwhile Hilda takes advantage of the increased election traffic to promote her shop, and Wilhelmina wants to hire a new financial officer (guest star Grant Bowler) whom Daniel can’t stand.  (Ralph Macchio will play one of Hilda’s customers)

Episode 3.08 will be titled “Tornado Girl” (no other info yet)

Episode 3.09 will be titled “When Betty Met YETI” (OMG!  No other info, but the title is hilarious already!).

As I’ve previously warned told you, I’ll be going on a quick getaway with the family starting tomorrow though the 22nd of October.  There will be no live blog this week! 

However, you will be in excellent hands, as Julie Bonner will be holding down the fort.  I’ve filled her in about you (don’t worry, most of it was bragging on you).  Now, I did let her know that y’all tend to get a little passionate about Betty’s romantic entanglements, but, amazingly, that didn’t scare her off!

With Gio coming back this week, though, you never know.  Just remember, keep it about the show!

Now,if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to finish packing.  See you next week!

Image: Copyright © 2008 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./ PATRICK HARBRON

Post from: Ugly Betty News