Hmmm.  Simon Cowell?  I mean, I can see the personality compatibility, but it couldn’t last.  (Although I’d REALLY love to see Cowell’s very frank reaction to Betty’s wardrobe!)

Of course, she’s kidding, but on a serious note, I think I’m not alone in saying that Amanda most definitely needs a love interest.  Every other character (except Justin) on the show has had a go at a serious relationship – but Amanda is stuck in one night stand mode.  I guess you could count Tavares, the closet straight designer, but that was more of a fling.

I would suggest Matt, but I don’t think I can duck fast enough.  The pairing just doesn’t have any zing, although I could totally see Amanda going after the Sugar Daddy.  It would be interesting to see Amanda totally infatuated or even in love – her season 1 fling with Daniel showed a side we haven’t seen since.

Am I hawking this idea because I secretly wish to see more scantily-dressed Amanda bedroom scenes?  Well, that’s a pleasant side effect.  But really, although I’ve enjoyed Newton as the wacky sidekick, her character hasn’t had much to do in a while, and in a show with soap opera touches, falling in love is something to do.

Newton seems to be enjoying her European summer; I had never heard of “T4″ until I saw this video.

So, Ugly Betty writers, we’re reaching a consensus at UBN: Betty’s romantic entanglements are getting old – give us Amanda in love!

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The Ugly Betty staff writing it (I don’t know if it’s the writers, Newton herself, or someone else), give us a pretty good insight into the muddied mind of Ms Tanen Sommers.  Whether she’s giving her take on the events in the previous episode of Ugly Betty, or pontificating about world events, you usually finish the post saying, “Huh?” But in a good way.

Last Thursday’s post was about the events of episode 3.07, Crush’d .  She tells how wonderful it is to have a roommate.  But first, she waxes philosophical:

Meanwhile, I’d like to point out that it’s no wonder Earth is a woman. If it were a man, there would just be one season all year long, with a temperature perfect for wearing a T-shirt and cargo shorts… maybe a drop of a few degrees here and there to warrant a beer-stained college sweatshirt. I’ve also always wondered how Mother Earth and Father Time ended up having Baby New Year, but that’s for another blog.

She then proceeds to tell us about going through Betty’s closet, with the intent of trying on her clothes to mock each outfit, and then discovering something:

All those patterns, all those colors… you know how when you drive past a crash site, you can’t help but look? I not only looked, I got out of the car and threw myself into the wreckage. It started as some sick thrill, to put on Betty’s hideous outfits and gross myself out. But things didn’t go according to plan, because, as you could probably figure out, I looked hot. And believe me, I tried real hard to look bad, but outfit after outfit, each one looked better on me than the last. I had been making fun of her clothes for so long, but I realized that was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have mocked her outfits, I should’ve mocked her.

Heh.  Gotta love Amanda.  She says out loud what we’re sure people like her are usually thinking.  For instance, her take on Jesse:

Just because you’re roommates with someone, doesn’t mean you can share everything. I kind of learned that one the hard way when I made out with some guy that Betty liked. To be fair, I didn’t know she liked him. And my making out with him was kind of a good thing – it was sort of like my seal of approval for Betty’s choice of crush. She’ll realize that in time.

Nothing like the Amanda seal of approval.

Anyway, there is much more.  Check it out for past entries, and look for another post (hopefully) this Thursday.  It’s hilarious.

Image credit: Newscom

Post from: Ugly Betty News

Marc and Amanda get trapped in an elevator at Mode, and go into an air-headed panic.  I love how they go from “we’re stuck in here” to “the entire human race is gone, but us.”

The conversation at the beginning about flavored, er,something, is intriguing.  I also especially liked Marc’s dream about putting on Wilhelmina’s tiara  and becoming Zac Efron.

I don’t know which is creepier, Amanda’s recurring subconscious girl-crush on Betty (even if I bought a Mandy girl fantasy, Betty just doesn’t seem to be her type), or the fact that Marc and Mandy actually started the process of “repopulating the earth”.  However, when the elevator started back up, their mutual relief is hilarious.

Then, they see the security camera, and we get a little slapstick.

All in all, a great little diversion.

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The “latest” issue of Mode Online is up, reflecting all the recent changes in Ugly Betty.  There’s a whole, very beautiful cover story with Adriana Lima and the Tico Berry.  I love it!  It follows the storyline of episode 3.06 (Ugly Berry) almost exactly:

Supermodel Adriana Lima has been in on this trendy tropical treasure from the beginning, devouring the delish Tico berry on her grandfather’s farm as a young girl. The Brazilian beauty insists that this rare fruit, indigenous to her home country and known primarily by locals, is the sweet secret behind her sexy success.

There is a great photo gallery from the Mode shoot. My goodness, that woman is beautiful.

Daniel Meade wrote the “Letter From the Editor” this month, and it is poignant and philosophical.  The first part feels like it was written by Betty:

With the Wall St. meltdown, two wars, and the gas price rollercoaster affecting the nation, you might be asking yourself, what place does Fashion have in today’s society? If times are tough, isn’t Fashion a superfluous luxury?

However, later, this is vintage Daniel:

As troubling as these days are, now is not the time to settle for baggy, drab clothing…When things are looking down, we can’t give up. We can’t allow America to put on a collective pair of sweats.

I like that.

Amanda’s blog has an hilarious take on the US presidential election.  Her “cons” on each of the candidates are great reading:

So let’s see – the first con for McCain is that he has a hot wife. I know I said it was a pro, but I’m thinking now that having a really good looking first lady might make me jealous…

The cons for Obama? Other than his hot wife also making me jealous, I’d have to start with the ears. I mean, it’s like Will Smith and Spock had a kid. But I guess if you’re president you can get those pinned.

Of course, she ended up voting for Lance Bass.

Image Credit: Newscom

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Post from: Ugly Betty News

It starts out with Amanda doing her “Vlog”, basically describing Betty’s love life delimma through a sandwich analogy. Who says Mandy is dumb?

Marc comes in, then mayhem ensues. What starts out as a celebration of the anniversary of their friendship turns into a fight – a real one. It’s quite hilarious.

Each proceeds to reveal to the web audience embarrassing facts about the other (my favorite? Marc’s screen name is “StickyBunz” BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!) They have a fight reminiscent of “Dynasty”, then of course, make up. Absolutely wonderful. If these webisodes are any indication, this season of Ugly Betty is going to be marvelous!

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The webisode tells the story of Marc and Mandy after an unsuccessful night out partying, stuck at Mode without cab fare.  Amanda goes to steal Betty’s subway tokens and finds an extra pair of “Betty” glasses.  That’s when they decide to mock first Betty, then Daniel.

I’ll say it right now: Becki Newton is absolutely HOT in Betty glasses.  As Craig Ferguson said about a certain vice presidential candidate, Becki has that “naughty librarian vibe” in this scene.  OK, I’ll calm down now.

In her attempt to Mock Betty, she takes a poncho and fashions a “Gwadalaharahh” sign on it.  They mock Betty’s interest in “being true to herself”.  They make fun of Daniel’s daily struggles with losing the company (a sideways swipe at the writers?)

Amanda then reveals a little vulnerability in a rare serious moment.  The video ends with a tribute to a moment in episode 1.01.

I really hope ABC makes more “Mode After Hours”.  This was pretty entertaining!

Thanks to Sarah for pointing this out!

Post from: Ugly Betty News

It’s a little weird that Newton seems to have the mic, meaning many times that it’s hard to hear Urie, but I guess that just adds to the homemade “realism”.

The absolute best part is when Amanda sits in the big chair and “acts like a doll”.  The tour of WIlhelmia’s office is funny all around.  It recreates a little of that magic from “Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral”. 

They have a very serious conversation about which Olsen sister they love and which one they hate.  Also, Amanda tells us about the stressful parts of her job (”Do I put line one on hold?  Or let the second caller go to voice mail?”).

Hat tip to UBN commetor Tomatish for pointing this one out!

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Image details: 21st Annual Television Critics Association Awards – Inside served by picapp.com

Well, that didn’t take long. My man Michael Ausiello at TV Guide has the scoop on the 13-year old versions of Ugly Betty cast members I previously told you about.

The way I saw it, there were only two scenarios that could have come out of this casting. One of the characters could have been having a flashback, or it could be a “vision”. By vision, I mean like when Daniel saw 12-year old Betty in episode 2.11, Zero Worship. These moments are many times very touching. They evoke “Heart”, as Slvio Horta puts it.

Anyway, Ausiello gives us the spoiler details, and I pass them to you, after the jump!

Question: I need new Ugly Betty scoop! Throw the puppy a bone, please? — Megan
Ausiello: OK, but you’ll probably want to sit down for this: In a shocking move that will prove less so once I place it in the proper context, producers have decided to recast the roles of Betty, Amanda, Daniel and Gio. But there’s a twist (i.e., the proper context I spoke of earlier). In an upcoming episode, Betty observes younger versions of some of the people in her life while she’s chaperoning a junior-high dance.

Ahhh, now it makes sense. I can’t WAIT to see little Gio. I have a feeling he’s going to be using his “Phil Roth” moves. So junior high.

This is probably also where Hilda will meet her new love interest, but maybe not. I figure it will come in a parent-teacher meeting that has been called because Justin is failing gym. Been there, done that. )

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Image details: Alzheimer’s Association’s 16th Annual "A Night At Sardi’s" – Inside served by picapp.com

One thing lost in all the ship speculation from the Ugly Betty episode 2.14 (24 Candles) promo is that it looks like Amanda (Tanen-Sommers-Simmons) is going to go through another “phase”. Now that she’s found her Dad (Gene Simmons), it would seem that Amanda is going to do what she always does – go overboard.

I think this could actually be pretty funny for a while, just as the whole Halston gag was/is (I love Chinese Cresteds!) Just from the one second we see in the promo, seeing the normally chic Amanda grunged out in a Kiss T-shirt, with too much eyeliner and slightly frizzed hair is hilarious.

I just hope the scripts give her enough time to develop this story line. Becki Newton seems willing to do anything the writers throw at her (”Milkshake“, “Gene Simmons is my Daaaaddddyyy“), and when she does these sort of things, she steals the show.

Hopefully, Amanda’s “Rock Chick” phase will play out better than “Fat Amanda” did. I was apprehensive about that whole story line when I first heard about it. In retrospect, it was just stupid. It was one of the few “misses” the show has ever had, writing-wise. They only did it half-heartedly.

Back to episode 2.14: I wnder what Marc is going to think of the “new” Amanda? Maybe dating Cliff will make him a little more tolerant.

So, are you looking forward to seeing this new “Amanda phase”?

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