Episodes of Grey’s Anatomy  are now available on the site – five episodes from season five.

“Over the next two weeks, more ABC shows will launch on Hulu as part of our ongoing Hulu Days of Summer promotion, including current hits like I Survived a Japanese Game Show and The Superstars, as well as popular shows like Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and Scrubs,” a Hulu spokesman said.

Also to be available soon under the Disney/ABC umbrella are shows from ABC Family, SOAPNet, and The Disney Channel. Disney will also contribute selections from Walt Disney Studios and original, short-form content.

It will be kind of neat to be able to stream episodes of The Office, Family Guy, and The Daily Show along with ABC favorites like Grey’s, Wipeout, and, of course, Ugly Betty.  This, to me as a consumer, is the real advantage of Ugly Betty being available on Hulu.  I’ll be honest, I LOVE ABC’s video player as it is.

That being said, testing Grey’s on Hulu’s player shows that it might even be better.  Streamed in high-res (480p), full screen, the clarity is wonderful, and I can’t wait to see Ugly Betty on the player.  I haven’t looked into the embedding feature, certainly there have to be some limitations – maybe some of you are more familiar and can fill me in on Hulu’s embed policy.

As usual, you readers outside the US are left out of the loop, due to licensing reasons.  Hulu does, however, plan on launching in the UK in September.

It’ll be great to have Ugly Betty available on another platform!

Image: Newscom

Post from: Ugly Betty News

They ran this one during Ugly Betty episode 3.24, The Fall Issue, and it just made me smile.  To see many of the characters from the various ABC shows “living in one house” is wonderful.

This one, of course, heavily features Becki Newton as Amanda.  First, Ty Pennington annoys her with his megaphone.  Then, at the end, she opens the bathroom door to see Sloane from Grey’s Anatomy, looks him over, and says in disgust, “Puleeease…”  Next, she opens the door to find Hurley from Lost brushing his teeth, who exclaims, “Dude…”, which she lustily returns.

Also, there is a quick shot of “Betty” (I’m assuming it’s a look-alike) at about the :38 mark.

But, it’s Amanda and Hurley that make this promo.  That, and Supernanny telling the Wipeout guys to “clean your balls before you come in the house”.  (Wipeout returns tonight, if your inner 12-year-old is dying to be found again)

Post from: Ugly Betty News

There has been a lot of talk the last few days of ABC being on some kind of anti-gay crusade with moves at its shows and that Ugly Betty is part of it. I don’t know enough about the former, but I can tell you that the latter is ridiculous in the extreme.

Some background: on Grey’s Anatomy, lesbian couple Callie Torres and Erica Hahn were broken up, with Hahn leaving the show. Full disclosure: I don’t not watch Grey’s (I know many of you do). I’ll leave it to others to determine if the move was creative or part of some gay-character purge.

There is also talk of other changes in shows like Brothers and Sisters. Once again, I don’t watch many other ABC shows besides Ugly Betty and DWTS. It had always been my understanding that ABC has been, by far, the most gay-friendly network of all.

Maybe there’s something to the complaints. But to claim, as many have, that Ugly Betty is part of some anti-gay crusade, because of the demotion of Rebecca Romijn (and her transgendered character), and the firing of (gay) writer/director Marco Pennette just makes the accusers look silly.

Let me make something perfectly clear: removing Romijn from major character status is due to three things:

1. Romijn is very pregnant. Her character is transgendered. Although UB is an over-the-top soap, how the heck could the writers make that situation work?
   There were creative problems.
2. Several producers have said that Alexis’ story lines were wearing thin, and there was nowhere new to take the character. I agree with the former, and only partially with the latter. But, I trust the writers when they say they were running out of things for Alexis to do. I think that’s why she vaccilated between being good and evil or the last 9 or 10 episodes.
3. Every major move in the show the past 7 months or so has been part of producer Silvio Horta consolidating power and flexing his muscle. Silvio has been very up-front about this; he felt the show had lost its way and needed to get back to it’s “heart” from season 1. Personally, I like where he’s taking the show, but others might disagree.

For you newcomers, Silvio Hiorta, the man with most of the power surrounding Ugly Betty, is himself, gay.

Every major storyline in the show has a gay character (I count Daniel/Wilhelmina, because Marc is always shadowing Willy). Ugly Betty introduced the first gay character that I can remember (Cliff), who wasn’t a stereotype. A gay, fat slob? I’ve known a few, and his character is as refreshing as he is realistic.

And don’t get me started on Justin. Has there ever been a character like him on television? Are the critics blind? If you asked me four years ago if there would ever be a gay child coming of age on TV, I would have said :impossible. Horta has been subtle but revolutionary with the character Justin.

I can’t speak of the other ABC shows. But to lump Ugly Betty in with criticism of ABC for an anti-gay bias is just plain silly.

Post from: Ugly Betty News

“We’re returning our dominant core group of shows from last fall,” said McPherson. “The few openings we had we’ve filled with the kind of quality programming viewers have come to expect from ABC, and we have a very strong bench. As always, our focus is on delivering the best stories and most memorable characters on TV every day of the week, every week of the year.”

Luckily, ABC was smart enough to keep Ugly Betty in its most prime of primetime slots, the lead-in for Grey’s Anatomy. Grey’s is typically the number one ranked show in the key demographic, Women 18-34 (even beating out American Idol). Ugly Betty may be “the gayest show on television”, but I think that the producers and ABC executives know where their bread is buttered. The show’s refocusing on Betty’s character has started to pay dividends; the ratings were up for the first time in a while this past week. Betty came in second to Survivor: Micronesia with 8 million viewers.

Betty will live or die by young women viewers. Leading into Grey’s gives the show the best possible chance of success.
The only thing better would be leading into Desperate Housewives, but Extreme Makeover: Home Edition isn’t going anywhere (and who doesn’t love THAT show?).

I’m looking forward to seeing Life on Mars, and the it should be interesting to see the final season of Scrubs playing on ABC as a midseason show.

The full ABC schedule after the break.

MONDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
9:30 p.m. “Samantha Who?”
10:00 p.m. “Boston Legal”

TUESDAY:8:00 p.m. “Opportunity Knocks”
9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
10:00 p.m. “Eli Stone”

WEDNESDAY:8:00 p.m. “Pushing Daisies”
9:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
10:00 p.m. “Dirty Sexy Money”

THURSDAY:8:00 p.m. “Ugly Betty”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “Life on Mars”

FRIDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”
9:00 p.m. “Supernanny”
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”

Source: ABC
Image: Newscom

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