ABC is already shuffling its summer schedule, pulling low-rated animated series The Goode Family from Wednesday nights.

That was quick.

But, the Mike Judge show isn’t totally dead: It’s moving to Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on June 12, slotted behind original episodes of “Surviving Suburbia”. At 9. 

“Wife Swap” currently airs Fridays from 8-9. ABC had previously decided to air repeats of “Samantha Who” Fridays from 9-10, starting this week– perhaps to warm up the timeslot for “Ugly Betty,” which relocates to the night in the fall.

As for me, I kind of wish Samantha Who? could find its way to the same night as Ugly Betty.  If it’s on Fridays, the so be it.  Although I don’t really care for Surviving Suburbia very much, I see much potential in The Goode Family (the last episode was much better than the pilot), and would love to see it as a replacement part of a new comedy night on ABC, anchored by Ugly Betty.

For those of you in the business - with the advent of DVRs and online viewing, is Friday really a death-knell for a show?  Could a comedy block not work, even on Fridays?

In related news, ABC has decided to move up the second season premiere of “I Survived a Japenese Game Show” to June 17.  It will replace the double run of “Goode” in the 9 p.m. Wednesday slot. The network said earlier this spring that “Game Show” wouldn’t return until July.

I LOVED last year’s run of Game Show.  Too bad they can’t find a way to fit IT into prime time as an Ugly betty lead-in.

Image: Bauer-Griffin

The Ugly Betty fan community is still in shock over yesterday’s news of the show’s benching by ABC. Life does go on, and there will be more news to report later, but, of course, foremost on our minds is the fate of our favorite show.

It might be wishful thinking but I keep coming back to “benching does not equal cancelling”. An ABC representative insists, “…Betty is a solid performer and there is no question that it will definitely be back to complete its season, just without repeats.”

Then there’s this: EOnline’s Kristin spoke to ABC insiders, and says, “The Alphabet net is looking at more of a cable model when it comes to its programming and scheduling. ‘[ABC President Steve] McPherson is interested in reducing the number of reruns,’ one well-placed insider tells me, adding that Betty—after its dip in the ratings this season—seemed the best place to slot in Samantha [Who?] and Motherhood.”

Let’s take the ABC suits at their word. No, quit smirking - we have no other choice. Stick with me here. Let’s say Betty comes back at the end of sweeps, and runs through much of the summer. Can that work? Has it ever been tried by a broadcast network before?

I do know that shows (especially on cable) can have devoted followings during the summer. I know my family actually blocked out time this past summer to watch “Wipeout” and “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow” (we’re weird like that…).

What I do know is this. The ratings for Ugly Betty were not great for a Thursday night 8pm show leading into a mega-hit. But they weren’t bad enough to give the show the axe altogether, IMHO. The darling of Hollywood, 30 Rock, had 1.1 million fewer overall viewers than Betty last week. (But to be fair, it did better in the 18-49 demos).

There are still many questions. Let’s say Ugly Betty does well when it comes back (for arguments sake, let’s say it stays in the 7-8 million range; that’s pretty good for summer). If it is brought back for a 4th season, would that season start in September, or would Betty become one of those shows that begins in January (or later?)

I will stay on top of this, and let you know ANY news as soon as I get it. Also, remember - there are still at least 2 episodes that will air before the benching.

Image: Newscom

Welcome to our (finally!) weekly gathering of Ugly Betty fanatics. Join us as we watch and react to the latest episode. Tonight’s episode is 3.12, Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Betty is torn between work and home in the wake of a family crisis that finds her at odds with Hilda. Meanwhile, “secret” couples Daniel & Molly and Connor & Wilhelmina try to hide their escalating love connections.

Because of the theme of this week’s show, I’d expect most of the comedy to come from the love quadrangle, with possibly some good quips thrown in by Marc. I suspect, based on the heavily dramatic theme, that this might be the episode ABC submits for Emmys for both America Ferrera and Ana Ortiz. We’ll see.

Note: there is a highly contested local election in my city today. The first few minutes of the episode might be pre-empted for the results, or they may just put the scroll at the bottom of the screen. Even in the worst case, I expect to join the live blog shortly after the episode begins. Most likely, I’ll be there from the start.

Join us, won’t you?

I’d like to formally welcome Michael Urie to the world of blogging. Yes, the Ugly Betty star has a blog! This is a wonderful development.

Urie has been tweaking the blog a little bit (right now he has a purple-ish theme that seems to work pretty well). He’s put some work into it; although his first post was only on January 6, already the sidebars are a nifty resource. It’s pretty cool to have links to Mode After Hours and the podcasts right there, instead of having to navigate through 3 or 4 layers of the ABC website.

He’s even linked to the post by yours truly about the Monte Carlo Television Festival in the “Press” section. Woot.

This is a fascinating time. Stars are on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and some have their own blogs. We can hear what they have to say, unfiltered. I would imagine Prozac sales to publicists are through the roof.

Even networks create semi-faux websites to promote their shows, such as ModeNy.com. The old rules have changed.

Word of warning, Michael - once it’s “out there”, it’s out there. Always save your posts as drafts, and have a drink before hitting “publish” . Don’t ask me how I know…

I’m looking forward to hearing from Michael. Post Away!

Image: Bauer-Griffin

In case you haven’t seen it yet, ModeNY.com, the online presence of fictional fashion magazine Mode from Ugly Betty, has become more and more integrated with the actual show.

In episode 3.10, Bad Amanda, ModeNY.com was actually a huge part of the plot, especially an article that Betty and Amanda were charged with writing. That article, How I Blew Ten Grand Without Spending A Dime, is now posted on the Mode NY web site.

It is written in Betty’s voice (not easy to do), just as “Amanda’s Blog” is written in her voice. That tells me the Ugly Betty writers have something to do with this. Betty twists between narrative of the events in 3.10, and waxing philosophical:

I have to mention that I’ve been to the Grand Canyon, and it was a wonder to behold, but I am still in awe of the phenomenon that is Amanda in a department store. I’ve never seen anyone more in control of an environment. This is what it must have been like to watch Alexander the Great control his men during his conquest of Asia.

I love it. This is definitely something Betty would write. Another snippet (about the wonderful scene where Betty has to think on her feet to take care of the huge restaurant bill she and Amanda were left with):

Let’s consider our subsequent scamming a bonus lesson – things never go according to plan, so always be prepared to adapt and think on your feet. In our situation, it also helped that we were dealing with an incredibly understanding dining establishment. Clearly, this is a restaurant who knows how to cater to its customers. The superb food was only surpassed by its service. Even though we didn’t pay for the meal, it would’ve been worth the price. The fine people at The Shire are the best that the New York dining scene has to offer.

This, of course, is the prominent feature Betty promised the manager in exchange for “taking care of” the bill. So cool. And were learn the name of the restaurant - The Shire.

ModeNy has now fully reached its promise; it’s a true compliment to the show. When episodes air one Thursday, one can usually go to ModeNY on Friday and get true bonus content about that week’s episode (not to mention the Letter From The Editor and Amanda’s Blog).

My only quibble: why didn’t Amanda share the byline? Yes, Betty “wrote” the article, but Amanda had a big part in that. Oh well, like I said, it’s a small quibble.

All in all, great job, ABC.

Welcome to our weekly gathering of Ugly Betty fanatics, otherwise known as the Ugly Betty News episode Live Blog. This week’s episode is 3.09, When Betty Met YETI:

Competition gets fierce when Betty and Marc both apply to YETI, the Young Editors Training Program that could be their ticket out of assistant-land . . . but there’s only room for one of them. Meanwhile Justin makes an unlikely friend, Daniel finds himself attracted to Molly (guest star Sarah Lafleur) and Wilhelmina does her best to get Connor’s (Grant Bowler) attention.

This will probably be a catty and fierce episode…for a while. Something tells me Marc and Betty are going to end up working together before it’s all over.

I love that they are continuing the love square (rectangle? parallelagram?).

So, join us at 8/7 central tonight!

Read more

Welcome to the weekly live blog of Ugly Betty! This week’s episode is 3.08, Tornado Girl.

Betty needs Daniel’s help to prevent an issue of Mode from shipping that could result in a PR nightmare for the magazine. The problem is, he’s unreachable at a company retreat. Meanwhile, Hilda starts a clandestine beauty salon when the city turns down her permit for a legal business, and Connor’s fiance (guest star Sarah LeFleur) meets the Modies.

I think this one is going to be full of comedy, and I can’t wait! Join us at 8/7c for all the fun!

Since my pretty negative Ugly Betty poll last week, I feel I should follow through with the promised positive one. For all my bellyaching and nitpicking, the third season of Ugly Betty is shaping up to be a great one - even up there with the first half of season 1.

For you numbers geeks like me, the ratings have been creeping up as well. This is a surprise, I expected a long, small erosion all season (as is the case with many shows beyond the first season). Now, the decline could still happen - they always get temporarily worse around Thanksgiving, but it would appear that Ugly Betty is pretty much holding its audience.

So what have we liked about season 3?

Betty’s new direction. OK, this on is pretty contoversial, but I really like Betty’s character more this year. The season 2 stories were interesting, but I can only take so much of Angsty Betty. Now, she’s an optimistic, if not hapless, young lady. She lost her mind a little bit in 3.06, Crush’d, but that just shows she’s human. The romantic entanglements with come, but, I’d like to see her make a few dreams come true first.

Daniel and Wilhelmina. Forcing Daniel and Wilhelmina to work together was genius, if a little unbelievable. The tension is incredible as the pair simultaneously try to undermine one another and work together to put out the best product. The introduction of Connor has only emphasised this more.

Crazy Amanda. You know, I’ll be honest. I’ve always liked the fact that Amanda is subconsciously obsessed with Betty. I really don’t care for the fact that they’ve turned it slighly sexual (especially at Mode After Hours), but the overall jist of it is fun to watch. Besides the obsession, Amanda has actually seemed more comfortable in her skin this year. This allows her to do all kinds of crazy things (like traipsing around Mode after hours totally naked), and she does them with confidence .

Soft Wilhelmina. The Connor character has been good for Wilhelmina, I think. Although I have no doubt she’ll come out of her latest heartbreak colder and meaner.

DJ (and Daniel). Having DJ around in the early part of season 3 helped change Daniel; that kid was adorable. Daniel is more mature, while not becoming cynical like his father. I even liked the short stint at Player; Daniel was FUN there. The Detty moment in 3.06 was wonderfully written and acted. I know they can’t do it every week, but Eric Mabius and America Ferrera have a wonderful (platonic) chemistry, and they are at their best encouraging one another.

The guest stars. As usual, Ugly Betty uses its guest stars better than any other show on television (taste that, 30 Rock!) As crazy as it seemed at the time with Lindsay Lohan, her last appearance on the show was an intriguing, fun episode. That one also had Adriana Lima, who was gorgeous and gracious. Eddie Cibrian was a good addition, even though i didn’t care for his story. Ralph Macchio absolutely HAS to come back. Val Emmich was a pleasant surprise. None of the guest stars this year have seemed as gimmicky as last season’s appearance by Christian Siriano.

Of course there are a thousand other things to love about this season: the Suarezes (even though they haven’t gotten much screen time this season), the return of Cliff, the fact that they let Gio patch things up with Betty, the surprise ending in 3.03, and I’m sure you have many more.

So,let me ask you - what’s your favorite thing about Ugly Betty season 3 so far?

Welcome to the weekly live blog of Ugly Betty! This week’s episode is 3.07 - Crush’d .

Betty works overtime to get the attention of her cute neighbor, struggling musician Jesse (guest star Val Emmich). Meanwhile, Betty’s life gets even more complicated when a maxed out and suddenly homeless Amanda becomes her temporary roommate. And in other Mode developments, Marc vacillates when Cliff (guest star David Blue) wants them to move in together.

This should be a good one! Join us at 8/7c .

As usual, I’ll put a transcript after the jump, when I can.

Read more

It’s Rebecca Romijn week at Ugly Betty News! Today is the beautiful actress/model’s birthday. To mimic Amanda, I won’t say which birthday - all I will say is that it rhymes with “flirty sticks”.

Romijn, who is expecting twin girls and has, according to her husband Jerry O’Connell, gotten “huge”, moved from a regular cast member to “recurring” on Ugly Betty this season.

As many of you know, Romijn was formerly married to actor John Stamos. Depending on who you ask, the subsequent breakup was mostly amicable (Stamos has been quite gracious in every statement I’ve seen him make about Romijn).

I’ll be interested to see what they do with Romijn’s character Alexis when she makes appearances on the show (maybe this spring?) She’s a new “father”, and there are all kinds of wonderful possibilities with that story line.

Alexis has been good, been evil, and at other times been clueless. I sincerely hope when she returns, we see good Alexis again.

Happy birthday Rebecca!