First thoughts on a show named “Ugly Betty” having made it past a third season? Just wow. With only one season to go before it’s in striking range of full-blown syndication, Ugly Betty has had more than enough time to grow from unfortunate-looking duckling to the pretty critical-darling that it’s become. It’s no small feat when you consider that the entire premise for the show was the opening 30 minutes of The Devil Wears Prada (girl with no fashion sense in a high-end fashion job) and yet has still managed to keep the fans happy with its one-trick-pony concept. So what keeps these viewers coming back for more?
As the digital “ABC Starter Kit” included on the first disc of the third season will tell you, Betty (America Ferrera) somehow landed a job at the hot fashion magazine MODE. She respects her editor-in-chief Daniel (Eric Mabius), she has a crush on the nerdy guy in accounting and pretty much everyone hates the creative director Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams). On her homefront she has an incredibly supportive father (Tony Plana), a sassy sister (Ana Ortiz) and a fashion-inclined younger brother (Mark Indelicato).
Betty had two love offers on her hands when the second season came to a close. Did she go with her Italian beau Giovanni (Freddy Rodriquez) to Italy? Or did she accept the much more serious proposal of in-office love interest (Christopher Gorham)? Guess what? This is television and they’ve neither the budget for a season in Italy nor that desire to settle the star into a straight-laced marriage with an accountant – so no go on both fronts. Surprise. Instead Betty goes for a nice long trip and returns back to the homeland to discover things are not how she left them.
She returns to the job with newfound zeal…only to find herself lost. Her life goals of getting a promotion, bypassing romance and getting an apartment in New York City run off the tracks. MODE has been transformed into Wilhelmina’s ice palace, Daniel has jumped ship for a laidback magazine a floor below, and she sinks all her money on a decrepit apartment. The show hits a pseudo-reset button while simultaneously carrying on the requisite number of threads to help audiences know it’s still the same show. And here’s where the season sort of hits the breaks and ceases to move any further. Ugly Betty has to find a way to tread water for an entire season while having as little happen as possible. Wilhelmina manipulates people in one direction, Alexis (Rebecca Romijn) pushes in another, Daniel encourages Betty’s better impulses and it all inevitably ends with Betty getting into some kind of fashion-shoot disaster while simultaneously helping to quell a minor tragedy.
But the problems don’t really stop there. The entire show is based around some of the weakest writing this side of primetime. The melodrama and low-standards of acting make the show nigh intolerable for any but the most forgiving of television audiences. While America Ferrera has proven to be a breath of fresh air for ABC’s list of stars, Vanessa Williams is just unbearable. I know it’s television and expecting too much from the casual show is just foolish, but Ugly Betty’s third season helps you understand why ABC has thrown the show into the proverbial slot of death: Friday evenings at 9 p.m. EST/8 CT. The charm, albeit the rough imperfect charm, the show started with has matured and has bettered itself – but not all the problems were righted. It maintained its hokey charm and for some that’s the show’s ultimate death knell while for others it’s the force which draws them to it.
DVD Bonus Features
The show brings a few interesting extras to the table like a pop-up video commentary hosted by co-stars Michael Urie and Becki Newton or a brief featurette about the show’s transition from its original stage in LA to the new locale: New York City. The pop-up video commentary beats the other more traditional commentary offered hands-down. Not just because it’s funny, but because the other commentary is dreadfully bland. The LA to NY piece is really nice for the fans who’ve stuck it out and not lost faith – but otherwise it’s pretty ho-hum. The set is rounded out with the show’s webisodes, a gag reel (which is sometimes funnier than what was kept in the show) and deleted scenes (not worth your time).
"Ugly Betty: The Complete Third Season" is on sale September 22, 2009 and is rated NR. Comedy, Drama, Television. Directed by Michael Spiller, Victor Nelli Jr, James Hayman. Written by Silvio Horta, Henry Alonso Myers. Starring America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Michael Urie, Vanessa Williams, Tony Plana, Ana Ortiz.
