Feb 16 2009
Ugly Betty to Join ABC Castoffs in Summer Run
Turns out that Ugly Betty’s current season will be interrupted at the end of March, to be replaced by Samantha Who? and In the Motherhood. Ugly Betty will play out in the summer, apparently alongside canceled series Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, and Pushing Daisies. Ugly Betty fans were 
originally panicking at the news, but TV.com reports that ABC is very close to signing the show on to a fourth season. Apparently it was a scheduling decision to run Ugly Betty in full blocks of new episodes, rather than in pieces with reruns in between. Serial dramas apparently don’t do well in reruns, and competition from the newly slotted Bones on Thursdays was making things even more dismal for Betty.
Honestly, I’m not that invested anymore. Ugly Betty has been trying my patience time and again, making Betty into too much of a caricature and butt of all jokes–to the point that she’s the least appealing character on the show. After the episode a couple of weeks ago where Betty and her sister Hilda spent most of the hour screaming at each other, I’d pretty much had it. I felt a spark of hopefulness at the end when their father stepped in and took action for himself and his household and gave his responsibility-crazed daughters a much deserved break. So what does the show do then? It makes Betty move home, because that’s just the self-sacrificing sort she is. It didn’t make any sense, but Betty can’t be happy, see? We have to ruin it for her over and over. Gah. Who needs a depressing comedy?
Maybe things improved in following episodes, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch. Maybe if I take a break from Betty, I’ll feel more inclined to give her another shot. Ugly Betty was such an innovative and empowering show, with the widest range of characters available on network TV. It’d be a shame to abandon such a colorful series. We’ll see if absence makes the heart grow fonder.
For now, Ugly Betty airs on ABC Thursdays, 8/7c.
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America Ferrera, Ugly Betty season three screencap, c2008 ABC.
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