Ugly Betty (ABC)

Posted by ad on Aug 11, 2006 in TV | 0 comments

 

This post originally appeared on Screen*Play.

This business is all image. Is that who you want representing you?

For those seeking another dose of this summer’s hit The Devil Wears Prada (Fox) look no further, soon you’ll have Ugly Betty (ABC) to help quench your thirst for more backstabbing, cat-walking, and office politics courtesy of fictional high-fashion mag, Mode.  

ABC Summary: In the superficial world of high fashion, image is everything. Styles come and go, and the only constants are the super-thin beauties who wear them. How can an ordinary – slightly plump, plain-Jane from Queens – possibly fit in?

SPOILER ALERT: Ambitious and intelligent Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) has been hired as an assistant to the newly appointed Editor-in Chief of Mode, Daniel Meade, because of her especially bad looks.

Publishing magnate Bradley Meade (Alan Dale), aka dad, wanted the one girl Daniel wouldn’t sleep with.

Determined to force her out, Daniel and co. hatch a plan to humiliate our heroine by having her do any outrageous thing they can come up with including acting as watch-out outside Meade’s apartment between booty calls.

But, Daniel has his own problem to deal with in the form of fashionista Wilhelmina Slater played pristinely by Vanessa Williams.  She’s out to get him for landing the job as head of Mode. Vanessa Williams, like Meryl Streep, steels the show in this super-diva role.

As if that wasn’t enough, you’ve also got small scene here and there of Salma Hayek as the hot-pink-clad, Spanish speaking star of Betty’s favorite telenova.

If previous storylines from the hit Spanish series I Am Betty the Ugly on which the series is based on are any indication of what’s coming, ABC is going to have a huge hit series on their hands.  Colombians are known to shut down nightly during the 30 minutes the show airs.  The ABC version runs an hour.