Ugly Betty

Ugly Betty
File:Ugly Betty intertitle.png
Genre	Comedy drama Romantic comedy
Based on	Yo soy Betty, la fea by Fernando Gaitán
Developed by	Silvio Horta
Starring	America Ferrera Eric Mabius Alan Dale Tony Plana Ana Ortiz Ashley Jensen Becki Newton Mark Indelicato Vanessa Williams Rebecca Romijn Michael Urie Kevin Sussman Christopher Gorham Judith Light Daniel Eric Gold
Composer(s)	Jeff Beal
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	85 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Salma Hayek Silvio Horta Oliver Goldstick Ben Silverman Jose Tamez Joel Fields
Producer(s)	Jeremy Beim Jim Klever-Weis Dawn DeKeyser
Production location(s)	New York City ("Pilot" and seasons 3–4) Los Angeles (seasons 1–2) Silvercup Studios, New York City (seasons 3–4)
Running time	42 minutes
Production company(s)	Ventanarosa Productions Silent H Productions Reveille Productions ABC Studios
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28) – April 14, 2010 (2010-04-14)
Chronology
Related shows	Yo soy Betty, la fea La fea más bella Betty en NY Mode After Hours (web series) I Love Betty La Fea List of Betty, la fea adaptations
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta that aired on ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, which has had many other international adaptations. It revolves around the character Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), who – despite her lack of style – lands a job at a prestigious fashion magazine. It was produced by Silent H, Ventanarosa, and Reveille Productions partnered with ABC Studios, with Salma Hayek, Horta, Ben Silverman, Jose Tamez, and Joel Fields serving as executive producers. The pilot was filmed in New York City; seasons one and two were filmed in Los Angeles and seasons three and four were filmed in New York City.

During its first three seasons, it aired on Thursday nights, where it was mostly successful. However, viewership dropped significantly in the show's third season, particularly in the 18–49 age group. In October 2009, the series was moved to Fridays, where it had trouble finding an audience. The backlash from its fans prompted ABC to move the show to Wednesdays at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central starting January 6, 2010, where it was thought to better complement its Wednesday hits Modern Family and Cougar Town. Despite this, on January 27, 2010, ABC announced it was cancelling the series due to low ratings. In the years since, it has gained a cult following. For a time, there was discussion of a reboot or Ugly Betty movie.

Production

The idea to bring Ugly Betty to American TV screens began in 2001 when NBC was planning to adapt Betty as a half-hour comedy, which would be produced by Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television) but it did not get past the planning stages (three writers were needed to come up with a concept based around the character) until ABC and Hayek's company came on board in 2004 and retooled it as an hour-long comedy drama. Two years later, on May 16, 2006, ABC announced that Ugly Betty would be part of the 2006–2007 North American season lineup as a weekly hour-long series; the initial order was for 13 episodes.

ABC had announced the title of the series would be Betty the Ugly, a change from its developmental title, but changed it back to Ugly Betty on July 14, 2006, although the Ugly Betty title was already being used in promotions prior to this date on Citytv. Speculation indicated the show would be a daily serial that would have debuted as a summer 2006 or midseason 2007 entry, but given the buzz and growing interest in the show, the network decided to make it a weekly series, instead. On August 8, 2006, ABC decided at the last minute to make a schedule change to move Ugly Betty from its previously announced Friday 8 pm (ET) time period to Thursday at 8 pm, replacing sitcoms Notes from the Underbelly and Big Day as a lead-in to top-rated program Grey's Anatomy, due to the growing interest in the show.

The program's pilot was tested on several cable providers to gauge interest and feedback from viewers, most notably the Hispanic community, including those who are fans of the original Betty, who hoped that ABC would maintain the integrity of the original. ABC also allowed its affiliates to show free off-air screenings to the public at various events ahead of the show's debut. In addition, the network screened the debut episode on the web and made the episodes available for download on iTunes after their initial airings on January 5, 2007. The encore episodes also have run on ABC Family and SOAPnet, both of which have aired marathons of the show.

On October 13, 2006, ABC ordered a full season pick-up for the series, beyond the original 13 ordered at the May Upfronts due to its premiere ratings. ABC originally announced 22 episodes for season one, but increased the number of episodes by one to 23. The season finale is the episode called "East Side Story". On March 21, 2007, ABC renewed the series for a second season.

Although he subsequently joined NBC as their new entertainment head, Ben Silverman remained co-executive producer on the show, but in a limited role.

In November 2007, the cast of the series made headlines when they threw their support behind the 2007 Writers' Strike by joining them on the picket line in solidarity. Ferrera commented on the reason they did this: "The issues coming up with the actors' contracts are very similar to what the writers are dealing with right now, and we have to stay united and stand strong within the creative community for what we believe is fair." On November 25, the cast appeared in a 38-second video for "Speechless Hollywood" in which a black & white camera pulled away from a close up of Ferrera to show her co-stars sitting next to her as they look directly at the camera without speaking.

On February 11, 2008, ABC picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008–09 television season, along with nine other shows. On the same day the renewal was announced, two of the show's executive producers, Marco Pennette and James Hayman, were let go. Their departure added to the constant off-camera turnovers on the series, including the exiting or firing of five writers. In a Q&A from TV Guide, Michael Ausiello criticized the decision, saying, "someone saw fit to fix what wasn't broken" and praised the two men for writing several of the show's best episodes. These turns of events may have also contributed to Rebecca Romijn's decision to no longer be a full-time regular on the series in the third season, citing the move by new writers to make changes in the direction of several characters, especially Romijn's role as Alexis.

With the strike over as of February 12, the possibility existed for seven new episodes to be completed by April, bringing the number of second-season episodes produced to 20, but only 18 episodes were eventually produced. As a result of the strike, creator Silvio Horta delayed plans for a musical episode and having Lindsay Lohan on board for a possible storyline until the third season. Four days later on February 16, 2008, ABC picked up Ugly Betty for the 2008–09 television season.

On March 12, 2008, Horta signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with ABC Studios, which guaranteed the show's future and gave Horta a chance to produce other projects aside from Betty.

On April 17, 2008, the show's podcast, which was usually presented in audio and hosted by stars Urie and Newton, became available on video for the first time.

On May 6, 2008, ABC announced that starting with the third season, Ugly Betty would return to New York City and start production there. The move was done to bring the authenticity of the great series' setting into the show and to take advantage of a tax credit offered by the State of New York's Governor's Office of Motion Picture and Television Development. The production returned to Silvercup Studios in Queens, where the original pilot was produced. The move resulted in several Los Angeles crew members being let go. These events led California Assemblyman Paul Krekorian to introduce bill AB X315, the "Ugly Betty Bill", which would keep television and film production from leaving the state by using tax incentives. The bill was passed by the assembly and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law on February 19, 2009.

In January 2009, ABC announced that it was putting Ugly Betty on hold to make room for the new comedies In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? in the Thursday night time slot. The series' aired one more original episode on March 19, 2009. On Sunday, March 15, 2009, ABC announced that, after a five-week break, Ugly Betty would return for its final five episodes of the season on Thursday, April 30, 2009. Ugly Betty's return was originally planned for May 7, but due to low ratings for Motherhood, ABC moved it up a week. The two-episode season finale aired on Thursday, May 21 from 8–10 pm.

The move by ABC and the show's declining ratings led viewers to believe that ABC would cancel the show, but on February 17, 2009, Becki Newton stated that the show has been picked up for a fourth season. That statement would later be confirmed on March 5, 2009, when Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment Group, announced that ABC planned to renew Ugly Betty. On April 23, 2009, ABC gave an early fourth season renewal to Betty.

Ugly Betty began airing on Friday nights starting October 16, 2009, at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central, although it was originally scheduled to start a week earlier on October 9. This caused fans and critics to worry that ABC wished to end the show, since that time slot is perceived as the Friday night death slot. On July 24, 2009, TV Guide Network announced that it had acquired the exclusive cable rights to the show and would air the fourth-season episodes two weeks after their ABC run with an option to strip the show daily, with plans to air it weekly starting in the fall of 2010.

With Eastwick recently cancelled, ABC began considering moving Ugly Betty to the Wednesday night 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central timeslot, although talks arose of moving Lost to that same time slot. On December 1, 2009, ABC, sensing a backlash from viewers over its decision to move Ugly Betty to Fridays, its sliding ratings, and praises from critics over the improved storylines, made the move to Wednesday official by announcing that it would start airing new episodes on its new night starting January 6, 2010.

Plot

Betty Suarez is a quirky, 22-year-old Mexican American woman from Queens, New York, who is sorely lacking in fashion sense. She is known for her adult braces, rather unusual wardrobe choices, sweet nature, and slight naïveté. She is abruptly thrust into a different world when she lands a job at Mode, a trendy, high-fashion magazine based in Manhattan that is part of the publishing empire Meade Publications owned by the wealthy Bradford Meade. Bradford's son, Daniel, has been installed as editor-in-chief of Mode following the death of Fey Sommers (Bradford's longtime mistress). Bradford hires the inexperienced Betty as his womanizing son's newest personal assistant to curb his habit of sleeping with his assistants. As time goes by, Betty and Daniel become friends and help each other navigate their individual professional and personal lives.

Life at Mode is made difficult for both Betty and Daniel by their co-workers. Their most serious threat comes from creative director Wilhelmina Slater, a vindictive schemer who devises numerous plots to steal Daniel's job and seize control of the Meade empire. In addition, Wilhelmina's loyal assistant Marc St. James and Mode receptionist Amanda Tanen continually mock and humiliate Betty for her lackluster physical appearance, awkward nature, and initial lack of taste in fashion, though they both ultimately warm to Betty in later seasons. However, not everyone at Mode is against Betty; she gains loyal friends in Scottish seamstress Christina McKinney and nerdy accountant Henry Grubstick. She also receives strong support from her father, Ignacio, older sister, Hilda, and nephew, Justin.

Season 1: 2006–2007

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 1)

Season one premiered in the United States on September 28, 2006, and aired 23 episodes. Major plot lines during the first season include: Betty and Daniel settling into their respective roles as personal assistant and editor-in-chief at Mode fashion magazine; Betty's relationships with pre-Mode boyfriend Walter and new love interest Henry; Daniel's numerous sexual relationships and his relationship with fellow editor Sofia Reyes (Salma Hayek); Wilhelmina's plots with the "Mystery Lady" to undermine Bradford and Daniel's positions at Meade Publications; Christina's temporary switch to Wilhelmina's side in an attempt to boost her career; the truth behind the murder of Fey Sommers and the death of Daniel's older brother Alex; Ignacio's immigration status and health problems; and Hilda's struggle to find a new career and salvage her relationship with Justin's dad, Santos.

Season 2: 2007–2008

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 2)

The season's theme was "Brighter, Bolder, Bettyer" with a reworked version of Mika's "Hey Betty (You Are Beautiful)" being used as the featured song in its promos. Nine new recurring characters, played by Freddy Rodríguez, Illeana Douglas, Alec Mapa, David Blue, John Cho, Gabrielle Union, Gene Simmons, and Eddie Cibrian were introduced. Lorraine Toussaint continued in her role as Claire's fellow prison escapee, Yoga, as a recurring character. Production was halted in November 2007 due to the Writers Guild of America strike; ultimately, the season episode order was cut to 18 instead of a proposed 23. New episodes did not air on U.S. television until April 24, 2008, starting with "Twenty Four Candles", and ending on May 22, 2008, with "Jump". This was the last episode to be produced in Los Angeles.

Major plotlines this season include the love triangle between Betty, Henry, and a deli shop worker named Giovanni "Gio" Rossi; Claire's escape from prison, recapture, and trial for the murder of Fey Sommers; the aborted wedding of Wilhelmina Slater and Bradford Meade; Hilda and Justin's reaction to the murder of Santos in the season-one finale; Daniel and Alexis's power struggle for Mode after their father's death; Amanda's search for her biological father; Marc's relationship with fashion photographer Cliff St. Paul; Hilda's attempt to start her new beautician career and a relationship with Justin's gym teacher; Christina's reunion with her recovering alcoholic husband; and Wilhelmina's scheme to conceive an heir to the Meade fortune using Bradford's sperm.

Season 3: 2008–2009

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 3)

ABC renewed the series for a third season on February 11, 2008. In addition, production was moved to New York City from Los Angeles to make the series more realistic and to take advantage of increased tax incentives in New York. The third season premiered on September 25, 2008. This season added 10 new recurring regulars, played by Grant Bowler, Mark Consuelos, Heather Tom, Val Emmich, Ralph Macchio, Sarah Lafleur, Bernadette Peters, Lauren Velez, and Daniel Eric Gold. Lindsay Lohan, Julian De La Celle, Derek Riddell, and Eddie Cibrian returned from the second season for more appearances. "The Show" by Australian singer Lenka was used as the promo theme for the season.

The season begins with Betty moving to an apartment in the city, after rejecting both Henry and Gio. Major plotlines include Daniel and Wilhelmina's respective relationships with Molly and Connor—a former couple; Betty and Marc both competing in the YETI program, a series of classes for aspiring editors; Betty's new relationship with Matt Hartley, a wealthy sports editor also taking part in YETI; Christina's surrogate pregnancy for Wilhelmina, and later belief that the baby is in fact her own; Molly developing terminal cancer and Ignacio's heart problems resulting in Betty having to return home, resulting in Marc and Amanda taking on Betty's apartment.

The season was the last that featured Rebecca Romijn and Ashley Jensen as regulars, with Romijin's character, Alexis, moving to France to be with her son early in the season and Jensen's character, Christina, returning to Scotland with her family in episode 21.

Season 4: 2009–2010

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 4)

Following dropping ratings in season three, Ugly Betty was moved from its Thursday night slot to the "Friday night death slot", resulting in further ratings decreases and protests from fans. Despite moving the show to a new Wednesday night slot in January, ratings failed to improve, and on January 27, 2010, ABC confirmed that the series would end in April, at the same time reducing the season length from 22 to 20 episodes.

Following the events of the season-three finale, Betty is promoted to editor at Mode, but faces increased pressure when her former boyfriend Matt is named as her boss, in addition to hostility from Marc, who was passed over for promotion by Betty. Further storylines include Justin being bullied upon starting high school and subsequent relationship with male classmate Austin; Daniel struggling to adapt following Molly's death; Claire tracking down her long-lost son Tyler and his subsequent alcoholism; Hilda renewing her relationship with Bobby Telercio (Adam Rodriguez) and subsequent engagement and marriage.

The series concludes with the Suarez sisters leaving home, with Betty accepting a new job in London and Hilda and Justin moving out to live with Bobby. Daniel gives up his position at Mode, handing the reins to Wilhelmina, not wanting to lose Betty in his life; Marc's efforts are finally vindicated via promotion and Amanda is successful in finding her birth father. In the final scene, Daniel follows Betty to London and bumps into her, informing her that he is looking for his passion, and asks her out to dinner.

Following news of the show's cancellation, a number of former cast members returned to reprise their roles in guest appearances, including Ashley Jensen, Christopher Gorham, Freddy Rodríguez, and Grant Bowler.

Cast and characters

See also: List of Ugly Betty characters

Actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4
America Ferrera	Betty Suarez	Main
Eric Mabius	Daniel Meade	Main
Alan Dale	Bradford Meade	Main		Does not appear
Tony Plana	Ignacio Suarez	Main
Ana Ortiz	Hilda Suarez	Main
Ashley Jensen	Christina McKinney	Main			Guest
Becki Newton	Amanda Tanen	Main
Mark Indelicato	Justin Suarez	Main
Vanessa Williams	Wilhelmina Slater	Main
Rebecca Romijn	Alexis Meade	Main		Recurring	Does not appear
Michael Urie	Marc St. James	Main
Kevin Sussman	Walter	Main	Does not appear
Christopher Gorham	Henry Grubstick	Recurring	Main	Guest
Judith Light	Claire Meade	Recurring	Main
Daniel Eric Gold	Matt Hartley	Does not appear		Recurring	Main

Episodes

Main article: List of Ugly Betty episodes

This is an episode listing for the comedy drama TV series Ugly Betty. The show premiered on September 28, 2006 on ABC in the United States and ended its run on April 14, 2010 after 85 episodes.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired	Season premiere	Season finale	Timeslot	DVD release date
	1	23	2006–07	September 28, 2006	May 17, 2007	Thursday 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central	August 21, 2007
	2	18	2007–08	September 27, 2007	May 22, 2008	Thursday 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central	September 9, 2008
	3	24	2008–09	September 25, 2008	May 21, 2009	Thursday 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central	September 22, 2009
	4	20	2009–10	October 16, 2009	April 14, 2010	Friday 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central (2009) Wednesday 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central (2010)	August 17, 2010

Main series

Season 1: 2006–07

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 1)

No. in series	No. in season	Episode title	Writer(s)	Director	U.S. viewers (millions)	Original air date
1	1	"Pilot"	Silvio Horta	Richard Shepard	16.32	September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28)
Betty lands a job as an assistant at a fashion magazine, but her employer wants to make sure her first week on the job will be her last.
2	2	"The Box and the Bunny"	Silvio Horta	Sheree Folkson	14.26	October 5, 2006 (2006-10-05)
Betty must find the mock-up of the magazine cover featuring a movie star; Bradford becomes more interested in the private life of the supposedly deceased Fey.
3	3	"Queens for a Day"	Marco Pennette	James Hayman	13.95	October 12, 2006 (2006-10-12)
Betty uses her Queens connections to lure an in-demand photographer for a series of shoots; Bradford seeks out the car that killed Fey; Wilhelmina prepares for a big date.
4	4	"Fey's Sleigh Ride"	Sheila Lawrence	Tricia Brock	13.17	October 19, 2006 (2006-10-19)
Betty reluctantly teams up with Marc and Amanda to find out who leaked the ideas for a Christmas photo shoot to a rival magazine; Daniel and Wilhelmina are forced to pair up in order to beat the magazine's deadline; Justin visits MODE for a school project.
5	5	"The Lyin', the Watch and the Wardrobe"	Donald Todd	Rodman Flender	13.14	October 26, 2006 (2006-10-26)
Betty is the only one in the office to dress for Halloween; Wilhelmina tries to squeeze into a dress that doesn't fit her; Daniel visits his mother and questions his father about his affair with Fey.
6	6	"Trust, Lust, and Must"	Cameron Litvack	Jamie Babbit	13.62	November 2, 2006 (2006-11-02)
After Daniel falls in lust with a beauty in the MODE lobby (played by Salma Hayek in the first of a three-episode arc), he asks Betty to find out who the mysterious woman is. In the meantime, Wilhelmina has to deal with the strong character of her daughter after she comes home from boarding school, while Betty and Hilda get unexpected news as the sisters try to raise cash for a special cause.
7	7	"After Hours"	Dailyn Rodriguez	James Hayman	12.81	November 9, 2006 (2006-11-09)
Betty takes a break from her escalating family troubles when she's assigned to review a posh new hotel. Meanwhile, Daniel is dismayed when Sofia Reyes and her team take up residence in the MODE conference room, and Wilhelmina prepares to go a little bit country to woo a mega rich Texan to advertise his stores in MODE.
8	8	"Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral"	Marco Pennette	Sarah Pia Anderson	12.95	November 16, 2006 (2006-11-16)
Daniel, to his dismay, must attend his family's Thanksgiving gathering at the Country Club along with Claire (who was just released from the institution), Bradford. ..and Sofia. Amanda and Marc decide to create their own festive gatherings at MODE. There is also a dinner at The Suarezs', where Santos, Justin's father, will be in attendance as he brings gifts to his kid that would please all boys his age. Meanwhile Betty does a little more investigating on lawyer Leah Stillman before she hires her to represent Ignacio. And Wilhelmina hosts a Thanksgiving dinner as well but her feast doesn't look as good as it does in the magazine pictures she envisions.
9	9	"Lose the Boss"	Oliver Goldstick	Ken Whittingham	8.74	November 23, 2006 (2006-11-23)
Betty is left alone during an important photo shoot during which the photographer, Bruno, has come up with questionable concepts. Meanwhile, Daniel spends the day with Betty's family helping to decorate their Christmas tree while also recovering from a hangover. Mr. Green interrogates a mortician about the remains of a client. Ignacio gets in trouble with Immigration and Customs.
10	10	"Fake Plastic Snow"	Veronica Becker & Sarah Kucserka	James Hayman	13.02	November 30, 2006 (2006-11-30)
It's Christmas time at MODE, as Betty questions her relationship with Walter and her feelings for Henry. Daniel, on the other hand, is sure of his love for Sofia (Salma Hayek), despite her doubt, and Marc frantically tries to win over Wilhelmina in fear of losing his life. Meanwhile, Amanda vies for Betty's position as Daniel's new assistant by planning and executing a perfect MODE holiday party that fills the office with styrofoam snow and holiday wishes.
11	11	"Swag"	James D. Parriott	Tamra Davis	11.65	January 4, 2007 (2007-01-04)
Betty helps Daniel entertain a Japanese designer who is visiting the magazine; Christina's swag giveaway causes mayhem among the employees; Wilhelmina is targeted by the accounting department and from behind the scenes.
12	12	"Sofia's Choice"	Silvio Horta	James Hayman	13.49	January 11, 2007 (2007-01-11)
Betty discovers that Sofia's other assistant(portrayed by Becki Newton) looks like a dead ringer for Betty; Surprises await at a strip club; Ignacio gets a caseworker; Wilhelmina starts showing her nice side after Ted returns.
13	13	"In or Out"	Myra Jo Martino	Michael Spiller	14.10	January 18, 2007 (2007-01-18)
Betty consoles a heartbroken Daniel by setting him up with a supermodel, as Wilhelmina starts setting things up to take Daniel's job away... and along with that, Christina and Amanda's as well; Hilda goes into business for herself after Herbalux is recalled; the "mystery woman" is revealed.
14	14	"I'm Coming Out"	James D. Parriott	Wendey Stanzler	14.00	February 1, 2007 (2007-02-01)
As Fashion Week nears, Betty is stunned that Daniel has hired Hilda to help with the preparations, while Daniel is stunned over Bradford's plans to hand over Meade Publications; an old friend causes Daniel to return to old habits (after Daniel tries to seduce her); Christina prepares to test the designer waters; Wilhelmina tests out a new line of cosmetic products; Amanda and Marc set their sights on a sought-after designer outfit; a bombshell will be dropped, affecting all parties involved.
15	15	"Brothers"	Shelia Lawrence	Lev L. Spiro	14.27	February 8, 2007 (2007-02-08)
Everyone is in for a shocking reaction as Alexis shows up and drops more surprises for those involved, especially the Meades (who are now fighting among themselves), Betty (who has to play mediator for the dysfunctional clan) and Wilhelmina (who's using this backdrop as part of her expanded plans); Betty is asked out on a date by Henry and is in for a surprsing announcement from Walter; Hilda learns that Justin was in a fight at school and is surprised to learn that Santos now wants to be more involved in Justin's upbringing.
16	16	"Derailed"	Cameron Litvack	James Hayman	13.66	February 15, 2007 (2007-02-15)
A blizzard in New York City could derail Christina's plans to create a designer gown for a high-profile celebrity; Betty and Walter finally go their separate ways, but Betty's way to Henry's heart is stopped at the tracks by his visiting girlfriend, Charlie; Claire is suspected by Betty in Fey's death; Santos returns to prove to Justin that he can be a father; Daniel and Alexis become co-EICs at MODE, a move that makes Wilhelmina furious and suspicious.
17	17	"Icing on the Cake"	Dailyn Rodriguez	Jeff Melman	10.80	March 15, 2007 (2007-03-15)
Betty asks her orthodontist (played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson) out for a date after she is invited by Henry to Charlie's birthday party; Wilhelmina resorts to plan B as she tries to have Daniel and Alexis turn on each other; Daniel tries to keep Alexis from finding out about hiring Grace Chin (Lucy Liu) as Alexis keeps Bradford from leaving jail; Amanda is amused when a designer makes her his "muse" and sends her a silver rubber hobble dress named after her.
18	18	"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"	Sarah Kucserka, Veronica Becker & Marco Pennette	Tricia Brock	10.41	March 22, 2007 (2007-03-22)
Marc, promising to help Betty with inside info for Daniel, convinces her to pretend to be his "girlfriend" when his suspicious mom, Mrs. Weiner (Tony winner Patti LuPone), arrives in town. Things go from bad to worse when Mrs. Weiner invites herself to dinner at the Suarez home and Betty's whole family has to play along with the charade. Meanwhile, Daniel and Alexis struggle to work together after their mom - who actually owns MODE - names them co-editors-in-chief of the magazine.
19	19	"Punch Out"	Oliver Goldstick	Miguel Arteta	9.46	April 19, 2007 (2007-04-19)
Betty attempts to keep Daniel focused on his work, but he's tempted to return to his partying ways; Fey's secret diaries becomes a sought-after prize, thanks to Wilhelmina, Alexis and a tell-all writer who has the books in her possession; Constance pressures Ignacio into restarting their 'romance' again.
20	20	"Petra-Gate"	Harry Werksman & Gabrielle Stanton	Paul Lazarus	9.62	April 26, 2007 (2007-04-26)
Betty finds herself alone after learning the truth about Daniel, Christina and Henry; Daniel tries to get over his latest breakup; For the first time as a woman, Alexis is asked out by a guy; Amanda flirts with a designer she thinks is gay; Wilhelmina attracts an unlikely suitor; Santos is ready to surprise Hilda.
21	21	"Secretaries' Day"	Henry Alonso Myers	Victor Nelli, Jr.	10.68	May 3, 2007 (2007-05-03)
Betty juggles her task of bailing her family out of legal problems while setting things up for MODE's assistants' party, but the place she picks to hold the event could bring back memories for Amanda in more ways than one; Alexis ponders about accepting Rodrigo's offer; Daniel seeks Betty's help for his sexual addiction; Hilda prepares for her exam; Wilhelmina makes her bold move to take over MODE.
22	22	"A Tree Grows in Guadalajara"	Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally	Lev L. Spiro	9.63	May 10, 2007 (2007-05-10)
The Suarezes travel to Mexico in an effort to help Ignacio obtain a visa, and at the same time reconnect with more lost relatives, who could provide Betty with the answers about her late mother and Ignacio's real identity; Alexis' former flame from her former life as Alex has now fallen for brother Daniel; Marc becomes jealous over Amanda's new gay friend; Wilhelmina tries to makeover her latest beau; Another "fea" shows up.
23	23	"East Side Story"	Silvio Horta & Marco Pennette	James Hayman	10.50	May 17, 2007 (2007-05-17)
Betty and Henry's romance heats up, but then hits a stumbling block when Charlie announces she is pregnant. Henry and Charlie return to Arizona, but Betty later learns that Charlie cheated on Henry and the child may not be his. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina plans her wedding to Bradford, while Daniel descends further in a drug-induced downward spiral. Justin plays the lead in his school's production of West Side Story, while Santos is shot in a convenience-store robbery (and presumed killed). Claire makes a break from prison, while Daniel and Alexis are involved in an accident, where the brake lines of their car were purposely cut by the man Alexis hired to kill her father.

Notes

• "Swag" was originally scheduled to be aired as the 4th episode, but was moved to 11th by the network. The change resulted in a number of continuity problems, which were "fixed" by making most of the episode a flashback and adding scenes with Betty telling Christina the bulk of the story. In Italy, Denmark, Spain, India and the Philippines, the episode is retained as the 4th episode.

• On the season 1 DVD box set, "Swag" is listed as episode 4, without the scenes of Betty talking to Christina in a flashback. Other noticeable changes on the DVD were the reversed order of the show's episode chronology: "The Box and the Bunny", which is the second episode, is listed as the third episode, having swapped places with "Queens for a Day". However, "The Box and the Bunny" should be the second episode.

Season 2: 2007–08

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 2)

No. in series	No. in season	Episode title	Writer(s)	Director	U.S. viewers (millions)	Original air date
24	1	"How Betty Got Her Grieve Back"	Silvio Horta & Marco Pennette	James Hayman	11.16	September 27, 2007 (2007-09-27)
Set three weeks after the events of the season 1 finale, Ignacio is still in Mexico, Alexis is in a coma while Daniel is recovering from the crash, Hilda is grieving in her own way for Santos, and Betty keeps herself busy at Mode to distract herself from her unresolved feelings for Henry. Amanda confronts her parents with the truth about her birth mother, Claire is in hiding after escaping from transport to another prison and Alexis wakes up from her coma with amnesia, having no knowledge of becoming a woman.
25	2	"Family/Affair"	Bill Wrubel	Victor Nelli, Jr.	9.78	October 4, 2007 (2007-10-04)
Bradford tries to change the Meade family history by taking advantage of Alexis's amnesia; Betty suspects Wilhelmina's new bodyguard is doing a lot more than protecting her; Ignacio is in for a surprise from his past; Amanda receives a portion of Fey's inheritance...and the expenses and fees that come with it.
26	3	"Betty's Wait Problem"	Jon Kinnally & Tracy Poust	Tricia Brock	10.35	October 11, 2007 (2007-10-11)
Even as Henry returns to Mode, Betty finds herself attracted to (and annoyed by) Gio, the snack canteen operator; Wilhelmina, Claire and Amanda bring a lot more unexpected surprises and expose secrets at the Meade Black & White Ball.
27	4	"Grin and Bear It"	Sarah Kucserka & Veronica Becker	Tucker Gates	9.67	October 18, 2007 (2007-10-18)
Betty tries to impress her writing class teacher with a story that was written by someone else; Daniel is pressured by an advertiser to fire Alexis; Henry tries to help Justin with his math homework; Amanda learns about Wilhelmina's past and the connection she has to finding Amanda's father.
28	5	"A League of Their Own"	Sheila Lawrence	Wendey Stanzler	9.84	October 25, 2007 (2007-10-25)
Betty turns to Internet dating after trying to avoid Henry fails. Justin's rebellious behaviour continues, while Hilda starts sharing her depression with three old ladies whose husbands have also died. Marc meets fashion photographer Cliff St. Paul. The Mode staff discover they will be broke in 90 days if their current rate of advertising drop-out continues. Claire schemes to kill Wilhelmina while Alexis begins remembering things from when she was a man and still against Bradford, resulting in her realization it was she who caused her and Daniel's recent car crash.
29	6	"Something Wicked This Way Comes"	Henry Alonso Myers	Wendey Stanzler	9.90	November 1, 2007 (2007-11-01)
Daniel tries to find advertiser support after Bradford favours Alexis to pull in money for Mode, while Betty's friends and family try to distract her from being "lonely" over Henry. However, Henry and Betty have plans to see Wicked, but Daniel is still in the dark over their reunification so Betty is forced to pretend she is attending with annoying sandwich-maker, Gio. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina is still fretting about her upcoming wedding, attempting to gain weight to fit into her dress.
30	7	"A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding"	Silvio Horta & Marco Pennette	James Hayman	10.89	November 8, 2007 (2007-11-08)
Wilhelmina and Bradford's wedding day has finally arrived, but her maid of honour, Victoria Beckham is receiving all the attention; however Wilhelmina is still primarily concerned with marrying Bradford so she can take over Mode. On the day of his citizenship ceremony, Ignacio finds out about Betty and Henry's resumed romance. Christina's husband turns up at Mode.
31	8	"I See Me, I.C.U."	Bill Wrubel	Rodman Flender	10.73	November 15, 2007 (2007-11-15)
Bradford lies unconscious in intensive care following his heart attack at the altar. Claire asks Betty to check Bradford's will before she leaves the country, but Marc and Wilhelmina are also scheming to get to it.
32	9	"Giving Up the Ghost"	Charles Pratt, Jr.	Gary Winick	7.49	November 22, 2007 (2007-11-22)
Betty begins seeing Bradford's ghost as a manifestation of her guilt over not taking her job back at Mode. After Claire fires Wilhelmina as creative director of Mode at Bradford's funeral, Wilhelmina unleashes a virus on the Mode computer network which deletes all the files of the upcoming issue and takes the opportunity to try to sway the Mode staff to join her new magazine, Slater. Betty gets back on board to help get a new issue out on time, but plans to re-shoot a cover featuring a model in rehab fall apart after she relapses and Alexis attempts to reason with a dwarf printer.
33	10	"Bananas for Betty"	Jon Kinnally & Tracy Poust	Michael Spiller	9.34	December 6, 2007 (2007-12-06)
A video message recorded by Bradford for Alexis and Daniel specifying who will run Meade Publications causes conflict between the siblings after a technical error prevents them from finding out who, so they decide to settle it out in a paintball war. Slater is having trouble getting off the ground due to lack of financial support and Wilhelmina's insistence on looking younger. Hilda sets up her own beauty salon with help from Gio and Henry, but after Betty hears Gio's romantic approach to how he would spend his last days with someone, she begins to think she and Henry aren't doing enough with their time left together.
34	11	"Zero Worship"	Dawn DeKeyser	Ron Underwood	9.89	January 10, 2008 (2008-01-10)
Amanda turns to a psychic in her quest to find her birth father; Betty wants Daniel to use models of all shapes and sizes at Fashion Week after Justin's friends get a different impression on their class tour of Mode, but Alexis proves an obstacle due to her domineering ways. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina is hormonal and trying to find someone to be a surrogate mother for her baby.
35	12	"Odor in the Court"	Bill Wrubel	Victor Nelli, Jr.	9.52	January 17, 2008 (2008-01-17)
Claire's trial for the murder of Fey Sommers begins, and she pleads not guilty due to insanity. Claire gives Betty her perfume, which drives her to become hyperactive, and may just be the evidence to prove Claire's innocence, while Amanda discovers pages of Fey's diary which reveal secrets of her affair with Bradford. Christina is propositioned by Wilhelmina to be the surrogate mother for Bradford's child.
36	13	"A Thousand Words Before Friday"	Sheila Lawrence & Henry Alonso Myers	Matt Shakman	8.92	January 24, 2008 (2008-01-24)
Betty learns that an author she's been assigned to write an article on actually writes books on picking up women; Daniel dates a woman who happens to be Wilhelmina's sister; and Amanda and Marc believe that they might have finally found Amanda's biological father, Gene Simmons.
37	14	"Twenty Four Candles"	Sarah Kucserka & Veronica Becker	Michael Spiller	8.52	April 24, 2008 (2008-04-24)
It is Betty's 24th birthday and she wants it to be perfect. Unfortunately, her plan of going out with Henry is disrupted when Charlie returns to New York to be with him, but Gio still tries to give Betty a dream birthday. Meanwhile, Daniel is still dating Renee, whom Wilhelmina unsuccessfully tries to keep him away from, and Claire's plans for her new magazine Hot Flash hit a snag after the budget becomes too pricey.
38	15	"Burning Questions"	Henry Alonso Myers	Matt Shakman	7.93	May 1, 2008 (2008-05-01)
Renee becomes increasingly jealous and controlling after her lack of proper medication begins to take effect, and convinces Daniel that Betty is in love with him; meanwhile, Betty and Christina discover her dangerous past. Henry tells Betty that Charlie will be staying in New York until the baby's born after she has a panic attack at the airport, while Betty grows ever closer to Gio. Gina Gambarro returns to Queens with a new life, and Mode tries to woo a designer who is only shooting for one fashion magazine.
39	16	"Betty's Baby Bump"	Dawn DeKeyser (story), Bill Wrubel (teleplay)	Linda Mendoza	7.99	May 8, 2008 (2008-05-08)
Charlie continues to get in the way of Henry and Betty's dates, so after advising Daniel to go to therapy to deal with his emotional problems over Renee, Betty decides to change her own routine and befriend Charlie (again). Justin's PE teacher, Coach Diaz, threatens to fail him, but Hilda is not impressed. Wilhelmina plans to return to Mode, and Christina discovers the baby she's carrying is from Bradford's sperm.
40	17	"The Kids Are Alright"	Brian Tanen	Wendey Stanzler	8.47	May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15)
Betty, still missing Henry, fights her attraction to Gio, but later finds herself stuck with him when both volunteer to chaperone Justin's middle school dance. Meanwhile, Hilda tries to get Coach Diaz (guest star Eddie Cibrian) to notice her; Amanda agrees to do a reality show with her dad, KISS rock legend Gene Simmons; and Daniel feels the heat when Wilhelmina makes her triumphant return to Mode amid a media frenzy.
41	18	"Jump"	Silvio Horta	Victor Nelli, Jr.	8.75	May 22, 2008 (2008-05-22)
Wilhelmina becomes the new editor-in-chief of Mode magazine. Elle magazine go head-to-head with Mode in a softball game, where a teenager arrives who may be Meade-related. Meanwhile, Henry comes back to propose to Betty, just after Gio asks her to come to Rome with him for a holiday. Naomi Campbell guest stars as an Elle magazine softball champion, and Lindsay Lohan stars as one of Betty's old classmates.

Notes

• Season 2 was originally slated to have a total of 24 episodes, but due to the Writers Guild of America strike, it had 18 episodes with the last five written and produced following the strike's end.

Season 3: 2008–09

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 3)

No. in series	No. in season	Episode title	Writer(s)	Director	U.S. viewers (millions)	Original air date
42	1	"The Manhattan Project"	Silvio Horta	Victor Nelli, Jr.	9.77	September 25, 2008 (2008-09-25)
Betty's had enough of her love triangle and decides not to choose either Gio or Henry but decides to go on a vacation of her own. Daniel and Claire are furious with Alexis. Alexis and Wilhelmina promote the new issue of Mode on Live with Regis and Kelly. Kimmie is back and works with Ignacio at a fast-food restaurant and decides to make things right with Betty.
43	2	"Filing for the Enemy"	Joel Fields	Michael Spiller	8.58	October 2, 2008 (2008-10-02)
Realizing that Betty is starting to lose trust in Daniel following his enrollment in Player Magazine, Wilhelmina schemes to take Betty away from Daniel and make Betty her assistant, causing a rift between Marc and Betty. Daniel faces a custody battle for Daniel Jr. while Hilda and Tony's illicit romance heats up. Christina becomes suspicious of Stuart taking drugs again and decides to take a secret DNA test which comes out as positive! But their confrontation would turn ugly when someone pushes Christina down a flight of stairs at Mode.
44	3	"Crimes of Fashion"	Henry Alonso Myers	Victor Nelli, Jr.	8.48	October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09)
The police arrest Daniel on suspicion of pushing Christina down the stairs, but Betty does not believe he is guilty and tries to find the real culprit. Stuart visits a hospitalized Christina and tells her his treatment is not working. Ignacio learns something shocking about Tony while Alexis finally reveals a dark secret about Daniel Jr.'s biological family.
45	4	"Betty Suarez Land"	Chris Black	Michael Spiller	8.21	October 16, 2008 (2008-10-16)
Betty is thrilled that Gio is back from his trip from Rome but Gio's unhappy that Betty did not go with him, starting a feud. While attempting to win Gio's heart back, Betty is forced to help keep Daniel Meade Jr. away from his grandparents who have already filed a custodial claim and has come to New York to get their grandson back, devastating Daniel. Meanwhile, Alexis is charged for attempted murder because of a scheming Willie which frustrates Claire.
46	5	"Granny Pants"	Sheila Lawrence	Fred Savage	8.66	October 23, 2008 (2008-10-23)
Betty's shocked to find her old school bully, Kimmie (guest star: Lindsay Lohan) is trying to find a new job at Mode and Betty, being too nice, helps her but does not know that it is all a scheme. Daniel and Wilhelmina argue about Mode's newest cover issue while Justin signs up for a musical but discovers his bully is also doing the same.
47	6	"Ugly Berry"	Bill Wrubel	Ron Underwood	8.55	October 30, 2008 (2008-10-30)
Realising that they have created a monster, both Marc and Amanda join forces with Betty to destroy Kimmie Keegan's career at MODE and sabotage a photo shoot with Adriana Lima. Meanwhile at the Suarezes, Ignacio prepares for his first chance to vote while Hilda capitalizes on the elections to boost business in her beauty salon only to be caught by a New York councilman. In the meantime, Daniel meets MODE's new Chief Financial Officer, Connor Owens (played by Grant Bowler).
48	7	"Crush'd"	Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally	Victor Nelli, Jr.	8.95	November 6, 2008 (2008-11-06)
Betty becomes more infatuated with her neighbour Jesse but her romantic intentions are interrupted by a bankrupt Amanda who soon moves in with her and they become a modern day odd couple. Marc begins to avoid Cliff once a proposal to live together is brought up and ends up sleeping with another man. Wilhelmina becomes infatuated herself but this time with Connor who has drawn suspicion from Claire.
49	8	"Tornado Girl"	Peter Elkoff	John Terlesky	9.20	November 13, 2008 (2008-11-13)
With the Meade editors away on a company retreat far away from the city, Betty is left with final approval on the latest MODE issue which has the cover of a tornado but when a real tornado occurs, Betty must get to Daniel before a PR disaster happens. During the trip to the retreat with Cliff's car, Amanda and Betty discover a receipt for two wedding rings in preparations for Marc's wedding but when Marc tries to take them away, their car veers out of the road. Hilda gains an ally in her permit battle and Marc comes clean with Cliff about his "affair".
50	9	"When Betty Met YETI"	Brian Tanen	Victor Nelli, Jr.	8.30	November 20, 2008 (2008-11-20)
Former Mode employee Nick Pepper has come to Mode one last time to boast about his achievement of being a high-paid newspaper employee, thanks to YETI which causes Betty to think about her future. Although Betty is facing a rivalry with Marc to get into YETI, Justin's friendship with Randy is endangered due to peer pressure.
51	10	"Bad Amanda"	Chris Black	John Putch	8.47	December 4, 2008 (2008-12-04)
Amanda and Betty are forced to work together for an article called "How I Blew Ten Grand Without Spending a Dime". However, they end up being robbed of their apartment rent, causing Amanda and Betty to fight about it. Wilhelmina continues to have a crush on Connor, and tires to avoid him at first but finally admits that she wants to spend the rest of her life with Connor. Daniel tries his best to avoid any feelings towards Molly after Claire advises him that he will be heartbroken as Connor is still Molly's fiance but when he almost kisses her, Wilhelmina grabs the tape.
52	11	"Dress for Success"	Cara DiPaolo	Matt Shakman	7.51	January 8, 2009 (2009-01-08)
Mode's rival Elle has stolen a dress that is scheduled to appear on an exclusive Mode cover and Betty's responsible for it all, resulting in Betty scheming with Marc to get the dress back. Wilhelmina talks to Daniel about his almost kiss-with-Molly and helps Daniel to get Molly so that she can have Connor for herself. Hilda finally opens her salon but is greatly disappointed as Betty had to work while she promised that she'd helped her with the opening. But what made the family shocked is Ignacio suffering from a heart attack.
53	12	"Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"	Henry Alonso Myers	Lee Shallat-Chemel	7.54	January 22, 2009 (2009-01-22)
Betty and Hilda are juggling work and their father, causing Betty to misplace Daniel and Molly's photos. Meanwhile, Connor, Wilhelmina, Daniel and Molly are trying hard to cover up their relationships, but a newspaper photo may reveal all.
54	13	"Kissed Off"	David Grubstick	Rose Troche	7.27	February 5, 2009 (2009-02-05)
Connor finds out about Daniel and Molly. Betty goes on a date with Jesse to find that he only cares for himself.
55	14	"The Courtship of Betty's Father"	Peter Elkoff	John Terlesky	7.44	February 12, 2009 (2009-02-12)
It's Claire's 60th birthday but thinks that no one remembered it, resulting in her shoplifting. Betty tries to make a compilation memorial video for Claire but turns up with nothing but negative comments while Daniel continues seeing Molly, leaving Claire more alone. Meanwhile, Betty and Hilda are surprised that Ignacio and Elena have fallen in love and Wilhelmina tries to get rid of a parrot who mimics her saying "I love Connor!" as she is scared that Connor might not feel the same way.
56	15	"There's No Place Like Mode"	Sheila Lawrence	Bethany Rooney	7.65	February 19, 2009 (2009-02-19)
Betty is assigned to interview a somewhat deranged German-accented Heinrich who has been severely traumatised by the events of the Iron Curtain, along with her new YETI partner Matt Hartley but Matt actually has more interests into Betty than into fashion. Christina also goes into labour during Fashion Week 2009 and Wilhelmina tries to win back the press after receiving several negative myths against her.
57	16	"Things Fall Apart"	Henry Alonso Myers	Tom Verica	6.78	February 26, 2009 (2009-02-26)
Mode goes bankrupt as someone has hacked into its bank accounts, causing all of its employees to face a possible firing frenzy led by Wilhelmina and Daniel. Wilhelmina is pressured into choosing between living with Connor and continuing her fashion career while Betty eventually finds out who the person responsible for Mode's bankruptcy!
58	17	"Sugar Daddy"	Brian Tanen	David Warren	6.35	March 5, 2009 (2009-03-05)
The recent events of the company's bankruptcy, thanks to Connor, has sent shockwaves across Mode's offices, forcing Daniel and Wilhelmina to visit a court committee for financial help, but when evidence of them having a fancy and expensive dinner in a restaurant get out, things get ugly. Aside from Mode, the Suareze family are also facing financial struggles as they are threatened with eviction. So they decide to buy their home and they all try various methods to raise the initial deposit. Despite their best efforts they are still $10,000 short, Then Hilda mysteriously receives a check for $10,000, and Betty tries to find out who it is from.
59	18	"A Mother of a Problem"	Bill Wrubel	Matthew Diamond	7.21	March 12, 2009 (2009-03-12)
Betty and Matt's relationship move a level up as Betty meets Matt's mother, Victoria Hartley who dislikes her at first sight while Willie and Daniel struggle with Mode's latest financial difficulties. Asking for advice from Claire, Betty finally goes to Victoria's fancy party but Matt's mother believes that Matt should deserve a better woman.
60	19	"The Sex Issue"	Cara DiPaolo	Victor Nelli, Jr.	7.82	March 19, 2009 (2009-03-19)
Betty tries to let Matt know that she wants to have more than just dates but an embarrassed Matt escapes from her clutches. Devastated, Betty receives a "sexification" tutorial from Amanda and Marc and at the end of the night she becomes a diva -- temporarily. Willie is depressed about Connor's sudden getaway, causing her to not sleep normally, and Daniel is worried that Molly will embarrass him at a poetry slam with her poem about them having sex.
61	20	"Rabbit Test"	Chris Black	Richard Heus	6.81	April 30, 2009 (2009-04-30)
When Mode starts losing many furnitures and, Wilhelmina and Daniel decide to take drastic actions -- begin a firing frenzy and shut down 5 magazines. Meanwhile, Christina is stunned when she learns that the Meade-Slater baby may be her biological son and not Wilhelmina's! When Betty finds out that Matt's father, Cal Hartley (guest star: David Rasche) is a billionare who finances struggling companies, she suggests to Daniel that Cal could be their "White Knight" but the trouble starts when Matt forbids the two to meet Cal.
62	21	"The Born Identity"	Steven Ross	John Terlesky	7.49	May 7, 2009 (2009-05-07)
Just as it looks like Cal Hartley is going to give Mode the bailout it needs so the magazine won't go bankrupt, baby William is kidnapped -- and Betty is dragged into the ensuing drama. Police forces flood into the hallways of Mode as Wilhelmina continues to suspect Christina for the kidnapping. Meanwhile, Archie asks Hilda to be part of his latest political campaign.
63	22	"In the Stars"	Sheila Lawrence	Paul Holahan	6.83	May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14)
At YETI, Betty, Marc and Matt are assigned to do a magazine feature on both music and physics. They set up a photoshoot at the Planetarium and get British singer Adele to model in their shoot, however enroll in a string of difficulties when Matt proves unfocused. Meanwhile, Daniel proposes to his girlfriend and they marry the same day, at the planetarium.
64	23	"Curveball"	Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally	Victor Nelli, Jr.	6.16	May 21, 2009 (2009-05-21)
Claire receives the cold shoulder from her long-time enemy Victoria Hartley and Willie schemes to find out why, resulting in a shocking child-related discovery! Betty is shocked that her ex-boyfriend Henry has come to New York, causing a conflict for Betty's affections between Matt and Henry. Marc and Betty also are waiting that their YETI interviews have gotten them new jobs and Daniel welcomes Molly back home after her discharge from the hospital.
65	24	"The Fall Issue"	Silvio Horta	Tom Verica	6.37	May 21, 2009 (2009-05-21)
The sudden death of a Mode editor leaves Betty and Marc competing for the same job. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina demands that Claire tender her resignation at a big awards ceremony ... or she'll reveal Claire's dark secret to Cal Hartley. Matt lets his jealousy over Henry get the best of him and Justin nervously waits to see if he got into performing arts school. As the season concludes, Daniel's wife passes away from cancer.

• Note: ABC placed Ugly Betty on a temporary hiatus after the March 19, 2009 episode to air Samantha Who? and In the Motherhood in the 8-9PM E/P slot, but returned it after the shows complete their runs. Ugly Betty returned on April 30, 2009 to finish its 3rd season, ending with a 2-hour season finale airing on May 21, 2009.

Season 4: 2009–10

Main article: Ugly Betty (season 4)

No. in series	No. in season	Episode title	Written by	Directed by	U.S. viewers (millions)	Original air date
66	1	"The Butterfly Effect (Part 1)"	Sheila Lawrence & Henry Alonso Myers	John Terlesky	5.01	October 16, 2009 (2009-10-16)
Betty finds that everything is changing as she begins her new job as associate features editor, especially since her boss is her ex-boyfriend, Matt Hartley, who is still unhappy about their breakup. In addition, Betty's new officemate Megan openly resents her, while Marc is constantly undermining her because he felt he was more deserving of the promotion. Meanwhile, without Betty as his assistant, Daniel is adrift, still mourning the loss of his wife, Molly. Justin starts high school and is victimized by bullies but won't tell his mom, Hilda. Claire Meade is finding that her power struggle at the company has her sitting pretty -- for the moment -- opposite Wilhelmina, who lost her claim to the Meade throne last season. But Wilhelmina has perhaps an even bigger problem than job security - she is harboring a secret at home that is driving Marc to distraction.
67	2	"The Butterfly Effect (Part 2)"	Sheila Lawrence & Henry Alonso Myers	Victor Nelli, Jr.	5.18	October 16, 2009 (2009-10-16)
After managing to turn her first editorial pitch into fruition, Betty struggles to balance her time between working on her United Nations photoshoot and helping Daniel cope with his loneliness under extremely short notice. When she fails at multi-tasking and as more frown upon her and Daniel, Betty decides to transform into a more fashionable and focused woman, causing people to slowly start accepting her. Finding out that Justin has been talking to Marc about his troubles and not her, Hilda bans him from talking to Marc again which causes their relationship to turn rocky. Wilhelmina struggles to keep her secret safe when Marc manages to find out as well as her concern for her job at Mode.
68	3	"Blue on Blue"	Abraham Higginbotham	Victor Nelli, Jr	4.55	October 23, 2009 (2009-10-23)
Worrying that Matt will fire her both professionally and personally, Betty gets her big break concerning the sudden announcement of Gucci's new designer, Evan York (Hamish Linklater), with the help of Hilda's connected customer, Sammy (Adam Ferrara). But Marc plots to sabotage her, enlisting a clueless Amanda and Matt in his efforts, culminating in a showdown at the restaurant where Ignacio works. Meanwhile Daniel begins to attend a bereavement group, where he meets Natalie (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), a sexy girl who takes him out for an interesting night on the town, and Wilhelmina flies to Bermuda when she learns Connor may be there and when she meets him face-to-face, she gets torn between her real feelings for him and the fact that he almost endangered her job at Mode.
69	4	"The Weiner, the Bun, and the Boob"	Brian Tanen	Wendey Stanzler	4.50	October 30, 2009 (2009-10-30)
Betty is overwhelmed with her editorial work, so Wilhelmina assigns Marc to be Betty's temporary assistant. Betty's story idea to cover the worst jobs in New York goes south when she has to dress up as a hot dog and do a Bollywood dance number. Meanwhile, Marc frets that he'll never be taken seriously by his idol at Vogue magazine, Hilda gets Archie's campaign in trouble, Daniel hires a gorgeous but inept assistant (supermodel Brooklyn Decker), and Natalie introduces Daniel to the Community -- a group whose charismatic leader (Dylan Baker) zeroes in on Daniel.
70	5	"Plus None"	Cara DiPaolo	Paul Holahan	4.76	November 6, 2009 (2009-11-06)
Wilhelmina is furious with Marc who secretly signs her up for a fund-raiser for Tibetan orphans but what makes matters worse is that the party will take place in her apartment, knowing that this could endanger Nico's safety but the truth behind Nico's dire straits is revealed. Betty tries to reconnect with Matt but is immediately saddened when Matt asks Amanda to be his "plus one" at Wilhelmina's fund-raiser but he shocks both her and Betty when they see Matt bringing in someone else. Daniel hires his new BFF Natalie as his assistant, making Betty feel obsolete. Amanda keeps a secret from Betty, and Daniel discovers that his mother, Claire, has history with Cal Hartley.
71	6	"Backseat Betty"	Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally	John Putch	4.46	November 13, 2009 (2009-11-13)
Hilda's badboy high school flame and Betty's schoolgirl crush, Bobby Talercio (Adam Rodriguez), teaches at Justin's school, causing the sisters to both doubt their feelings for "nice guys". Justin is struggling to fit in at high school, so Marc advises him to befriend the mean girl type cheerleaders. When Justin is invited to Homecoming, he becomes the victim of another prank as he is jokingly awarded as "Homecoming Queen" but Justin takes Marc's advice and manages to turn the prank back at his bullies. Meanwhile Daniel introduces Amanda to the Community of the Phoenix, as he's lured deeper into its clutches by the leader, Bennett (Dylan Baker) and his teammate Natalie. Wilhelmina takes a drastic step to find money for Nico's blackmail payment but when she finds out that Connor is dead, she cries, knowing that her life is slowly shutting down.
72	7	"Level (7) with Me"	Chris Black	John Fortenberry	3.39	November 27, 2009 (2009-11-27)
Daniel lets the leaders from the Community of the Phoenix to take over and control Mode, and Bennett's promise on Daniel's reuniting with his dead wife prompt Betty to action. She schemes with Claire and with an ingenious plan and finding unlikely allies in Matt and Amanda, the four stage a rescue attempt. Saddened by Connor's recent death and trouble surrounding Nico's blackmailing, Wilhelmina has let herself go, wearing sweats and garden clogs in public, prompting a tabloid feeding frenzy and forcing Marc to try to get her back in the fashion world, resulting in slapping some sense into her and inadvertently finds out the truth of Nico's mystery.
73	8	"The Bahamas Triangle"	Sheila Lawrence	Victor Neili, Jr.	4.23	December 4, 2009 (2009-12-04)
In the steamy Bahamas, the love triangle between Betty, Matt and Amanda explodes, and romantic pairings abound. Things should be dreamy at the Atlantis resort, where even Shakira (portraying herself) is staying. Betty finally discovers that Matt is into Amanda. Saddened that it's her last shoot in the Bahamas, Willie tries to find another job but learns her nemesis, Penelope Graybridge (Christie Brinkley), snagged it, and, even more importantly, discovers Connor is very much alive. Marc frets that there is no one on the island for him, but then meets the uber-hot Troy (portrayed by Matt Newton), and back home, Hilda draws closer to her old love, Bobby.
74	9	"Be-Shure"	Gail Lerner	David Dworetzky	4.80	December 11, 2009 (2009-12-11)
Against the backdrop of Ignacio's multi-culti holiday dinner that he prepares for his new flame Jean (Faith Prince), who is Jewish, Betty and Hilda have pregnancy scares. Worse, they purchase their Be-Shure instant pregnancy tests from the local pharmacy -- where Jean works and Ignacio is shopping. Meanwhile, Hartley installs Willie's replacement, a clueless Hollywood mogul, Denise Ludwig (Nadia Dajani), whose claim to fame is a tacky movie, but Marc has a plan to get Willie back -- if only Daniel will agree. And Claire gets Amanda's help and tracks down Tyler (Neal Bledsoe), the son she long ago gave up for adoption.
75	10	"The Passion of the Betty"	David Grubstick & Chris Black	S.J. Clarkson	5.13	January 6, 2010 (2010-01-06)
When Betty becomes concerned that she and Matt are spending too much time together, she tries to give him something else to be passionate about -- a surprise gallery showing of his art work -- with unintended results. Meanwhile, Marc is horrified that his one-night stand, Troy, is falling for him, since Marc was Troy's "first", Hilda grapples with whether or not to tell Bobby that he's the father of her unborn child, and Cal officially replaces Wilhelmina with Denise. Jesse Tyler Ferguson returns as Betty's orthodontist, Dr. Farkas, for a cameo, and Christine Ebersole guest stars as Frances, the gallery owner.
76	11	"Back in Her Place"	Abraham Higginbotham	Richard Heus	4.67	January 13, 2010 (2010-01-13)
A battered but unbowed Betty recounts her worst week EVER to Mr. Z (guest star Fisher Stevens) as the show flashes back to her horrible last few days. Frustrated over the frivolous assignments Wilhelmina gives her at Mode, and inspired by Audrey Hepburn's memoir, Betty creates her own blog about amazing charitable ventures that inspire her. As her hobby enriches her, her job is nearly killing her, since Wilhelmina tortures Betty with beauty experiments for future stories. Betty is also upset when Matt tells her that he will be participating in a 6-month trip in Africa. Meanwhile, Daniel fears Marc is sabotaging him while Bobby treats a hormonal Hilda to some pampering during "Hilda Week", which goes awry, and Wilhelmina makes a long-term commitment to the incarcerated Connor.
77	12	"Blackout!"	Cara DiPaolo	John Putch	4.59	January 20, 2010 (2010-01-20)
Betty tries to be neighborly by planning a karaoke party in her apartment building, but before the big day, her building is robbed, and it's partly her fault. Marc is distraught since he lost something irreplaceable in the theft. Meanwhile, Daniel and Wilhelmina are back to being at each other's throats, so Amanda tricks them into attending couples counseling with Dr. Sparks (Frank Whaley), and Ignacio refuses to accept Bobby in Hilda's life. Then a citywide blackout ups the ante for everyone.
78	13	"Chica and the Man"	Gail Lerner	Victor Nelli, Jr.	4.34	February 3, 2010 (2010-02-03)
Wilhelmina is furious when she discovers she has a drag queen impersonator - Wilhediva Hater (portrayed by Vanessa Williams's brother, Chris Williams). The fur flies with unexpected results amid guest stars who include RuPaul Charles as Rudolph, the emcee of the cabaret. Meanwhile Betty receives an award for her blog, which causes tension between her and Daniel. When she vents online, her fans in blogosphere escalate the feud, and the press hounds Daniel. Amanda rehires Helen (Kristen Johnston), but Willie orders Amanda to fire her -- which Amanda just can't bring herself to do. And Marc runs his own photo shoot with a famous director (played by Carlos Leon)
79	14	"Smokin' Hot"	Brian Tanen	John Scott	4.68	February 10, 2010 (2010-02-10)
Wilhelmina marginalizes Betty during Fashion Week but Daniel intercedes, and she's assigned to cover a low-priority show. There, she discovers a new designer, Marisa, whom she promotes as one of the 10 Designers to Watch, but Marc steals all her thunder. Meanwhile, Amanda is impressed by Helen's sewing skills and teams up with her to start a new line, but cannot convince Marc or Betty to lobby Wilhelmina on her behalf. Claire's son Tyler comes to New York to find her, and Daniel gets seduced into modeling. The fashion and the feelings are smoking hot, but the real flames are at the Suarez home, which mysteriously catches fire leaving peril and destruction behind.
80	15	"Fire and Nice"	Erika Johnson	John Terlesky	4.10	March 10, 2010 (2010-03-10)
To speed along the investigation into her house fire, Betty is pressured to date an annoying fireman, Jimmy (Rich Sommer). Wilhelmina tries to prove to Don (Brian Stokes Mitchell), an old flame from her past, that she's just "Wanda from the block" instead of an uber-bitch. Amanda draws closer to Tyler, convincing Claire to hire him as an in-house model at Mode. Meanwhile, Hilda meets Bobby's parents for the first time (Lainie Kazan and Nestor Serrano).
81	16	"All the World's a Stage"	Abraham Higginbotham & David Grubstick	Andy Wolk	3.33	March 17, 2010 (2010-03-17)
Justin loves his acting class, helmed by the eccentric Lena Korvinka (Carol Kane), and finds himself in an unexpected triangle with his new pals, Austin (Ryan McGinnis) and Lily. When Betty drops by class, she's smitten with a cool young playwright, Zachary (Aaron Tveit), whom she will profile for Mode. But she challenges her own ethics when she starts dating him. And Wilhelmina is hospitalized with a perforated ulcer, and can't help her type-A personality even when bedridden, but then her roommate, Roberta (Dana Ivey), prompts an epiphany.
82	17	"Million Dollar Smile"	Henry Alonso Myers & Chris Black	Paul Holahan	4.56	March 24, 2010 (2010-03-24)
Betty is thrilled to get her braces off, courtesy of her chatty new orthodontist, Dr. Frankel (Kathy Najimy). But before this can happen, she gets knocked unconscious at a photo shoot of the "Million Dollar Bra" at the Guggenheim, spinning her into a dream sequence. An angelic Dr. Frankel shows her how different her life would have been had she never worn braces. She's the "pretty sister", while Hilda is homely, Ignacio is a compulsive gambler, Marc is a doting dad and Amanda is married to Daniel. But glam Betty is also mean - she's in cahoots with Wilhelmina to terrify and overpower everyone at Mode.
83	18	"London Calling"	David Grubstick & Sheila Lawrence	Mark Worthington	4.01	March 31, 2010 (2010-03-31)
Betty gets an assignment to cover London Fashion Week, accompanied by Amanda, and she brings Hilda along as a bachelorette party treat. She reconnects with Christina (Ashley Jensen) and also runs into Gio (Freddy Rodriguez) whilst thinking he was someone else & showing off her 'flags'. Willie joins AA to get closer to Tyler and to double-cross Claire and Daniel, and Bobby can't figure out why Justin is spending all his time with Austin.
84	19	"The Past Presents the Future"	Jon Kinnaly & Tracy Poust	Paul Holahan	4.03	April 7, 2010 (2010-04-07)
The wedding day is approaching for Hilda. Betty asks Daniel to be her plus-one, Ignacio invites Elena, and Amanda is set on fixing up Marc with her new client, Spencer. Meanwhile, Justin weighs whether his own plus-one could be Austin, Betty considers unexpected offers in her personal and professional life, and Wilhelmina finds a way to fight the Meade empire by using Tyler as her pawn.
85	20	"Hello Goodbye"	Silvio Horta	Victor Nelli Jr.	5.43	April 14, 2010 (2010-04-14)
In the award-winning series finale, which features appearances by familiar faces from the past, Betty finds it hard to tell Daniel that she has accepted a job in London. When Marc informs the entire company by email, Daniel's reaction surprises her, but not Claire. Justin and Bobby enthusiastically go apartment-hunting in Manhattan, but Hilda resists even the most amazing places. Amanda grapples with the death of her dog Halston, the last link to her mother. Marc wonders if he will ever have a successful relationship. Wilhelmina wakes from her coma, causing Claire much dread.

• Note: Episodes 66–74 all aired on Fridays (October 16 – December 11, 2009); Episodes 75–85 aired on Wednesdays (January 6, 2010 – April 14, 2010).
• Note: Season 4 was originally slated to have a total of 22 episodes but was reduced to 20 episodes.

Mode After Hours episodes

Season 1

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original airdate
1 (1)	"Gwadalaharahh"	Max Yoffe	Veronica Becker & Sarah Kucserka	September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18)
Alone in the office, Marc and Amanda start dressing up and imitating Betty and Daniel – with unexpected results!
2 (2)	"The Friend-iversary VLOG"	Richard Heus	Brian Tanen & David Grubstick	September 25, 2008 (2008-09-25)
Amanda makes a blog about an egg-salad and a salami, thus forgetting about her friend-iversary with Marc.
3 (3)	"Bowling for Cliff"	Richard Heus	Brian Tanen & David Grubstick	October 2, 2008 (2008-10-02)
Amanda teaches Marc how to bowl before his bowling date with Cliff.
4 (4)	"Slumber Party Secrets"	Richard Heus	Brian Tanen & David Grubstick	October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09)
Amanda and Marc sleep at Mode, and share some of their secrets.
5 (5)	"Sommers Seance"	Richard Heus	Brian Tanen & David Grubstick	October 16, 2008 (2008-10-16)
Marc and Amanda organize a seance trying to contact her dead mother Fey.
6 (6)	"Trapped in the Elevator"	Max Yoffe	Veronica Becker & Sarah Kucserka	October 23, 2008 (2008-10-23)
Amanda and Marc get locked in the Mode elevator and share their darkest secrets.

Season 2

Season 2 includes 6 episodes but an exclusive 7th episode was subsequently added.

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original airdate
1 (7)	"Big Package"	Richard Heus	Michael Russo	October 30, 2008 (2008-10-30)
Marc and Amanda have their own Christmas with unopened and undelivered office packages.
2 (8)	"April Fools"	Richard Heus	Casey Fisher	March 16, 2009 (2009-03-16)
Marc and Amanda think of clever ways to trick Betty on April Fool's Day.
3 (9)	"Roller Girlz"	Richard Heus	Casey Fisher	March 23, 2009 (2009-03-23)
Marc teaches Amanda how to skate in order to lose weight.
4 (10)	"Breaking the Band"	Richard Heus	Michael Russo	March 30, 2009 (2009-03-30)
Marc and Amanda compete to sing at a local karaoke bar.
5 (11)	"London Calling"	Richard Heus	Brian Tanen	April 6, 2009 (2009-04-06)
Marc and Amanda call the Mode UK office for a YETI assignment and end up finding their British counterparts.
6 (12)	"When Marc Met Mandy"	Richard Heus	David Grubstick & Brian Tanen	April 13, 2009 (2009-04-13)
Marc and Amanda flash back to the first time they ever met.
7 (13)	"I Spy"	Richard Heus	David Grubstick & Brian Tanen	April 20, 2009 (2009-04-20)
Marc cancels dinner plans with Amanda to spy on his crush, Jake.

Season 3

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original airdate
1 (14)	"Always a Bridesmaid"	Richard Heus	David Grubstick	September 26, 2009 (2009-09-26)
Marc helps Amanda with her dream wedding at Mode offices.
2 (15)	"Harassment of a Sexual Nature"	Jim Klever-Weis	David Grubstick	October 3, 2009 (2009-10-03)
Marc and Amanda work out scenarios from sexual harassment in the workplace training.
3 (16)	"A Vlog to Remember"	Richard Heus	Erika Johnson	October 10, 2009 (2009-10-10)
Marc and Amanda attempt to make a vlog of their own in response of the one by Meade Security
4 (17)	"Role Playing"	Jim Klever-Weis	David Grubstick	October 17, 2009 (2009-10-17)
Amanda asks Marc to plead with Wilhelmina for a promotion and raise.
5 (18)	"Queenseeker"	Jude Gorjanc	Casey Fisher	October 24, 2009 (2009-10-24)
Amanda creates a profile for Marc on an online dating service.
6 (19)	"Stress-Orcism"	Mark Worthington	Michael Russo	October 31, 2009 (2009-10-31)
Amanda tries out her workplace stress relief techniques on Marc.

Cancellation

On January 27, 2010, ABC announced that Ugly Betty would cease production after the fourth-season finale, which aired in April 2010. "We've mutually come to the difficult decision to make this Ugly Betty's final season," said executive producer Silvio Horta and ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson in a joint statement. The show had struggled in the ratings in the US, falling from an average 8.1 million to 5.3 million viewers between the third and fourth seasons.

Future

On April 16, 2010, it was reported that an Ugly Betty film could be in the works. In an interview, Ortiz stated, "[t]here may be a movie. It's something that we've been talking about and it's something that America Ferrera would really love to do. That woman has so much determination that I can't imagine anything she puts her mind to not getting done."

On September 15, 2010, Ferrera stated that she knows of no plans for an Ugly Betty movie and that she thinks "the rumor is well and alive—it's always a possibility I suppose!" On September 29, 2010, Entertainment Weekly writer Michael Ausiello reported that a movie would not happen.

On November 9, 2011, Ferrera stated on Perezhilton.com that "[i]t's so wonderful that the fans care so much that this question about the movie just keeps coming up. It's not anything that's actually in the works but is something that's always a possibility, and it's wonderful to know that the fans want it."

On April 10, 2013, Urie was asked about his stance on a potential movie. He stated, "Oh my god, absolutely! Everyone would jump right back on that! ... [Working on Ugly Betty] was the best and I'm still in close contact with all of those people."

On April 16, 2013, a Facebook Kickstarter campaign was started in the hopes of getting Silvio Horta's attention to create a movie. The campaign's goal was to follow in the footsteps of Veronica Mars, a series where the creators and fans had funded a follow-up movie through the same crowdsourcing website.

Spin-off

Mode After Hours

Mode After Hours is a spin-off web series that chronicles the adventures of Marc and Amanda when all (excluding security) staff members have left Mode for the night. The two usually plan on what to do in the future, dressing up as co-workers and mocking them, prepare for a date, going onto online dating sites, competing in certain activities, and inadvertently annoying security.

Though the show mainly features Marc and Amanda, a few other characters are seen whose faces are never shown. Perhaps the only other main character of the show is Marc and Amanda's only nemesis, who is, by far, the only mentioned Meade Publications security officer, named Sander, who is in charge of watching the Mode hallways. Sander would be a judge of some competitions between the two such as dancing, but on a negative note, he collects tapes of Marc and Amanda and is making a collection of the two fooling around.

Competition with other "Betty" offshoots

The series has been sold to TV networks and broadcasters in over 130 countries, making this version the most successful of the Betty La Fea franchise, but in the Guinness World Records 2010 El Libro De La Década, it stated that Yo Soy Betty La Fea is the most successful soap opera in the world, upstaging Ugly Betty.

In the U.S., Univision aired the Mexican counterpart La fea más bella, which ran weeknights at 8 p.m. (E/P), including Thursdays during the same time Ugly Betty airs. The star of the Mexican version, Angélica Vale, was anticipated to make a cameo in the 22nd episode, playing Betty's "counterpart" from the series, Leticia 'Lety' Padilla Solís; Vale instead appeared in the season finale playing Angelica, an orthodontist's assistant who looks exactly like Lety (pre-makeover).

Inspired versions

A version of Yo soy Betty, la fea made by Bosnian Federalna Televizija, Croatian RTL Televizija and Serbian Fox Televizija began airing in October 2007. The title of the show was Ne daj se, Nina ("Don't give up, Nina"). After a long audition, newcomer Lana Gojak was cast in the role of Nina (Betty). Other cast members were established actors such as Robert Kurbaša, Edvin Livarić, Bojana Ordinačev, Petar Ćiritović, Andrija Milošević, Kristina Krepela and Sloboda Mićalović. The first, and only, season consisted of just over 50 episodes. Although the storyline followed that of Yo soy Betty, la fea, Lana Gojak's appearance as Nina was based more on the heroine of Ugly Betty than on that of Yo soy Betty, la fea. The series had other elements that were directly borrowed from Ugly Betty. The series did well in ratings, but was too expensive to produce, so a second season was never ordered.

In 2007, an Arabic version of Ugly Betty was mentioned, which would have been produced and shot in Dubai. This would have been the first Betty, la Fea–inspired series to be directly adapted from the American version, but the project never came to fruition.

On May 24, 2010, the first (and so far only) direct adaptation of Ugly Betty, Georgia's გოგონა გარეუბნიდან (Gogona Gareubnidan, which means "suburban girl") premiered, a mere month and a half after Ugly Betty aired its series finale. The first season consisted of 10 episodes and concluded in August 2010.

On January 1, 2014, the first Arabic (Egyptian) version was set to air on OSN ya hala under the name هبة رجل الغراب (Heba Regl El Ghorab, which means "Heba the Leg of the Crow").

Colombian criticism

In November 2007, Sony Entertainment Television began airing Ugly Betty in South America with Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. However, in Colombia, criticisms about the American version were made, calling it a pale imitation and counterfeit copy of the original version. The series differ greatly; the Colombian version aired as a soap opera with daily cliffhangers, while Ugly Betty airs as a weekly comedy, with occasional cliffhangers.

Syndication

The TV Guide Network has purchased the rights to air reruns of Ugly Betty on cable television. In addition to its cable run, Ugly Betty is also seen on local stations in the United States as a double-run weekend offering, which began in September 2010.

Home media

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (under the ABC Studios label) has released all four seasons of Ugly Betty on DVD in region 1, 2, 4.

Season		DVD	Release date	DVD Extras and Bonus Features	# of Discs
	Season 1	The Complete First Season – The Bettyfied Edition	August 21, 2007	"Becoming Ugly" "A La MODE" "Green is the New Black" Deleted scenes Audio commentaries Bloopers	6
	Season 2	The Complete Second Season – Brighter, Bolder, Bettyer	September 9, 2008	On Set with the Besties The Suarez Tour Wihelmina Slater: Love to Hate Her Las Pasiones De Telenovelas I ♥ Betty Bettly Bloops Deleted Scenes	5
	Season 3	The Complete Third Season – Start Spreading the News	September 22, 2009	Audio Commentary Look Who Keeps Popping Up Coming Home to New York City Mode After Hours – Webisodes Deleted Scenes Betty Bloops	6
	Season 4	The Complete Fourth and Final Season – From Poncho, to Honcho	August 17, 2010	Betty Goes Bahamas Mode After Hours – Webisodes Betty Bloops Deleted Scenes Audio Commentary	4

The Ugly Betty: The Complete Collection was released on March 28, 2011, in United States, United Kingdom and various parts of the world. The complete series was not released in Region 4.

International broadcasts

Australia

Its debut episode on the Seven Network pulled in 2.03 million viewers, beating Nine's airing of 60 Minutes and Ten's airing of The Biggest Loser in the same time period. Since its debut the series has remained in the top five in the Australian TV ratings. The season one finale aired August 5, 2007, and received the lowest rating of the year – 1.051 million and only in the 13th slot of the night. This was predominantly because it aired in the same time-slot as the season premiere of rival program Australian Idol. After holding off on the 2nd season, it was announced in April 2008 that Seven would begin Ugly Betty's second season in a new 7:30 pm Wednesday time slot, beginning on May 7 The show has lost its large following, only drawing around 900,000 viewers despite strong advertising attempts by Channel Seven. The show was "shelved" after the ninth episode was shown on July 2, and will resume airing the remaining episodes until after the Olympics. It was replaced by "RSPCA Animal Rescue". Ugly Betty returned to Seven on August 28, 2008, at a new and later time slot of 9:30 pm Thursdays. The episode aired, "Bananas For Betty" was viewed by only 597,000 viewers and was removed. Seven later announced that Ugly Betty will return twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, starting when Summer begins. It was then moved to only once a week at Thursday 7:30 pm. Soon after, the show was pulled from screening (after finishing the second season) due to moderately low ratings. It was later confirmed on October 23, 2009, that Ugly Betty would return to Australian screens on Seven's new secondary digital channel 7Two. It will resume with the premiere of Season 3, "The Manhattan Project", starting Tuesday, November 3, 7:30 pm.

Canada

Citytv owns the English-language rights to the series, which aired in the same timeslot as the American broadcast until December 2009, when only the stations in Manitoba and British Columbia started airing it Wednesdays at 7 pm (same time as Eastern ABC where it would be 10 pm, aired earlier than US air in Manitoba), for Ontario and Alberta, OMNI simulcasted Betty Wednesdays at 10PM. In March 2010, Citytv aired Ugly Betty across Canada due to the cancellation of The Jay Leno Show, airing Wednesdays at 10 pm on Citytv, simulcasting ABC's broadcast up until final airing.

France

The first two episodes aired on TF1 on January 7, 2008, at late-night time, averaging about 3.8 million viewers (28.4% share) and 3.3 million viewers (39.4% share). Ugly Betty did well in key demos 15–24 (First episode: 46.8%, second episode: 56.7%) and 18–49 (First episode: 39.7%, second episode: 56.6%). But week after week, the show lost more than 1 million viewers, in part due to the late night schedule. In an effort to attract more viewers, two weekly TV magazines, Arthelius and Series TV Magazine, included Ugly Betty on their covers for their February 12, 2008, issues.

South Africa

Ugly Betty premiered in South Africa on Pay Channel, M-Net on Tuesday July 17, 2007. It later was re-broadcast on sister channels, GO and M-Net Holiday. The first season fared well with audiences and was a hit for the channel with strong buzz surrounding the show. Due to heavy promotions for the show across all media spectrums by M-Net, the premiere episode of Ugly Betty attracted 80% more viewers than Smallville which was the previous occupant of the time slot. M-Net marketing General Manager, Koo Govender, said the first episode was watched by about 432,000 viewers.

United Kingdom

The premiere on Channel 4 on January 5, 2007, attracted 4.89 million viewers. Two weeks later, Ugly Betty hit a new high with 5.5 million viewers watching the third episode. The figures and shares were similar each week, around 2–3 million viewers with 10–15% share; however, the finale rated less than the premiere episode, attracting 3.1 million viewers with 15% share. Due to the show's success and the fanbase it achieved in the United Kingdom, Channel 4 decided to move up the second-season premiere to Friday, October 5, 2007, thus allowing viewers to watch episodes one week after their U.S. airing.

Merchandising

On April 15, 2008, Hyperion Books, a Disney-owned publisher, released a companion book to the series, titled Ugly Betty: The Book, a 175-page softcover about the show in general, which covers the first season and portions of the second, complete with interviews from the cast and crew, tips and quotes from the characters, and mock ads for Fabia Cosmetics and Atlantic Attire. Around the same time, Random House's children's books division published a "magazine"-inspired book tied into the series, complete with photos and mock ads as if they were published by Betty herself, targeted for younger readers.

In addition, a 2008 calendar for Ugly Betty was released using stills from the first season, while a series of greeting cards was issued in January 2008. These photos were edited to enhance her facial features. A 2009 calendar was also released.

Even the main character has been immortalized into a doll, as Angelic Dreamz, Inc's Madame Alexander collection introduced two different versions of Betty Suarez that were featured on their website in February 2008.

In July 2009, Coca-Cola UK unveiled a special limited edition Diet Coke bottle created by Patricia Field called "The Betty" for sale in the United Kingdom as an exclusive for customers at Selfridges.

Reception

American ratings

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season premiere	Season finale	TV season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)	18–49 viewers
1	Thursday 8:00 P.M.	September 28, 2006	May 17, 2007	2006–2007	#35	11.3	3.7
2	Thursday 8:00 P.M.	September 27, 2007	May 22, 2008	2007–2008	#53	9.4	3.6
3	Thursday 8:00 P.M.	September 25, 2008	May 21, 2009	2008–2009	#64	8.0	2.8
4	Friday 9:00 P.M. (2009) Wednesday 10:00 P.M. (2010)	October 16, 2009	April 14, 2010	2009–2010	#82	5.5	1.5

Television parodies and references

The show has been parodied and referenced in other television shows. In the October 7, 2006, episode of Saturday Night Live, cast member Fred Armisen spoofed the character of Betty by playing a look-alike named Fugly Betsy. Not to be outdone, a February 17, 2007, episode of MADtv has Nicole Parker playing Ellen DeGeneres interviewing an actress on her talk show who plays Ugly Betty, with Salma Hayek (played by LisaNova) always pointing out how ugly she is. The Ugly Betty actress (played by Crista Flanagan) claims it is only makeup and costume but is ignored. Crista later reprised her Betty role in the poorly reviewed parody film Meet the Spartans.

On April 22, 2007, the 2007 TV Land Awards parodied the series with a spoof aptly titled "Ugly Betty White", with White playing Betty Suarez, Charo playing Hilda, Erik Estrada playing Ignacio, Joan Collins playing Wilhelmina, Peter Scolari playing Alexis, and George Hamilton playing Daniel. Thanks to her performance in that parody, the producers cast White as a guest star in the second season.

Even the cast poked fun at their alter egos. On October 30, 2006, three of the series' cast members, appearing in character (Ferrera as Betty, Mabius as Daniel, and Newton as Amanda), gave New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a "makeover" to make him look more like quarterback Tom Brady in a spoof that was featured on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown.

The program was also referenced in other shows, most notably in "Up All Night", the February 8, 2007, installment of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, in which Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) says "this would've worked on Ugly Betty" when she fails to crawl out a door without being seen. The scene was patterned after the Ugly Betty episode "Swag" in which Betty crawled through a fashion show.

In an episode of the TV sitcom Scrubs, Christopher Turk (played by Donald Faison) has a picture taken of "Ugly Betty" with his daughter, only for it to be torn up by best friend and main character John Dorian.

In March 2009, a spoof of Ugly Betty, called Ugly Yeti was made by Take180. Take180, like ABC, is a Disney company and the parody was featured on ABC's website.

Ugly Betty has also been referenced on television shows in the United Kingdom. In the series finale of BBC One hotel-based drama series Hotel Babylon, aired in August 2009, Ben Trueman (played by Michael Obiora) asks fellow front desk employee Melanie Hughes (played by Amy Nuttall) "How long have you had those Ugly Betty braces?" while giving Hughes a makeover, to which she replies: "About 18 months". In a 2010 episode of medical drama series Holby City, which also aired on BBC One, Jac Naylor (played by Rosie Marcel) refers to a patient as "the one with the Ugly Betty braces".

In 2013, Ortiz returned to television in the Lifetime dramedy Devious Maids, which like Ugly Betty was also based on a telenovela. In the series, Ortiz plays Marisol Duarte, a newly hired maid who is determined to find out who framed her son for the murder of a maid. Ironically, it was revealed in the series' seventh episode "Taking a Message" that Marisol's true identity was that of a professor and her real last name was Suarez. It is not known if this was done intentionally but it does give Ortiz the homage of playing characters with the same last name on two different shows.

Promotion abroad

The buildup to "Bettymania" by various broadcasters also began to take shape overseas, most notably in the United Kingdom. On December 6, 2006, Channel 4 began to advertise the show. The ad shows seemingly attractive models gathered around a pool, but as the camera angle changes a model comes out of the pool wearing Betty's glasses, then as the models smile, they are all wearing Betty's braces. Another ad parodies Marks and Spencer's successful fashion advertising campaign, as well as Dove and Gap campaigns. A voice over then says, "Fashion has a new face. 'Ugly Betty' Coming Soon To 4." After a week of these teasers, clips from the actual program were included in the trailers. In mid-January, Davina McCall, host of Celebrity Big Brother dressed up as Betty live on Channel 4 before the titles of the second eviction show of the evening. On February 16, 2007, Ashley Jensen (Christina) also dressed up as Betty during an airing of Channel 4's Friday Night Project, where she was the guest host. The children's channel CBeebies also parodied the title sequence, with one variation mixing faces of regular CBeebies characters until finally settling with Tiny from Little Robots.

In Australia, during the week leading up to the Sunday premiere of Ugly Betty, February 12 to 17, 2007, Channel Seven devoted a week of Deal or No Deal to the show by having the models dress like Betty, complete with the Guadalajara poncho. Channel Seven also used the series to promote its successful "Beautiful Sundays" schedule.

In South Africa, M-Net teamed up with Ogilve Johannesburg to hype up its campaign for the show, which included a picture of Betty on the mock cover of Elle magazine. New Zealand TV2 also hyped-up Ugly Betty by promoting Tuesday nights as "True Beauty Tuesday", and when the show moved to Sunday nights, it promoted them as "Beautiful Sunday". TV2 also launched competitions for a replica of Betty's poncho.

Cultural impact

Ugly Betty logo.

Following the show's debut, the main characters, especially the title character, quickly became fixtures in the lexicon of pop media culture, with the show and its characters getting referenced in parodies, news media stories, and art-imitating-life situations. The show's impact on issues and culture also attracted the attention of the United States Congress, where on January 17, 2007, California congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-32nd, El Monte) saluted Ferrera on both her Golden Globe win and for bringing a positive profile to the Latin and Hispanic communities. In addition to that recognition, on May 8, 2007, star America Ferrera was honored by TIME on the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people. The event took place at New York's Lincoln Center and the actress was recognized for defying stereotypes with the show. The success of Ugly Betty and how it dealt with body imaging among women in general inspired a series of reports on Entertainment Tonight, in which reporter Vanessa Minnillo went undercover in a fatsuit to see if women were discriminated on the basis of appearance. LGBT awareness groups like GLAAD have also noted the positive impact the show has had particularly in regard to the coming out storyline of Betty's teenaged nephew Justin.

Female education activist Malala Yousafzai has cited Ugly Betty as an early and important source on her development as a feminist. She was encouraged by her father to watch the show to improve her English and was struck by the freedom Betty and her friends had "as they walked freely down the streets of New York--with no veils covering their faces and no need for men to company them." Malala revealed in her memoir she dreams of moving to New York City and working at a magazine, much like the show's titular character.

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Ugly Betty

Mark Indelicato and America Ferrera at the 2010 Voice Awards.

The series won two Golden Globe Awards on January 15, 2007, for "Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series" (America Ferrera) and Best Comedy Series. Ferrera also won a SAG Award on January 28, 2007, for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series". On June 4, 2007, the series was honored with a Peabody Award "for demonstrating that wit and humanity never go out of style."

Ugly Betty won the Outstanding Comedy Series award by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in April 2007. Judith Light also won a Prism Award for her portrayal of Claire Meade.

On July 19, 2007, the series received 11 nominations at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards in the Comedy category (the most of any comedy series), including Outstanding Comedy Series, Best Actress (Ferrera), Best Supporting Actress (Williams), and Best Guest Starring Actress (Hayek for her role as Sofia; Light for her role as Claire. Both lost to Elaine Stritch). It won three awards — Best Casting in a Comedy Series, Best Direction in a Comedy Series (for the show's pilot episode), and Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Ferrera). For its second season, it received six other Primetime Emmy Award nominations, going home empty handed. Overall, Ugly Betty has been nominated for eighteen Emmy Awards.

Although The NAACP Image Awards honors African Americans in the entertainment industry, the series won five of the Image Awards' eight major TV categories, a rarity among television series with a multicultural cast. In addition to winning an Image award for the TV series in 2007 and Ferrera for best actress in 2008, Vanessa Williams won back-to-back honors (in 2007 and 2008) in the Supporting Actress category for her portrayal of Wilhelmina Slater.

Owing to the massive success of "Ugly Betty" in the United Kingdom, Ugly Betty was nominated for Most Popular Comedy Programme at the National Television Awards in October 2008, but lost to domestic ITV comedy series Benidorm.

The ALMA Awards honors the Hispanic entertainment community. During its first season, Ugly Betty won four of its first seven nominations, and in the second season took home three more, along with a Chevrolet Entertainer of the Year Award for Ferrera for her work on the show. Overall, the series has received 162 nominations.

See also

• List of Ugly Betty episodes

External links

• Ugly Betty at IMDb
• Ugly Betty at TV Guide

Reviews

• Ugly Betty at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ugly Betty reviews at Metacritic
• first-look in USA Today (August 15, 2006)
• Review in USA Today (September 28, 2006)
• Comparisons between Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada in USA Today (September 26, 2006)
• "It's a 'Bettification' project" from USA Today (October 4, 2006)
• from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (September 27, 2006)
• from Seattle Post-Intelligencer (September 28, 2006)
• "Ugly, The American" from TIME (November 27, 2006)
• "Be Ugly '07" campaign announced in USA Today (December 20, 2006)
• "The Ugly Truth Behind the Beauty Premium" (January 9, 2013)