Ugly Betty 1.01 'Pilot'

‘Ugly Betty’s arrival couldn't have come at a better time. The cluttered land of television in 2006 was filled with beautiful, stick thin (and yeah, likable) heroines, who always got the hunk and thrived upon using their looks to get places. Betty Suarez was not that character. Taking a spin on a pretty simple straight forward idea, ‘Ugly Betty’ wiped the floor when it came to heart-felt drama, laughter inducing comedy and fish-out-of-water antics. During its first season it racked up critical acclaim, Golden Globe wins, and was basically one of the greatest shows to premiere in ages. That is, until it began to fall prey to the sophomore slump, and like so many of series have, took a dive in quality, essentially dropping what made it so great in the first place. Obviously, there’s a lot to love about the later seasons of ‘Betty, but unfortunately, they lacked so much of the heart that the early episodes had in spades, starting with the pilot.

Silvio Horta did the impossible by merging the seemingly opposing forces that were the world of the Mexican telenova and the cold harsh world of American fashion, and while it didn’t depict a scenario that was wholly accurate, it birthed a number of wonderful and lovable characters whose over the top nature managed to thrust the series into the spotlight, to gain the attention it really deserved.

The cast were one of the greatest things about ‘Ugly Betty’. Early on, America perfectly encapsulated that naive, clumsy, and adorable girl who finds herself completely out of her depth. Vanessa Williams owned Wilhelmina and created a villainess who has yet to be rivalled. Becki Newton and Michael Uri were two of the funniest supporting characters I’ve ever seen on television with some of the greatest one liners (“Killer Poncho”, “Are you de-liv-ering something?”), and Tony Plana, Ana Ortiz and Marc Indelicato all brought those likable traits to their characters that make you constantly root for team Suarez.

The pilot episode follows a pretty straight forward plot that is basically a watered down version of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, with Betty entering the intimidating, cut throat world of MODE magazine. Filled with simple, yet effective moments of hilarity, the episode slowly won over the hearts of so many people when it premiered, and it’s so easy to see why. Who couldn’t want to see that girl getting ripped to shreds at that photo shoot not win out in the end? By marrying the ethnicity and warmth of Betty’s home life, with the over the top world of MODE, it culminated in one of the most genius ideas I’ve ever seen and drew you in by really capturing your heart with a moving and necessary story of strength of character and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Along with the usual stand-alone plots each week, with Betty struggling to cope with her new position in this completely bizarre workplace, various mysteries were on-going during the first season. The most prominent of these being the identity of the masked lady, the unveiling of who would shake up the world of MODE further down the road. Season 1 always married both these types of stories beautifully, especially early on, ensuring that not only did it give the viewer what it tuned in for, but that it kept them coming back for answers the following week.

I’m not altogether sure what kind of story ‘Betty la Fea’ followed, or whether it was basically the same thing, but even if the idea was a direct rip-off, it took a lot of hard work and creativity to transform it into something that could sit right into the primetime schedule of a big American Network like ABC.

9/10