Written by Vickie
October 02, 2009
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve no doubt heard of Ugly Betty, the television dramedy juggernaut that instantly became a critical darling and an audience magnet. Starring America Ferrera (Real Women Have Curves) as the titular fish-out-of-water heroine, the series has won over viewers worldwide as a result of its colorful cast of characters, its clever writing and its universality: everyone, everywhere has felt like Betty at some point in their lives. And now the entire first season, all 23 episodes, comes to DVD for fans and newbies alike.
Betty Suarez is, for all intents and purposes, a geek. She’s smart, funny, lovable and kind...but awkward and nerdy and so not au courant when it comes to the world of fashion. Not helped by her thick glasses, unruly hair or mouth full of metal, Betty becomes the squarest peg in the slick, round hole that is Mode magazine – a glitzy fashion mag whose employees are the elitist cream of the industry crop. Betty’s hired to work as the assistant for Mode’s new editor, Daniel (Eric Mabius), who’s got his own problems as a result of being appointed head honcho by his father...despite a lack of experience or expertise. Seething at being passed over is Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams), the magazine’s creative director and resident diva, who makes no bones about her goal to have Daniel dethroned. It doesn’t help matters that the untimely demise of the magazine’s long-reigning former editor, Fey Sommers, has cast a pall over the magazine, and Sommers’ mysterious death remains an ongoing subplot throughout the season.
Other players in the soapy series include Marc (Michael Urie) and Amanda (Becki Newton), Wilhelmina’s sycophantic underlings and co-conspirators in all things anti-Betty; Walter (Kevin Sussman), Betty’s hapless boyfriend; Christina (Ashley Jensen), Mode’s seamstress and Betty’s only ally at the magazine; and Betty’s family at home, including older sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) and young nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato), who hasn’t yet reached puberty but who knows more about fashion than just about anyone else. Guest stars include Lucy Liu, Gina Gerson, Project Runway’s Tim Gunn and executive-producer Salma Hayek, who appears in a multi-episode arc as a love interest/rival for Daniel.
The series – which gets off to an amazing start, then falters a little around the midway mark before regaining its momentum towards season’s end – centers on Betty’s adjustment to the cutthroat world of fashion, and how she (successfully) survives the behind-the-pages machinations at Mode. She and Daniel are united in their adversity at the magazine and, as the saying goes, they do become strange bedfellows at one point (relax, not in that way). Ugly Betty works because it never compromises its lead character; unlike countless movies and TV shows gone by, Betty isn’t beautified by the end of the first hour. Or even the first season. She doesn’t morph into a high-fashion knockout but, instead, becomes a heroine because she stays exactly the same.
DVD NOTES
Plenty of extras in the “Bettified” edition, including audio commentary on a number of episodes (provided by assorted producers and cast members), more than 25 deleted scenes and a blooper reel. There are also a number of featurettes, including Becoming Ugly, where the cast discusses the show; A La Mode, a behind-the-scenes look at the fictional magazine, Mode; and Green is the New Black, which looks at shooting a NYC-based show in Los Angeles.
