Falling for "Ugly Betty" and its Kooky World
I love a great TV show, and one that's quickly become a favorite for me this season, in a dangerously addictive way, is "Ugly Betty." Not only is the show laugh-out-loud funny, but it's dark, quick, melodramatic (and in all the best ways), suspenseful, romantic, silly, and has a heart bigger than its heroine's unibrow.
Of course, the real secret of Ugly Betty is that Betty herself is secretly gorgeous. America Ferrera is a lovely girl, curvy and with gorgeous skin, a great smile, and a lovely face. So the fun part of the show is that we, the audience, constantly feel superior to the people onscreen, who somehow can't see how cool, smart, and lovely Betty really is.
I've been really impressed with this season and its deft mix of fantasy, cruel reality (Betty as a model-stand-in at the first photo shoot, for instance), comedy, and romance. Betty's so endearing, her family is believable and charming, and the environment at Mode is cool without being too much of a Prada ripoff. The latin soap opera sequences with their constant clinches and melodrama (a priest and a maid, etc, LOL) are fabulous and so much fun.
And hey, even the evil characters are enjoyable. Vanessa Williams is awesome as Willie, the ambitious and pseudo-evil creative director, and Eric Mabius brings a nice clumsiness and a hint of sweetness to his textbook rake. And the touches of reality are bittersweet and poignant -- Betty's father's fight with heart disease and INS, her sister's struggles to raise a son alone... all these strike home, but without the maudlin self-pity you might expect. These characters are tougher than that. They don't want our pity. Although they might want to buy us some sandwiches and add height to our hair. ;-)
And by the Christmas episode, with Betty dream-kissing adorkable accountant Henry on a snowy night... sigh. I was toast. All was right with the world. And thinking that anyone who isn't watching this show is nuts. Seriously.
Of course, the real secret of Ugly Betty is that Betty herself is secretly gorgeous. America Ferrera is a lovely girl, curvy and with gorgeous skin, a great smile, and a lovely face. So the fun part of the show is that we, the audience, constantly feel superior to the people onscreen, who somehow can't see how cool, smart, and lovely Betty really is.
I've been really impressed with this season and its deft mix of fantasy, cruel reality (Betty as a model-stand-in at the first photo shoot, for instance), comedy, and romance. Betty's so endearing, her family is believable and charming, and the environment at Mode is cool without being too much of a Prada ripoff. The latin soap opera sequences with their constant clinches and melodrama (a priest and a maid, etc, LOL) are fabulous and so much fun.
And hey, even the evil characters are enjoyable. Vanessa Williams is awesome as Willie, the ambitious and pseudo-evil creative director, and Eric Mabius brings a nice clumsiness and a hint of sweetness to his textbook rake. And the touches of reality are bittersweet and poignant -- Betty's father's fight with heart disease and INS, her sister's struggles to raise a son alone... all these strike home, but without the maudlin self-pity you might expect. These characters are tougher than that. They don't want our pity. Although they might want to buy us some sandwiches and add height to our hair. ;-)
And by the Christmas episode, with Betty dream-kissing adorkable accountant Henry on a snowy night... sigh. I was toast. All was right with the world. And thinking that anyone who isn't watching this show is nuts. Seriously.
