Thoughts on the premiere episode

Timing is everying

I don't know yet how the premiere episode did in the ratings. I hate that ABC put it on in the same time slot as "My Name as Earl" and "The Office" on NBC and "La Fea más Bella" on Univision. My parents hate that they put it on against "Survivor" on CBS (and they'd also watch "Till Death" on Fox if it were not ALSO on at the same time). I have a friend who would watch "Ugly Betty" if it were not competing with "Smallville" on CW, the new UPN/WB hybrid.

So. If "Ugly Betty" doesn't get spectacular ratings during its first few weeks, I hope ABC will move it to a less crowded time slot. I think it's crazy to put a brand new show up against established hits like "The Office" and "Survivor," not to mention the Mexican version of "Ugly Betty" that did so well in the US ratings over the summer. People who already love Lety Padilla Soliz may not be willing to give her up one night per week in favor of the new Betty Suarez, who isn't even properly ugly.

Who's ugly?

Betty is supposed to be ugly - hence the show's title. Well, if you ever saw the Colombian "Yo Soy Betty, La Fea," or the Mexican "La Fea más Bella" or the Spanish "Yo Soy Bea" or any of the other spin-offs of the original Colombian show, then you've seen ugly. Heck, if you've ever been outside your house, you've seen ugly.

You may even have seen ugly in your own neighborhood, in your house, perhaps even your own mirror. Our Betty isn't ugly. She's a far cry from ugly; she's cute. In fact, she's adorable. Her wardrobe could use a little work, but so could mine. Her hair isn't fashionable, but it's clean and fluffy; her glasses flatter her face, and as for her braces - they're just not that bad. Her skin isn't spotty. She doesn't screw up her face hideously the way Lety does in the Mexican show.

Comparisons

It's tempting to try to compare Ugly Betty to the original Colombian show or one of the spinoffs. I think it's a good idea to forget about that. It's clearly headed in a different direction, and the characters aren't parallel. For example, while The Tripod may remind you of Mario at first, Mario never schemed against Armando. Willie is sort of like Daniel Valencia, but Marcela's brother was never in league with Mario. The Mendozas didn't have the senior Valencias whacked, and Marcela's parents didn't survive their accident.

Amanda isn't outrageously pretentious and doesn't constantly talk about her six semesters of finance and her ex-husband Mauricio Brickman. She wasn't hired to spy on Daniel the way Patricia was hired to spy on Armando. Daniel Meade isn't engaged. The entire subplot where Betty worries about her boss's impending wedding is gone. Et cetera.

But Walter would make a good Nicolas. He does seem to have a weakness for sexy, materialistic women. And it's easy to see where The Tripod might somehow convince Daniel to do something financially shady with the company and involve Betty, or get Daniel to seduce Betty for some reason, as part of a scheme for Willie. That could get really complicated and potentially funny.