Ugly Betty is based on the hugely popular Colombian telenovela, "Yo soy Betty, la fea" (I am Betty, the Ugly), which was created by writer Fernando Gaitán in 1999. The tender, comedic soap opera became such a national obsession in Colombia that it spawned a brief follow-up series, "EcoModa", in 2001, and was even the inspiration for an animated children's series, "Betty Toons". The original series was dubbed into many languages for export to numerous international markets, and new versions of the story have been produced in at least nine other countries.
The eagerly anticipated American version of Betty's tale premiered on the ABC network on September 28, 2006, at 8:00pm EST, and garnered the best critical reviews and the largest viewing audience of any new series of the fall season. This instant hit definitely benefited from the buzz that generated on the internet in the months leading up to the premiere, particularly among fans of the then-current Mexican version, "La fea más bella," which had been garnering huge ratings in the United States for the Univision cable network.
Betty's story combines elements of the Ugly Duckling and Cinderella fairy tales with a contemporary fish-out-of-water workplace comedy. In some ways it's also like a modern-day reworking of the classic Charlotte Brontë novel, "Jane Eyre," in which a plain Jane (pun intended) falls in love with her employer. After the first episode aired, "Ugly Betty" was likened by some viewers to a recent theatrical film, The Devil Wears Prada, but the Colombian origins of Betty's story predate the publication of the book on which Prada was based. Betty's story is also a few years older than another film that had a similar tone and themes, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and also contained elements of many movies (She's All That, etc.) and television sitcom episodes in which a womanizing lothario is coerced by a friend into romancing an ugly or unpopular girl.
Although viewers may not find Betty to be deserving of the adjective "ugly," we have to remember that in our society—especially in the worlds of fashion, TV, and movies—anyone who is even slightly less than perfect can be labeled ugly because of any perceived flaws, no matter how minor. You can tell by looking at Betty that there's beauty beneath the bangs, behind the braces, and under the frumpy clothes. She shouldn't have to change her appearance for anyone, except herself, if she so chooses. In time, just as the international Bettys have done, our Betty will probably start to allow some of her inner beauty to manifest itself in her outer look—it only makes sense that a young woman who spends so much time at the offices of a fashion magazine would pick up a few style tips—but I just hope that she doesn't change too much, because that would dilute one of the show's messages: appearances shouldn't matter.
Salma Hayek and the other producers of "Ugly Betty," along with the writers, probably won't be able to introduce the romance aspect of the story for a while, because the weekly "dramedy" format of the U.S. adaptation is so different from the five-episodes-per-week format of the various international telenovela versions. It's also possible that a romantic relationship between Betty and Daniel will not be in the cards.
Telenovelas are created with story arcs that are completely mapped out before production even begins. A telenovela has an established "end game" that the writers are constantly working towards from the very beginning, and they usually know approximately how many episodes the series will have. The creative minds behind "Ugly Betty," as well as those who work on any other prime time American TV programs, don't have the luxury of knowing how many episodes they'll be crafting in total. Nobody can be certain of how long the show will be popular, so it's impossible to predict how long it will stay on the air. Even if writers were to map out five years' worth of story arcs, there's no guarantee that the network will keep renewing the series from season to season in order to allow the complete story to be told. This uncertainty makes it very difficult, or even impossible, to determine when it would be prudent to allow the show's protagonists to fall in love with each other. For these reasons, "Ugly Betty" will probably be forced to stray from the original's story details, but if it can retain the original's spirit, it should be able to maintain a fiercely loyal fan base for years to come.
Note: "Ugly Betty" has indeed diverged markedly from the basic plots of "Yo soy Betty, la fea" and the other international remakes. You can read about the storyline that most of the world's "Betty" telenovelas followed by going to the "Yo soy Betty, la fea" page. I've bought DVD's of some of the other nations' versions and have seen clips of the rest of the adaptations online, but I haven't seen every episode of any of them (I'd never be able to take the time to leave my apartment or to sleep), except for "La fea más bella", so I can't attest to all of the ways in which they've all stuck to or strayed from the original formula, but I will share as many of the similarities and differences here as I possibly can.
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| | Betty, the Ugly. America, the Beautiful
America Ferrera stars as Betty Suarez, the endearing heroine of "Ugly Betty." Ferrera is probably best known for her roles in Real Women Have Curves, Lords of Dogtown, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. For her debut film role in Curves she won the Sundance Jury Award for "Best Actress," among other accolades. Ferrera was born on April 18, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, to Honduran parents. In addition to her film and TV work, she co-starred off-Broadway in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead in 2005.
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Who's the boss? — Meet the man in charge (or so he thinks)
The reins of Mode magazine were turned over to Daniel Meade by his father, Bradford, the founder of Meade Publications, after the mysterious death of the magazine's previous Editor-in-Chief, Fey Sommers. From his very first day, Daniel's authority was challenged by Wilhelmina Slater, who had coveted the magazine's top spot. She clearly resented Bradford's obvious act of nepotism. Daniel's reputation as a womanizer motivated Bradford to hire Betty to be his son's assistant, because he was certain that Betty would offer no temptation to Daniel, the perpetual playboy. Daniel Meade is played by Eric Mabius, who was previously best known for appearances in the films Cruel Intentions and Resident Evil, and as a mean dean on TV's "The O.C."
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| | Telenovela Confidential — On the Suarez family's TV
There's always something spicy on Channel 23! Here in the U.S., the various Spanish-language channels (Telemundo, Univision, Telefutura) show many telenovelas throughout the day, so it's unknown whether Ignacio watches one novela in particular or many different ones. Occasionally we see English subtitles, but I think that those are just for our benefit, because Ignacio certainly wouldn't need them.
In the first episode of "Ugly Betty," Salma Hayek, whose acting career started in Mexican telenovelas, played a saucy maid who shared a passionate kiss with a dashing galan. Later in the episode, while she was admiring one of her rich employer's evening gowns, the wicked diva herself entered the room and—with much dramatic flair—slapped the startled servant across the face. The wealthy Latina was played by Venezuelan-born novela star Lupita Ferrer ("Rosalinda"), who is no stranger to playing the villainess.
In the second episode, Marlene Favela takes over the role of the maid, Esmeralda, who is now visibly pregnant, and Sebastian Rulli played her lover, the sexy priest, Padre Pedro. |
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"Fugly Betsy" — "Saturday Night Live" spoofs "Betty"
In the United States, one way of knowing that a celebrity, TV show, movie, or popular song has become a part of the cultural zeitgeist is when he/she/it has been spoofed on the long-running NBC sketch comedy, "Saturday Night Live." A week after its highly-rated premiere, "Ugly Betty" was honored with such a parody. The premise of the joke was that a covetous NBC would try to replicate ABC's successful launch of "Ugly Betty" by producing their own version, a rip-off entitled "Fugly Betsy." During SNL's regular "Weekend Update" segment, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers were visited at the news desk by Betsy (played by Fred Armisen) and the producer of her series, Charo (Maya Rudolph). |
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| | Betty Internácional — Other countries' adaptations
It all started in Colombia with "Yo soy Betty, la fea," which starred Ana Maria Orozco as Beatriz 'Betty' Pinzón Solano, the sweet and intelligent ugly duckling who fell in love with her womanizing boss.
Betty's tale has also been told in many other countries around the world. Even when the lead characters in the adaptations haven't been named Betty, one thing these alter egos have all had in common was their ability to touch audiences' hearts. So far, Betty's story has been filmed and broadcast in over a dozen countries.
Unlike "Ugly Betty," many of the other international adaptations have been quite faithful to the original's pacing and basic plot points, but all have brought their own new details and themes to the story. Despite the fact that the cultures of these individual nations vary greatly, Betty's story has transcended all differences and has been extremely popular everywhere it has been told. The versions from Colombia, Germany, and Spain all either spawned spin-off series or continuations; Spain's version was the highest rated daytime series in the country; the characters from the Colombian and Russian versions were later animated in TV and internet cartoons; Greece's version regularly attracted 40 to 47% of the viewing audience during its timeslot; India's 2003 Miss Universe contestant named her country's version as the nation's most popular TV show; and many versions spawned related products such as a perfume (Belgium), novels and a video game (Germany), fashion lines (India, Germany), a magazine (Spain), multiple soundtrack CD's (Mexico), Betty dolls (U.S.A.), and more.
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* Spin-offs: Just as "Yo soy Betty, la fea" begat the follow-up series "EcoModa" and the animated "Betty Toons" in Colombia, some of the foreign remakes have also been so popular that producers couldn't resist capitalizing on their successes by turning their versions into franchises. For example, filming for Germany's "Verliebt in Berlin" was extended beyond the show's original conclusion. After the love story of Lisa and David was wrapped up, the writers created a half-brother for Lisa—whom she hadn't known about—so he could be the focus of the program's second season. "Verliebt in Berlin" also launched a sister series, "Lotta in Love," in 2006. Before this new series premiered, the writers had one of its primary characters appear in a few episodes of "Verliebt in Berlin," to take advantage of that show's popularity. More than a year after Russia's "Ne Rodis Krasivoy" ended, the hilarious animated adventures of its lead characters were featured in an internet cartoon series called "UmaNetto."
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