‘Ugly Betty’ Comes to U.S. Television

Betty Suarez is sweet, intelligent and hard-working, but few people around her take any time to get to know her. When publishing mogul Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) hands the reigns of Mode, the bible of the fashion industry, over to his son, Daniel, (Eric Mabius), he specifically hires Betty as his son’s new assistant – mostly because she’s the only woman in New York City that Daniel won’t sleep with. Betty’s indomitable spirit and bright ideas will eventually win Daniel over. Neither of them really knows the ins and outs of the fashion world, but the two are a formidable team against those who will do anything to see them fail. And the water around them is full of sharks. Diva fashionista Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) is incensed that Bradford Meade passed her over and promoted Daniel to the coveted job after the mysterious death of Mode’s former editor. Wilhelmina, along with toadying assistant Marc (Michael Urie) and scheming receptionist Amanda (Becki Newton), are taking every opportunity to sabotage Daniel and Betty. Betty finds a friend in warm-hearted Christina (Ashley Jensen), who works as the magazine’s in-house seamstress and seems to know everything about everybody who works there. Away from work, Betty’s home life is far from glamorous. Her father Ignacio and her sister Hilda worry that she’s just setting herself up for a fall, while her nephew Justin encourages his aunt to dream big , even though he thinks her fashion sense is nada. Nerdy boyfriend Walter, who unceremoniously dumped Betty, keeps turning up despite her attempts to get him to stay away. The show promises to be a wry look at the world of fashion, image, and Latino family culture, with one extra bit of spice – Ms. Hayek will appear in cameos as an over-the-top maid who runs very hot and extremely cold in Betty’s favorite telenovela.