DVD
REVIEW:
Ugly Betty (Season
1)
09/07/07
Very few times a Spanish
language television program makes an impact in American
television. That’s is the case of “Ugly Betty” , a dramatic
comedy based on the Colombian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty La
Fea” (I’m Betty The Ugly) written by Colombian native
Fernando Gaitán. “Yo Soy Betty La Fea” broke records of
audience in all the Spanish markets. After the success of
the "telenovela" many countries wanted to create their own
version of Ugly Betty. The original telenovela changed
the way telenovelas are done in the Spanish language
television. Going away from the typical melodrama and
creating a refreshing series were the star didn’t have a
sculptured body, has funky glasses, wears bracelets and
don’t now anything about fashion. Salma Hayek bought
the rights of the telenovela for the English language market
in the US. This series won 2 Golden Globe awards early
this year for best performance by an actress in a television
series musical or comedy America Ferrera and best
television series musical or comedy.
“Ugly Betty” follows the story of Betty Suarez (America
Ferrera) a young girl that lives in Queens with her father
Ignacio , older sister Hilda and her nephew Justin. The
series begins when she gets a job as a personal assistant to
the new editor-in-chief Daniel Meade in the sophisticated
magazine “Mode”. Since the first day of work and mainly
because of her looks and her little notion of fashion, Betty
was the subject of laughs by most of her co-workers. Soon
with her hard work and knowledge about business she makes a
big impression in her boss, who learns to trust her more
than any of the beautiful women that surround him. In
this series Betty's wit is highlighted as she humorusly
learns to cope with her bullying co-workers, obstacles in
her personal life along with helping her boss maintain his
personal agenda hidden from others. It is her
adventures in this balancing act what makes this dramatic
comedy so exceptionally well done.
After watching the original
telenovela and comparing it to ABC’s “Ugly Betty”, it is
nice to see that this version captures the essence of the
original character. A down to earth girl that is sweet,
smart, sensitive with a bit more weight, braces, glasses and
completely out of fashion is what makes Betty so special.
Like it did in many other countries this overachiever makes
the materialistic world in which she works seemed absurd and
shows time and time again that the true beauty of a person
is in the heart and not in looks.
This complete first season is
only the beginning of this ground breaking TV series that is
set to bring in the most exquisite humorous situations
that is worth fighting against all odds regardless of
cultural differences, physical appearance, and socio
economic status to achieve the American dream.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround,
English Spanish
Subtitles - English, French Spanish
BONUS FEATURES:
Commentaries: Very good and
informative commentaries on four of the episodes by
producers and the cast
Becoming Ugly A 12
minutes featurette covering all the aspects on how the show
was created
Green Is The New Black About
6 minutes featurette on how the green screen was used to
recreate Queens in LA.
A La Mode: The Style of
Ugly Betty: A 7 minutes featurette covering how
Betty's style comes to life
Deleted Scenes
About 27 deleted scenes running around 20 minutes and 50
seconds
Bloopers
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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