I don’t watch a considerable amount of TV. Of the shows currently in production, I watch Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, My Name is Earl, Grey’s Anatomy, the occasional Family Guy and, my favorite, Ugly Betty. But with the exception of the last two; I have the DVD format to thank for getting me my fix.

I love episodic television, but I don’t like to commit to a viewing schedule, thereby giving up my time away from work to revolve my life around television and then get frustrated by missing an episode. The second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the last series I caught every episode on television when it aired, but that’s not the case any more. Two things changed my TV watching habits in 2006. The first was finally upgrading to a DVR box, and the second and much bigger influence was having a girlfriend that wanted to watch Ugly Betty. 

I initially had no desire whatsoever to watch the program. I had seen adverts for it and it appeared to me that it was going to be another cheery “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” sugarcoated melodrama with some comedy thrown in. It was something I didn’t need in my life because it didn’t appear to have any spaceships or zombies or even any female characters that I could get overly amorous over. What it did have going for it was that my girlfriend said, “I want to see that new show Ugly Betty.” and being that I was pussywhipped and at her apartment that night, I said “Okay.” I was pleasantly surprised, too, because the first episode of Ugly Betty was a treat of great television. 

Betty (America Ferrera, Lords of Dogtown) is a young girl from Queens that wants nothing more than to get a good job. So she tries to get one at Mode Magazine, a haute couture fashion rag that’s part of the greater Meade Publications. Initially scoffed without even being properly interviewed due to her less-than-gorgeous looks, Betty nevertheless catches the eye of owner Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) due to her unwillingness to accept the rejection – and also because she’s so unattractive that he feels his son and newly appointed Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius, Resident Evil) won’t try to bed her. 

Betty is just thankful for the opportunity, but working at Mode comes with its own set of problems. Nearly all the clientele are fashion forward and obsessed with their superficial appearances and fake images that they put on. This fact doesn’t apply to anyone more so than Amanda (Becki Newton) and Marc (Michael Urie), a gorgeous woman and gay man that instantly take to Betty as the direction of all future ridicule. Adding fuel to a fire already going strong is Marc’s boss Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams, yes that Vanessa Williams) who feels she deserved Daniel’s position and is prepared to do anything to undermine him.  She figures the easiest way is through a naïve Betty. 

At the beginning of the series, everyone is seemingly against Betty, and in fact thematically it gets quite dark. Amanda and Marc’s teasing and taunting of her are extreme and heartless and even Daniel seems to despise her outright based on looks alone. This quickly takes a turn, though, as Betty starts essentially forcing her way into outperforming her peers and becoming an important part of the magazine’s operation. Daniel specifically develops a very warm brother/sister relationship with her as she helps the pretty boy with not just his office problems but personal issues as well. Namely, he’s a sex addict that will screw any model with two legs, and there are plenty of pairs that walk around the Mode offices. One set of those belongs to Amanda, whom Daniel has frequently shared late night rendezvous with but he hasn’t noticed that she legitimately has strong feelings for him. Marc also enjoys picking on Betty, and with his boss always involving him in plots to get Daniel fired, he often has to interact with her and it’s usually this set up with the Marc/Amanda/Betty triangle that creates most of the comedy in the show. 

Betty’s home life is almost as complicated. She lives with her widowed father Ignacio (Tony Plana), her sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) and her sister’s son Justin (Mark Indelicato). Sounds nice, right? Ignacio is an illegal immigrant which is news unknown to the family. Hilda is the stereotypical Queens Latina princess and her son Justin is leaning to the homosexual side and has far more interest in the fashion industry and Mode than Betty does. The family is tight, though. There is never a moment that you don’t feel the love between them despite their frequent issues with each other. An obsessive INS agent, Justin’s ex-con father, and an unscrupulous lawyer are but a few of the various problems that visit them throughout the season. But whatever happens, the strong family bond is the grounding backbone of the show. They are her real source of strength when things are less-than perfect at Betty’s day job – and they often are. 

After the pilot episode, the next few episodes are generally average, but after a few weeks there is a noticeable shift in mood to the series. Watching Betty get berated for being the fish-out-of-water will only get the viewer so far before the they would become very bored with it (unless you’re an asshole masochist). In fact, during the first few episodes there were times I actually cringed for Betty that same way you would when you see a retarded kid get mocked. Thankfully, Ugly Betty quickly gets a lot more fun, and a lot more “soapy” while still staying true to the characters and their personalities. Marc and Amanda rely on Betty for a lot more, even if they do so begrudgingly. Betty is offered a better job at another Meade magazine who’s Editor Sofia (Selma Hayek, From Dusk Till Dawn) has her eyes set on Daniel. One of the best new character introductions comes when Rebecca Romijn (X-Men) joins the cast as Daniel’s believed-dead brother (now sister) Alex (or Alexis) who also wants a piece of the magazine. It’s also possible that Daniel’s mother Claire (Judith Light, TV’s Who’s the Boss) murdered Fay, the much talked about recently deceased mistress to Bradford Meade. 

It’s these subplots that really add the glitter to an already colorful series. Every single character is painted with both negative and positive connotations. You can view, say, Wilhelmina as an undermining Cruella De Vil type character, but you can also see at times a strong business woman who really does deserve the coveted editor-in-chief job over Daniel. You’ll see her defend Alexis when she is humiliated publicly over the sex change operation, and you can see her take maternal interest in Justin when Betty brings him to visit Mode. In only the first season, every character – even the recurring background characters – goes through at least one arc, and they show different sides of themselves. That’s really the strongest thing that can be said about the show. The characters, and likewise, the script, are fantastic and engaging, even when there is little action going on. It’s this depth that makes Ugly Betty something to turn on every Thursday in anticipation of seeing what happens next to each of the characters. 

So, as I originally expected, Ugly Betty is an “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” sugarcoated melodrama with some comedy thrown in, but there is so much more than that too. Truly, Ugly Betty is the best thing to happen on television in a while, it’s surprisingly dark at times, but the mood always comes back to the light. It’s refreshing to see a show with a heroine that is eternally optimistic. It’s not a common thread in what is essentially a soap opera, but it’s pulled off beautifully here and I can’t recommend it enough. 

Plus, it’s got a lot of hot chicks and models and stuff. Sweet! 

The DVD Presentation
The debut season of Ugly Betty hits DVD and it looks as fantastic as it did on TV. Well, almost as good. It was shown in HD and (as of yet) there is no release of Ugly Betty on either of the competing high definition video formats. But it still looks great on standard definition DVD. The world that the show takes place in is a colorful one regardless of whether we’re in Betty’s house or in the decorations that pepper the bright white walls of the Mode offices. I didn’t notice any problems with the video presentation. The audio works about the same. The 5.1 surround track makes good use of the soundtrack. It’s loud when it should be and soft when it isn’t. Dialogue comes through clearly and without issue. There is a dubbed 2.0 Spanish track and subtitles in English, French and Spanish for those that require them. When it comes to quality, as TV-to-DVD releases go, Ugly Betty is an acceptable modern standard. 

Note: There are a few interesting alterations here to how the show originally aired. The second and third episodes are swapped, and one episode “Swag” (S1E04) changed a bit. Watching the second and third episodes on the order that it’s shown on the DVD makes for hiccups in logic. “The Box and the Bunny” (S1E02) actually has some threads that lead up to the conclusion of “Queens for a Day” (S1E03). It isn’t clear as to why the switch was made. More understandable, “Swag” was shown about midway through the season (after the holiday broadcast hiatus) as a flashback episode with some wrap-around material of characters thinking back to past events. Here it is shown in an entirely new cut, with the flashback material removed. It actually works better in this position, because flashback stories are almost always lame to begin with, and the continuity of having it as the fourth episode on this set fits perfectly. That said, purists will find something to complain about here, as it isn’t really the “Complete” Season without the original broadcast versions, is it? 

And the Extras Are?
What does it mean to be “Bettyfied?” I haven’t a friggin’ clue. But apparently, this is what getting “Bettyfied” gets you… 

Four Audio Commentaries –

Four of the twenty-three episodes were selected for the audio commentary treatment. Each commentary has different participants, but they are all appropriate matches with the show. The “Pilot” episode (S1E01) features creator/executive producer Silvio Horta, director Richard Shepard and co-executive producer Teri Weinberg. “Fey’s Sleigh Ride” (S1E05) has Becki Newton and Michael Urie. “Sofia’s Choice” (S1E12) is hosted by Salma Hayek and Eric Mabius and finally, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (S1E18) has Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie. You’ll notice an odd exclusion here – America Ferrera. I don’t know why she didn’t participate, but her not being there doesn’t make any of these commentaries worse. They are all interesting listens, particularly “Fey’s Sleigh Ride” which really sells me more than anything on how Becki and Michael must be as good of friends in real life as they are on the show.  

Becoming Ugly: A New Face for Television – (12:14)

While short, this feature is a concise set of interviews with the cast and crew which offers a pretty complete picture of how the show came from concept to casting to the program that millions enjoy today. It even manages to cover some of the reaction that the show has received. More time could have made for a feature with greater depth, but it still works for what it is. 

Green Is the New Black – (5:44)

This is a featurette about the extensive green screen footage used in Ugly Betty. It’s a testament to how good the effect is that I’ve been down some of the streets that Betty is supposedly walking down and I never once thought that Ugly Betty wasn’t filmed in New York. 

À la Mode: The Style of Ugly Betty – (6:55)

A large portion of Ugly Betty, obviously the segments that involve Mode, is about fashion. A featurette on the fashion is therefore expected. The featurette is split between the set and costume design with a large portion of the discussion given to costume designer Eduardo Castro and production designer Mark Worthington. Everything either subject has to say is interesting, but it’s far too brief to give anything justice. However, I may be a bit more damaged by this than the average viewer because this was the feature that I was most interested in checking out. 

Deleted Scenes – (20:50)

The storyline of Ugly Betty was pretty tight throughout the season. Very few times was something brought up that wasn’t relevant and it kept the viewers coming back week after week. That’s good structure in storytelling and for this reason I didn’t suspect that a great deal of material was left on the cutting room floor. I was pretty shocked to hear there were 27 deleted scenes, but with a combined running time of less than 21 minutes it’s pretty obvious that these were trims for episode time constraints. Nothing trimmed is of any real value. You’ll watch these once. It’s also interesting to note that these are all full-frame, when the show itself was broadcast in widescreen.  

Ugly Bloopers – (3:45)

Cute, and fans will be checking this out at least once. The bloopers that are included are funny, but I have to believe that a lot more goofs were had on set aside from this.  

Trailer Gallery –

Rounding out the set are some trailers for other Buena Vista television DVDs that are soon to be released. Meet the Robinsons, Brothers and Sisters – First Season, Grey’s Anatomy – Third Season, What About Brian? – First and Second Seasons, Lost – Third Season and Desperate Housewives – Third Season. Also in this gallery is the theatrical trailer for the upcoming movie Enchanted, a promo spot for the new SoapNet channel and a preview of the second season of Ugly Betty which, interestingly enough is made up of clips from the first season.  

The packaging is in the slipcase style that TV-on-DVD consumers are no doubt familiar with. I’m not a fan of having the discs overlap, and I always worry about the digipak style packaging because it’s irreplaceable if broken and because I’m OCD. I prefer the slim-case style myself, but whatever. The episode listing insert is awesome though as it’s made to replicate an issue of Mode. That was a creative touch.  

The Bottom Line
There you have it. Ugly Betty was a critical fave this past year and there is damn good reason for it. There are great, colorful characters with good and bad sides, and fantastic soapy plotlines that run the gamut from high fashion to illegal aliens to sex addiction to single-parenting and everything in between. At no point is the series ever not fun and really, that’s all that matters. This set collects the debut season with a completely acceptable presentation and fun features. Ugly Betty got me back into television and I can’t wait for my Thursday evenings to be filled with more Betty (and Grey’s). But until September 27th, I’ll be kicking back with this DVD set waiting patiently for the several cliffhanger endings to be resolved.