US adaptations are always a struggle, just look at the difference between seasons 1 and 2 of The Office. Written by the showrunner and the guy who developed the show into this adaptation, Silvio Horta, I’d be pressed to say Horta saw much success elsewhere before his death in early 2020. Horta, a Cuban-American himself, adapts Ugly Betty from the Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty. While director Richard Shepard did his only work on the show, as well as some of The Handsmaid’s Tale, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist pilot, the pilot for Criminal Minds, and a few other things.

I hate saying it because now, in 2025, we know that America Ferrera is a stunning woman of amazing talent, but I’ll admit the “Ugly duckling in a big pond” thing of Ugly Betty is where I first fell in love with her. Similar to the June 2006 adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s book starring Anne Hathaway in the lead role, Betty is an out-of-work writing/journalism major who knows nothing about fashion but gets a job at a sidewalk-Versace version of Condé Nast publication, Vogue. High-fashion meets knitted-poncho-wearing, adult braces, big glasses, “frumpy” woman, what could go wrong?

Following the mysterious death of the Anna Wintour stand-in, Fey Sommers (subtle), publishing mogul Bradford Meade puts his son in charge of his star magazine, Mode. The trouble is, Daniel (played by Eric Mabius) is Robert Downey Jr minus the drugs and the sex turned up to about 200%. Turns out, you can’t be the Editor-in-Chief of a fashion magazine when you sleep with everything with two legs, so Bradford does the most sensible thing possible: He makes Betty that new assistant to Daniel, knowing he wouldn’t have sex with this short, frumpy Mexican-American with braces. Wasn’t the 2000s lovely?

I’ll admit that, yes, by modern TV standards and how we view stories now, Ugly Betty is very questionable in places. We’ll get into the “controversial” topics down the line. Still, even the premise alone is quite bold to say that it had any long-standing success and has an adoring fan base almost (at the time of writing) 20 years on; we’re all going to shudder, vomit, realize Ariana Greenblatt is younger than Ferrera’s role here, and then vomit again.

The premise of Ugly Betty really isn’t complicated, as it mostly paints Ferrera’s Betty Suarez as the butt of a large number of jokes. However, something I think we’ve lost as we move away from shows willing to be this camp, bold, and outlandish is the true heart of the show and these ideas of blending what would otherwise be offensive with heart-hitting facts of life. Turning up to Meade Publications in a loud pink tartan skirt and jacket, and a loud green blouse, the only second look Betty gets is one of disgust from budget Lucas Grabeel.

Who knew that a show as gay as June itself was going to turn me into a catty little diva? Betty isn’t the only “unconventional” one in her family or eventual friends/enemies/co-workers. Hilda (Ana Ortiz) is Betty’s big sister, who will throw hands at the smallest inconvenience or discretion, especially for her son Justin, who is fashion-obsessed and just as enamored with Broadway. What I’m saying is, Justin is played up to be as gay as a rainbow and played by the wonderful Mark Indelicato. Then there is Betty and Hilda’s dad, Ignacio, played by the wonderful Tony Plana, whom we’ll get to.

The plot of Ugly Betty is TV’s favorite topic, a dysfunctional family that is as opposed to each other as they are connected. For her first day at Mode, Betty shows up in a bold knitted Guadalajara poncho in a world full of fitted, primed, and matched Gucci, Prada, Versace, Chanel, Dior, and so on. Daniel’s friend even goes so far as to call Betty “Fugly” and suggests the two mentally beat her down until she quits, be it through humiliation, stress, or otherwise. Daniel Meade and co aren’t normal-friendly people.

Becki Newton’s Amanda is the receptionist and questionably dim, to the point she speaks louder and slower so Betty will understand. Daniel is properly introduced by his dad, finding his last model/assistant under the desk, Bradford himself is played by the wonderful Alan Dale, who played Jim Robinson in Neighbours. Michael Urie plays a man gayer than a Christmas tree in June and marching in leather, Marc, who is the assistant to Mode’s overlooked Creative Director, Wilhelmina Slater. Slater, of course played by the fantastic Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams.

The standout among them is, of course, Agatha Raisin herself, Ashley Jensen. I might just be singling out the Scottish woman because it is rare we hear that accent not being hammed up or extremely softened, especially in American shows. However, I might also be highlighting her because she’s the only friendly face at Mode for Betty. Jensen plays Christina McKinney, the magazine’s seamstress and quite often the butt of the catty parade’s (Marc and Amanda’s) snarky comments alongside Betty.

I think my comments thus far show my opinion of the show overall. I’m a long-term fan who is maybe just trying to hold back the temptation to talk about much later plotlines. Is “Pilot” a great episode? No, not really. It is fine, it does a lot of setting up, does a lot of things right, but even for September 2006, some things feel a bit flat. A bit uninspired. A bit underdone to what the show is about to become and about to do.

One thing that it does beautifully is set up the conspiracy of Fey Sommers, who is about as dead as the nerves in Wilhelmina’s face after Marc injects her with Botox. However, Wilhelmina does have a mystery woman on the phone; she (Wilhelmina) was the second in command at the time of her death, and Bradford seems rather interested in Fey and his secrets staying dead. There are enough plot threads set up to give you a reason to keep watching, but I’ll admit that Ugly Betty isn’t made for everyone.

Much like Ted Lasso and saying you’d eventually love certain characters, if you watched “Pilot” and I said that you’d love Daniel soon enough, you’d think I’d hit my head and spent the day crying. I mean, I have (I headbutted a door), but that’s beside the point. Daniel is horrible, Wilhelmina is a nightmare, Marc and Amanda are dreadful to Betty, and so on. However, once Ugly Betty gets past this cheap pilot, where Queens is very clearly green-screened in for that one scene with Kevin Sussman, it shoots for The Devil Wears Prada-based moon.

We haven’t even touched on the fact that Salma Hayek is in an uncredited role as the nurse in Justin’s telenovela, or Gina Gershon plays the name and face of a cosmetics brand. The ratings may have been fine, the popularity at the time might have been great, and among fans, the show was adored, but Ugly Betty is a sleeper hit caught somewhat in the noise of more popular shows. From Desperate Housewives, Mad Men, Lost, Smallville, Prison Break, Glee, Heroes, Supernatural, 24, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, Veronica Mars, and I could go on, I don’t hear enough people mention Ugly Betty.

Ultimately, “Pilot” is understandably light on plot and heavy on exposition, like a December issue magazine with nothing exciting or interesting to show for itself days before print. Ugly Betty is little more than a light, fun show that will just as easily punch you in the gut with heart-wrenching or heart-warming moments as it will make fun of Betty’s lack of style, with intrigue and a mystery of the mysterious woman in the dark and wrapped in bandages, and sometimes take idle jabs at the fashion industry.

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Ugly Betty "Pilot"

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• America Farerra is fantastic.
• Heart-warming where it matters.
• Such a brilliant casting.
• A pretty good soundtrack.

Cons

• Just enough plot to keep afloat.
• That greenscreen of Queens at night.