Friday Night’s Alright For Watching
Channel 4 have managed to secure the rights to one the current “big” shows from over the Pond. Ugly Betty is the much vaunted love child of programmes such as Sex And The City and, more obviously, Desperate Housewives. It’s not an out and out comedy (thankfully we are spared a laughter track) but it’s not anything approaching full-blooded drama either. Like those other shows, it manages to find its own niche and somehow satisfy both sets of viewers. The delightfully named, America Ferrera heads up the cast as Betty with a large array of supporting cast from Alan “don’t- mention- Neighbours” Dale to Scotland’s very own Ashley Jensen of Extras fame. The storyline centres around the unfortunate looking Betty being appointed as assistant to an executive of a fashion magazine, the sole purpose of her appoinment being that the aforementioned exec won’t be tempted into another unwise relationship with his assistant. It strikes me as skimpy premise but one which is essential for the juxtaposition of high glamour and the looks-obsessed glitterati with the “ugly” and unpreposessing Betty with her working class background. So, the question is whether C4 have a much needed Friday night hit on their hands or another damp squib? Time will tell whether a British audience will warm to Betty and her friends, but the reveal of a mysterious woman hooked up to some medical equipment at the end of the first installment who seems to be advising the evil Wilhemina, would suggest that this will reward the regular viewers.
Tags: Alan-Dale, America-Ferrera, Ashley-Jensen, Channel-4, Comedy, Desperate-Housewives, Extras, Fashion, Ugly-Betty
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