`UGLY BETTY' A THING OF GREAT COMEDIC BEAUTY.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) may indeed be ``Ugly Betty,'' but you're likely to fall in love anyway. Forget the unplucked eyebrows, the disastrous fashion choices and the fact that her broad, beaming smile reveals miles of metal in the braces in her mouth. Her heart is pure, and her spirit is unassailable, and her show is both stylish and witty, with cleverly outsize performances that serve the oft-overheated material. (The show is based on a telenovela that originated in Colombia and has proven popular in every incarnation throughout the world.) You go, girl Betty -- pretty much the polar opposite of a svelte fashionista -- nonetheless manages to land a job at the snootily trendy fashion magazine Mode. She's hired to assist the callow new editor, Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), who is installed by the publisher, his domineering father (Alan Dale), after what one breathless infotainment reporter calls ``the hot, hot death'' of the magazine's former editor. Dad also insists on Betty's hire, thinking this will somehow curb his son's inveterate 1. Firmly and long established; deep-rooted. 2. Persisting in an ingrained habit; habitual. in·vet  er·a·cy (- womanizing. Naturally, many in this cutthroat world are scandalized, none more than Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (vĭl'hĕlmē`nä), 1880–1962, queen of the Netherlands (1890–1948), daughter and successor of William III. Her mother, Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, was regent until 1898. Wilhelmina married (1901) Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1934), who played no active part in the government. (Vanessa Williams), who deserved Daniel's job and is virulently determined to wrest it from him by any means necessary, and professional cupcake Amanda (Becki Newton); who wants Daniel's attentions all to herself. Nearly everyone at the magazine thinks Betty is out of her league: ``This is Mode, not Dog Fancy,'' sneers Wilhelmina's toadying assistant (Michael Urie). And, naturally, Betty's smarts and soulfulness prove them wrong. You can't help loving her Viewers unfamiliar with telenovelas will find similarities to the hit summer movie ``The Devil Wears Prada,'' though it was difficult, by any measure, to buy Anne Hathaway as an ugly duckling. Ferrera has no such vanity: She allows her makeup and costume artists to do their worst. Her performance is a grand comic creation: When her eyes dart, panic-stricken, she's both hilarious and a character we can empathize with. Likewise, the rest of the cast lunges into the material with similar aplomb. Not everyone is asked to go over the top, but those who do -- particularly Ana Ortiz, playing Betty's sister, Hilda -- do so hilariously. As do the actresses appearing in the histrionic histrionic /his·tri·on·ic/ (his?tre-on´ik) excessively dramatic or emotional, as in histrionic personality disorder; see under personality. telenovelas Betty watches, including, in tonight's episode, series executive producer Salma Hayek. Visually, ``Ugly Betty'' is as stylized as its performances, thanks to savvy camera work and witty production design, particularly the trendily antiseptic magazine offices. The show's producers seem determined to get as many smiles on viewers' faces as they can. In next week's episode, Betty loses Mode's ``book,'' the manual featuring all the confidential information about its next month's issue; a disaster one character describes, in timely fashion, as ``Mel Gibson bad.'' What's the opposite of ``Mel Gibson bad''? ``Danny Glover good''? Whatever it may be, it's what best describes ``Ugly Betty.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com UGLY BETTY - Three and one half stars What: America Ferrera stars as a lovable loser with large ambitions who lands a job at an elitist fashion magazine. Where: ABC (Channel 7). When: 8 tonight. In a nutshell: Very funny; very stylish, with wonderfully clever, over-the-top performances. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: America Ferrera is the title character, a plain Jane who, to everyone's surprise but her own, lands a job at a snooty fashion magazine, in ``Ugly Betty,'' debuting at 8 tonight. |
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