`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 out·size n. 1. An unusual size, especially a very large size. 2. A garment of unusual size. adj. also out·sized Unusually large, weighty, or extensive. performances that serve the oft-overheated material. (The show is based on a telenovela A telenovela is a limited-run television serial melodrama of the type made famous in Latin America. The word is a portmanteau of tele, short for television, and novela ("novel/soap opera"). Telenovelas are essentially soap operas in miniseries format. 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 inveterate /in·vet·er·ate/ (-vet´er-at) confirmed and chronic; long-established and difficult to cure. in·vet·er·ate adj. 1. Firmly and long established; deep-rooted. 2. womanizing wom·an·ize v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. . Naturally, many in this cutthroat world are scandalized, none more than Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams), who deserved Daniel's job and is virulently determined to wrest it from him by any means necessary By any means necessary is a translation of a phrase coined by the French intellectual Jean Paul Sartre in his play Dirty Hands. I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each of us inherited lies when we were born. , 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
v. To feel empathy in relation to another person. 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 styl·ize tr.v. styl·ized, styl·iz·ing, styl·iz·es 1. To restrict or make conform to a particular style. 2. To represent conventionally; conventionalize. 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 ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. (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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