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''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010.〔("Ugly Betty" Finale Set for April ), ''Zap2It.com'', February 4, 2010〕 It revolves around the character Betty Suarez who, despite her lack of style, lands a job at a prestigious fashion magazine. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'', which has had many other international adaptations. It was produced by Silent H, Ventanarosa, and Reveille Productions partnered with ABC Studios and executive produced by Salma Hayek, Silvio Horta, Ben Silverman, Jose Tamez, and Joel Fields. The pilot was filmed in New York; seasons one and two were filmed in Los Angeles and seasons three and four in New York City. During its first three seasons, it aired on Thursday nights, where it was mostly successful. However, viewership dropped significantly in the show's third season, particularly in the important 18–49 age group. In October 2009, the series was moved to Fridays, where it had trouble finding an audience. The backlash from its fans prompted ABC to move the show to Wednesdays at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central starting January 6, 2010, where it was thought that it would better complement its Wednesday hits ''Modern Family'' and ''Cougar Town'',〔("Ugly Betty" Gets a Prettier Time Slot ), ''Los Angeles Times'', December 3, 2009〕〔("Ugly Betty" Moving to Wednesday ), ''Variety.com'', December 1, 2009〕 but on January 27, 2010, ABC announced it was canceling the series due to low ratings.〔("Ugly Betty" Canceled By ABC ), ''USA Today'', January 27, 2010〕 Since the show's cancellation, it has gained a cult following. With the end of the series, there was talk of a push by Ana Ortiz and America Ferrera for an ''Ugly Betty'' movie. ==Production== The idea to bring ''Ugly Betty'' to American TV screens began in 2001 when NBC was planning to adapt ''Betty'' as a half-hour comedy, which would be produced by Sony Pictures Television〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Breaking News - Development Update: October 20 - TheFutonCritic.com )〕 but it never made past the planning stages (It took three writers to come up with a concept based around the character)〔(From Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (April 21, 2008) )〕 until ABC and Hayek's company came on board in 2004 and retooled it as an hour-long comedy-drama.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Breaking News - Development Update: September 29–30 - TheFutonCritic.com )〕 Two years later, on May 16, 2006, ABC announced that ''Ugly Betty'' would be part of the 2006–2007 North American season lineup as a weekly hour-long series; the initial order was for 13 episodes. ABC had announced the title of the series would be ''Betty the Ugly'', a change from its developmental title, but changed it back to ''Ugly Betty'' on July 14, 2006,〔(The Futon Critic ), July 14, 2006〕 although the ''Ugly Betty'' title was already being used in promotions prior to this date on Citytv. There was speculation that the show would be a daily serial that would have debuted as a summer 2006 or midseason 2007 entry, but given the buzz and growing interest in the show, the network decided to make it a weekly series instead. On August 8, 2006, ABC decided at the last minute to make a schedule change to move ''Ugly Betty'' from its previously announced Friday 8 p.m. (ET) time period to Thursday at 8 p.m. replacing sitcoms ''Notes from the Underbelly'' and ''Big Day'' as a lead-in to top-rated program ''Grey's Anatomy'', due to the growing interest in the show. The program's pilot was tested on several cable providers to gauge interest and feedback from viewers, most notably the Hispanic community, including those who are fans of the original ''Betty'', who hoped that ABC would maintain the integrity of the original. ABC also allowed its affiliates to show free off-air screenings to the public at various events ahead of the show's debut. In addition the network screened the debut episode on the web and made the episodes available for download on iTunes after their initial airings on January 5, 2007. The encore episodes also have run on ABC Family and SOAPnet, both of which have aired marathons of the show. On October 13, 2006, ABC ordered a full season pick-up for the series, beyond the original 13 ordered at the May Upfronts〔(From ABC medianet ), October 13, 2006〕 due to its premiere ratings. ABC originally announced 22 episodes for the season 1, but increased the number of episodes by one to 23. The season finale is the episode called "East Side Story." On March 21, 2007, ABC renewed the series for a second season.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Breaking News - ABC Announces Fourteen Early Pick-Ups for the 2007-08 Season - TheFutonCritic.com )〕 Although he joined NBC as their new entertainment head, Ben Silverman remained co-executive producer on the show, but in a limited role.〔(From AHN (June 5, 2007) )〕 In November 2007, the cast of the series made headlines when they threw their support behind the 2007 Writers' Strike by joining them on the picket line in solidarity. Ferrera commented on the reason why they did this: "The issues coming up with the actors’ contracts are very similar to what the writers are dealing with right now, and we have to stay united and stand strong within the creative community for what we believe is fair."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Breaking Celeb News, Entertainment News, and Celebrity Gossip )〕 On November 25, the cast appeared in a 38-second video for "Speechless Hollywood" in which a black & white camera pulled away from a close up of Ferrera to showing her co-stars sitting next to her as they look directly at the camera without speaking. On February 11, 2008, ABC picked up ''Ugly Betty'' for the 2008–09 television season, along with nine other shows.〔(From TV Guide (February 11, 2008) )〕 Unfortunately on the day the renewal was announced, two of the show's executive producers, Marco Pennette and James Hayman, were let go. The departure of Pennette and Hayman added to the constant off-camera turnovers on the series, including the exiting or firing of five writers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ugly Betty axes two executive producers )〕 In a Q&A from ''TV Guide'', Michael Ausiello criticized the decision, saying "that someone saw fit to fix what wasn't broken" and praised the two men for writing several of the show's best episodes.〔(From TV Guide (February 13, 2008) )〕 These turn of events may have also contributed to Rebecca Romijn's decision to no longer be a full-time regular on the series in the third season, citing the move by new writers to make changes in the direction of several characters, especially Romijn's role as Alexis.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Unhappy Romjin To Quit Ugly Betty )〕 With the strike over as of February 12, there was the possibility for seven new episodes to be completed by April, bringing the number of second season episodes produced to 20,〔(From TV Guide (February 11, 2008) )〕 but only 18 episodes were eventually produced. As a result of the strike, creator Silvio Horta delayed plans for a musical episode and having Lindsay Lohan on board for a possible storyline until the third season.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title='Ugly Betty': Plans for musical episode and Lindsay Lohan cameo on hold )〕 Four days later on February 16, 2008, ABC picked up ''Ugly Betty'' for the 2008–09 television season.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Adweek – Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology )〕 On March 12, 2008, Horta inked a two-year, seven-figure deal with ABC Studios, which guaranteed the show's future and gave Horta a chance to produce other projects aside from ''Betty''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Breaking News - Development Update: Wednesday, March 12 - TheFutonCritic.com )〕 On April 17, 2008, the show's podcast, which was usually presented in audio and hosted by stars Urie and Newton, became available on video for the first time.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Breaking News - Ugly Betty Premieres First Video Podcast on ABC.com - TheFutonCritic.com )〕 On May 6, 2008, ABC announced that starting with the third season, ''Ugly Betty'' would return to New York City and start production there. The move was done to bring the authenticity of the great series' setting into the show and to take advantage of a tax credit offered by the State of New York's Governors Office of Motion Picture and Television Development.〔(From TV Guide (May 6, 2008) )〕 The production returned to Silvercup Studios in Queens, where the original pilot was produced. The move resulted in several Los Angeles crew members being let go.〔(From TV Guide (May 8, 2008) )〕 These events would lead California Assemblyman Paul Krekorian to introduce bill AB X315, the "Ugly Betty Bill", which would keep television and film production from leaving the state by using tax incentives. The bill was passed by the assembly and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law on February 19, 2009.〔(From Ugly Betty News (March 2, 2009) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Calif. OKs $500M Tax Credit for Hollywood )〕 In January 2009, ABC announced that it was putting ''Ugly Betty'' on hold to make room for the new comedies ''In the Motherhood'' and ''Samantha Who?'' in the Thursday night time slot. The series' aired one more original episode on March 19, 2009.〔(ABC Puts "Ugly Betty" On Hold ), ''E! Online'', January 26, 2009〕〔("Betty" Bopped ), ''The TV Zone'', January 27, 2009〕 On Sunday, March 15, 2009, ABC announced that, after a five-week break, ''Ugly Betty'' would return for its final five episodes of the season on Thursday, April 30, 2009. Ugly Betty's return was originally planned for May 7, but due to low ratings for ''Motherhood'', ABC moved it up a week. The two-episode season finale aired on Thursday, May 21 from 8–10 pm. The move by ABC and the show's declining ratings led viewers to believe that ABC would cancel the show. But on February 17, 2009, Becki Newton stated that the show has been picked up for a fourth season.〔(Cancellation? Becki Newton Says It's Just An "Ugly Betty" Rumor ), ''New York Daily News'', February 17, 2009〕 That statement would later be confirmed on March 5, 2009, when Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment Group, announced that ABC planned to renew ''Ugly Betty''. On April 23, 2009, ABC gave an early fourth season renewal to ''Betty''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=ABC hands out early pickups )〕 ''Ugly Betty'' 〔(ABC Announces Early Pick-Ups for Next Season ), ''The Futon Critic'', April 23, 2009〕 began airing on Friday nights starting October 16, 2009, at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central, although it was originally scheduled to start a week earlier on October 9. This caused fans and critics to worry that ABC wished to end the show, since that time slot is perceived as the Friday night death slot.〔(ABC Defends Moving "Ugly Betty" to Friday ), ''Entertainment Weekly'', May 19, 2009〕〔(ABC's Official Sked Welcomes "V", Moves "Betty", Says Adieu to "Who?" ), ''TV Guide'', May 19, 2009〕〔(Why ABC's "Ugly Betty" Move Makes Sense ), ''Zap2It.com'', May 19, 2009〕〔(ABC Puts "Ugly Betty" In An Ugly Timeslot ), ''Business Insider'', May 19, 2009〕 On July 24, 2009, TV Guide Network announced that it had acquired the exclusive cable rights to the show and would air the fourth season episodes two weeks after its ABC run with an option to strip the show daily, with plans to air it weekly starting in the fall of 2010.〔(TV Guide Network Acquires "Ugly Betty" ), ''Broadcasting & Cable'', July 24, 2009〕 With ''Eastwick'' recently canceled, ABC began considering moving ''Ugly Betty'' to the Wednesday night 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central timeslot,〔("Ugly Betty" May Steal "Eastwick" Time Slot from "Lost" ), ''E! Online'', November 10, 2009〕〔(AfterElton Reports That "Ugly Betty"'s Move to Wednesdays is Confirmed ), ''TV By the Numbers'', November 10, 2009〕 although there was talk of moving ''Lost'' to that same timeslot. On December 1, 2009, ABC, sensing a backlash from viewers over its decision to move ''Ugly Betty'' to Fridays, its sliding ratings, and praises from critics over the improved storylines, made the move to Wednesday official by announcing that it would start airing new episodes on its new night starting January 6, 2010.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=See ya: 'Ugly Betty' moving to Wednesdays )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ugly Betty Moving To Wednesday, 10pm )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ugly Betty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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