The Good
Buena Vista has made this release something special for the fans.
The Bad
Ultimately, I couldn’t get passed the fact that this show only seemed to be paying lip service to the problem it was supposedly addressing.
Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) is a young fireplug of a woman who never met a situation she didn’t at least try to overcome. And overcome she must when gets a job at the trendy, fashion magazine Mode. The thing is she was hired because she doesn’t look like the models and other beautiful people who traipse around the place. It seems that Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), the publisher’s son, will sleep with anyone and the hope is that as Daniel’s secretary Betty’s lack of looks will inspire him to actually get some work done. At the same time, a funny thing happens as Betty’s determination, work ethic and drive manage to garner the notices of some pretty powerful players. The problem here is that life is never easy and for Betty Suarez this doesn’t make working with her catty coworkers any easier. However, that’s how things are in the big time and it sure beats working somewhere that Betty isn’t passionate about.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Some of the episodes on this set include “The Lyin’, the Watch and the Wardrobe,” which sees Betty show up to work dressed for a Halloween party… and their isn’t one. “Swag” sees Betty really in the thick of things as she tries to help Daniel get his credit back on track after he is cut off due to $20,000 in expense fees. Then Betty sees her life get taken away from her during New York’s Fashion Week in the episode “I’m Coming Out.” Lastly, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” sees Betty have to act as a beard for Marc (Michael Urie) when his mom comes by the magazine and she doesn’t know he is gay.
Focusing on the “judge a book by its cover” world of high fashion, Ugly Betty is one of those shows that you either love or hate. It tries to have it’s heart in the right place and in certain instances it does, I just found that too much of this show seems to point out a problem that nobody is going to really do anything about. For example, if we went to the set of Ugly Betty it probably wouldn’t be too much different than how life is portrayed at Mode Magazine.
Features
Green is the New Black
For those of you who thought this show as actually shot on location in Manhattan… you’ve been duped. Everything you’re seeing, whether it’s the posh offices, tall high rises or even areas like Queens have all been recreated on a set in the confines of Hollywood. Why this would surprise viewers is anyone’s guess as I just sort of always figured that was understood. What show would really want to move their base of operations to the East Coast when everything could be created for them close to home in LA? This “making of” piece does a good job of taking us behind the scenes and showing how, if utilized correctly, film locations can be created anywhere.
A La Mode
I found this segment to be somewhat unnecessary. Afterall, the magazine in this show is fake but I guess if you are a rabid Betty fan you’ll get something out of this. What I can tell you is that Mode is a place that I probably would never want to work. I am growing increasingly dubious toward the ideas that the companies we work for in the 21st Century own us. That someone like Betty Suarez can be treated so badly just to have her “cool” card punched for working there. Okay, I think I am reading too much into this. This segment is little more than a fun puff piece so enjoy it for what it is… and isn’t.
Deleted Scenes
Becoming Ugly
Of all the sections on this DVD set, I think that this one is probably the best as we get the cast exploring working on this show and some of its deeper themes. While Ferrera rightly or wrongly gets to be the face of this show, she seems genuinely concerned with how her depiction of the Betty character effects others. This was nice to hear but I couldn’t decide if she was being sincere or maybe I am so unfamiliar with her that I don’t know any better.
Video
Widescreen (1.78:1) - Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions. This show being from 2006 it didn’t surprise me how sharp it looked. In fact had the look of this show been anything less than clear, concise and pristine, I think there might have been a big problem. What is amazing is how sharp the look has held up over the compression process. We’re talking about 992 minutes of color footage that had to be ported over here. The fact that the shows were digitally mastered probably had a decent hand in making things look even better. I watched this show on a pretty large size TV and the compression seemed quite good. I noticed no parts of the onscreen images that looked like they were overly baked in the process.
Audio
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Spanish Language track. The audio on this release was good. Nothing about it really jumped out at me but I don’t think that viewers are watching this show for some amazing audio experience. The sound was solid and didn’t really have a lot of range when the music was loud or if it was just the characters talking. So much of television presents the characters on a show talking in His Girl Friday sorts of cadences. Everything discussed is quick and disposable in a show like Ugly Betty which actually plays well into the subject matter of this show.
Package
The famously awful image of America Ferrera graces the embossed front cover of this slipcase. (Why they felt the need to emboss the braces and glasses Ferrara is wearing is anybody’s guess…?) The back cover gives us a picture of the cast, a short description of this show and a Bonus Features/Technical Specs listing. The discs in this set all pull out in one piece of artwork that gives us more images from the show, and it also lists out where all the episodes are on each disc.
Final Word
Why in the world do they use such an annoying picture of America Ferrera to promote this show? In addition to this, what about girls that resemble how this character looks? How are they going to feel seeing the word “Ugly” associated with in any way with them? This whole presentation seems to be saying, “The beautiful people are here to tell you who is and isn’t beautiful… however, she really is beautiful inside.” That’s always where they get you. As if that’s supposed to make someone feel better? They are pretty but their beauty is only on the inside. For example, I never watched this show until I was given it on DVD because of that image of Ferrera. Then you see her in real life and she looks almost nothing like this. Why is this okay but an actor putting on black face isn’t? I also understand that we are talking about two different things, but is what we’re talking about different or is the scale that they’re weighed on different?
Ugly Betty: The Complete First Season should make the fans of this show happy. It is filled with bonus material in addition to giving viewers everything they could want from this show’s maiden run. While I might not be the biggest fan of Ugly Betty, I am happy for those that are that they get to have their favorite show in such a comprehensive way.
Ugly Betty was released .
