Posted by Dustin on 05.28.2008 at 6:12 pm

At the end of “Ugly Betty’s” first season, Broadway, TV and film star Kristin Chenoweth appeared as Betty’s singing orthodontic tech. Soon the cast was talking that the show wanted to do an entire musical episode where everyone would sing. It never came to pass in the second season, possibly due to the writers strike, but it seems the show still wants to do a musical episode. Not only that, Michael Urie (Mark) told a British radio station that the show actually wants to do an actual Broadway musical based on the television show.

There have also been rumors floating around that Marc Cherry wants to take “Desperate Housewives” to Broadway at some point.

Source: Contact Music

Posted by Dustin on 05.24.2008 at 9:46 pm

The season finale opened with a flashback of Betty playing dodge ball back in high school as an example of why she doesn’t do sports and didn’t want to play in the upcoming Mode charity softball tournament. In the flashback Lindsay Lohan played a mean girl in high school who picked on Betty. Before it even seemed to start the flashback was over. All I have to say was that was the big hyped appearance by Lohan? Yes she’s going to return next season, but next season seems so far away right now. I thought there would be more of her in this episode than that!

The first issue of Hot Flash came out, and Betty was upset to find out her article didn’t make it. Claire told her that she liked it, but it was just too safe. She wanted to know what Betty wanted to do in life. Betty said she wanted to own her own magazine like her. Claire told her to do that she needed to stop playing things so safe and take a risk. I have to say I love that Judith Light has been given a bigger role on this show and I hope it continues to stay that way. You can totally see her eventually trying to pair Daniel and Betty up at some point down the road.

A little French boy showed up at Mode while Daniel, Willy and Alexis met with some Dutch woman. She was a major advertiser or designer or something. Daniel had all these charts made to impress her, but she seemed bored and confused. It was Willy to the rescue again when she said Mode would donate their proceeds of their charity softball game to a children’s charity that the woman regularly donates too.

Meanwhile the French boy found Daniel, and Daniel found a translator as the kid didn’t speak English. It seems the French boy was on a class trip and snuck away. The boy’s mom was a model Daniel had a fling with back in Paris. Well off course she ended up pregnant and has recently died. He came searching for his father, who of course is Daniel!

Gio helped Betty practice softball so she could play in the tournament. He then sprung a huge surprise on her. He was planning to go to Rome for a month and wanted her to go with him. Because Claire told her she had to take risks, she agreed!

Betty was shocked when she learned about Daniel’s son, whose name is Daniel Jr of course, but Daniel was sure this was a trick. Either it was a con or it was Willy up to her old games. Willy however claimed she did not do this, and thought it was a gift from God that she could use to further shove Daniel out of Mode. They got a blood test to see if the boy was his, but wouldn’t know for weeks. Daniel gave him the cold shoulder still thinking this wasn’t true, so Willy scooped in and asked him to come to dinner with her.

Betty told her dad and Hilda about her trip to Rome. The dad didn’t like the idea, until Henry showed up out of the blue and asked Betty to marry him! He said he could get her a job at a magazine writing in Tuscon, he wanted her to come back with him as his fiance. Not exactly the most romantic proposal in the world if you ask me. Oh and what are the living arrangements going to be? That should have been brought up, because if this is some “Three’s Company” arrangement then Henry can shove his ring where the son don’t shine!

Daniel was shocked when he saw Daniel Jr on the news apparently picking through dumpsters to find food while Daniel was out partying with models. This made him and Mode look bad. Alexis was furious as the Dutch woman pulled out of their contract because she saw this. She said the only way to save this was for Daniel to keep a low profile and take a leave of absence. Daniel reminded her that he was the one who stood by her when almost all the advertisers bailed on them when she came out as a tranny. She apparently didn’t care, as she said she had learned from that experience and now she was in charge! She then walked off. I was so angry that Alexis did this! She knows what it felt like to be stabbed in the back by their father, and Daniel was the one who accepted her first. She’s really going to be sorry when the day comes that Willy turns on her and Daniel isn’t there!

Later Daniel read a letter that Daniel Jr’s mom gave him upon her death, naming him as her father and wanting Daniel Jr to seek him out. Daniel realized the boy was in fact his son, he didn’t need to wait for the blood test to come back. Oh dear, famous last words? Something about that bothered me. I wonder if this will turn out to be a con in the end after all?

Hilda meanwhile decided to take a chance with Coach Diaz in this episode, only to find out he was married! He gave her the story about how they were separated, on and off again, but he had to tell her and that he felt he was falling for her. Slime! She was furious and stormed off on him.

Willy successfully talked the Dutch woman into returning, then did some major sucking up to Alexis. She said it’s easier getting things done around here without Daniel. She reminded Alexis of their original plan to take over, and perhaps she should find a different position for Daniel. I expected this from Willy, but not Alexis! Alexis looked conflicted over doing this to Daniel, but she didn’t exactly stand up for him either. She knows Willy’s games and should have figured it out that this was one of them!

The softball game finally began. It was Elle versus Mode, and Noami Campbell was on Elle’s team. When she took a call on her cell, everyone ducked like she was going to throw it at them. Hilarious!

Daniel brought his son to the game, and Daniel Jr made a comment about Mark being funny. Daniel soon figured out Willy and Mark were the ones who made him look bad in the press. Willy admitted it, then told him she was the new editor in chief at Mode! Daniel couldn’t believe Alexis did this too him. He argued with Alexis, as Claire watched and was furious herself. He and his son then walked off, Daniel didn’t even play in the game.

Gio and Henry both showed up at the game to be with Betty, and they soon found out about the other’s proposals. Betty had a big choice to make. Go to Rome with Gio or marry Henry?

The show ended with Madonna’s “Jump” playing, which was also the name of this episode. Coincidentally the music through the entire episode was from Madonna’s new “Hard Candy” CD. Anyway, the song and episode title referred to all the decisions having to be made by the characters at the end of the show.

Hilda was trying to decide what to do given she’d already lost love once, and she ended up going to married Coach Diaz and they kissed.

Mode won the game and while everyone partied and praised Willy for helping them win, while Claire gave Alexis the evil eye. Daniel meanwhile packed his office and left with his son.

Betty packed a suitcase and left her house, and the show ended with her on her front porch. Which plane will Betty get on? The one to Tucson or the one to Rome? We now have to wait till next season to find out!

Personally I’m hoping Betty goes with Gio at this point. I suspect she will, because obviously if she married Henry she moves out of New York and the show ends! I bet the show will pick up with her just getting back from Rome with Gio.

I’m not sold on Daniel Jr really being Daniel’s son, they could really throw a curve-ball in next season and say he wasn’t, that the blood tests came back. I would like to see Daniel at this point join a rival magazine or start his own up within the company like Claire did and compete with Mode. A men’s fashion magazine maybe?

I’m surprised Christina wasn’t in this episode, as that would have been a good way to stir up more drama. At this point I think she has to have figured out what Willy did to get her hands on Bradford’s swimmers.

Photos: ABC.com

Posted by Dustin on 05.20.2008 at 6:54 pm

Rumor has it that Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, is going to make several more appearances on “Ugly Betty” as herself next season.

Source: ShowbizSpy

Posted by Dustin on 05.16.2008 at 12:38 am

So the show opened with the triumphant (in her mind) return of Wilamena to Mode. Uhg, I can’t wait until Christina drops the bomb about how she really got pregnant, but I am not expecting that till next season. Daniel and Alexis are scared of her and made a pact not to make a move without each other, but Willy knew how to divide and conquer this family. Oh dear!

Meanwhile Amanda was glad to have her partner in crime Mark back. I have to admit I am too, I’ve missed these too, even if they are mean and hateful to Betty. Amanda was working on a reality show with her dad Gene Simmons called “Daddy’s Little Girl.” Mark wanted to be in it, but she didn’t want him there. She made all sorts of excuses, even saying Gene hated the gays. However he showed up and Gene wanted a funny gay on the show, it was just what they needed. Unfortunately Mark soon observed that when the camera’s stopped rolling, Gene stopped playing daddy to Amanda. He tries to tell her this, but she wouldn’t hear it and said he was jealous that she was rock star royalty and he was nothing. Later though Amanda found out her dad’s butt tattoo was a fake! Gene apparently faked it as a media ploy. I’m forgetting here (since the strike made the earlier episodes so long ago) if Amanda made comments to the press about her dad, because how would Gene know to fake a butt tattoo of Tweet Bird? Whatever! Amanda soon realized Gene wasn’t her dad and she apologized to Mark. Now we are back wondering who Amanda’s father is though! Grrrrrrr!

Betty and Gio flirted a bit, though she claimed she wasn’t flirting, so he kissed her. He teased her about being the rebound guy, but she slapped him. Henry had gone back to Tuscon with Charlie and the baby and Betty was all heart broken. At this point I say good riddance Henry! She should have dumped him the minute she found out he knocked Charlie up and planned to stay with her. This little “last hurrah” they had wasn’t romantic at all, it was pretty depressing in my opinion. They should have made a clean break, but this essentially a “soap.”

Hilda continued her crush on coach Tony Diaz, even deciding to help him chaperon a school dance to get closer to him. I have to say I think these two are cute and hope they continue with this story. I love when they use Hilda and would love to see more of her as I think she is phenomenal and adds to the show. Unfortunately Hilda got sick and couldn’t go, so she sent Betty instead. Betty was supposed to be working on an article for Claire’s magazine “Hot Flash” on the youth’s view of the older generation. She decided to go in order to get some opinions for her article.

Betty took Justin to the dance and tried to get some interviews with kids, but nobody would give her the time of day. Of course Gio was there with his little sister, and he gave Betty some pointers on talking to the kids. It worked, and later Betty and Gio shared a dance. I’m really warming up to these two a lot. I think I want to see her with Gio rather than Henry, but I know she’ll probably end up with Henry in the end. Henry, I’m still convinced, isn’t the baby’s father.

Justin ended up talking to the coach about his mom, basically saying his mom likes him and he wanted to know if he had interest in her. Later in the episode he dropped by to see Hilda and they made a date. Meanwhile Betty and Gio broke into the school’s trophy case (I think she got it for journalism) so Betty could hold her old trophy she won, but they got busted by the principal! He then “expelled” Betty from school for being a bad citizen. Whatever! I hope after that she took her trophy with her!

Back to the Mode drama, Willamina began her divide and conquer plan, starting with Daniel and Alexis. She made inroads at a magazine cover meeting. She then used the media to promote herself. Daniel thought two could use the media and went on Larry King. Convinced Mark was calling into the show with stupid questions, he lost it on live tv! Larry made him look like an idiot because the call was from Vermont and was not Mark calling.

Willy meanwhile swooped in to save Claire’s magazine, which was getting no advertisers. She gave her pointers on how to get them, and this won points with Alexis. She named Willy back as Mode’s creative director, much to Claire and Daniel’s objection. Oh how Alexis will regret this one when she makes plays to take her job! Of course in the end it was Mark calling Larry King, he had a Vermont cellphone as instructed by Willy. Oh how I want to see her go down, but like I said, I don’t see it happening anytime this season.

The show ended with Betty asking Gio on a date, but he turned her down. He said he didn’t want to be her rebound guy, he wanted to be her guy! Awwwwwww. Honestly though, way to go Henry for standing up for yourself. This is why I think he and Betty are perfect for each other.

The season finale is next week. From the previews Gio asks Betty to go to Rome with him and she says yes. Then Henry returns and proposes to Betty. Finally Willamina somehow gets herself named “Editor in Chief” of Mode, which means Daniel is out!

Photo: ABC.com

Posted by Dustin on 05.07.2008 at 1:19 pm

“Ugly Betty” takes place in New York City, but is actually filmed on a lot in LA. It looks like when they start shooting the third season though, they’ll be filming in New York! A large reason for the said move is that New York offers a film tax credit which would save them oodles of money. As of yet no official word has been given confirming this move, but numerous sources are reporting it as fact. If true, up to 150 people working on the show could lose their jobs.

Sources: LA Times, Entertainment Weekly

Posted by Dustin on 05.06.2008 at 11:20 am

The following is the official PR from ABC on Lindsay Lohan joining “Ugly Betty.” Also added in is the official finale release with a few more spoilers.

LINDSAY LOHAN JOINING THE CAST FOR MULTI-EPISODE ARC OF ABC’S AWARD-WINNING SERIES “UGLY BETTY”

Viewers Will First See Her Character in “Ugly Betty’s” Season Finale on May 22

Lindsay Lohan (”Mean Girls,” “Bobby”) will join the cast of ABC’s hit comedy “Ugly Betty,” appearing in the upcoming Season Finale and in five episodes next season. Viewers will first see Lohan’s character in the Season Finale episode airing THURSDAY, MAY 22 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET). She’ll play a mean girl from high school who suddenly resurfaces in Betty’s life. She’ll continue on the show when the series makes its third Season Premiere next fall.

Lohan’s character’s name is Kimberly. More spoilers follow

Read More »

Posted by Dustin on 05.04.2008 at 3:05 pm

Spoilers and some discussion for both “Grey’s” and “Betty” follow!

Read More »

Posted by Dustin on 05.03.2008 at 8:26 pm

Another quicker recap of the latest episode of “Ugly Betty,” mostly focusing on my thoughts on this episode and less on recapping.

So right before she was going back to Arizona, the baby mama Charlie suddenly had various issues and is now sticking around New York to have her baby. From the previews for next week she goes into labor, so perhaps this isn’t a faked pregnancy. If not, I think she’s somehow faked the DNA test. I’m sure the baby will come out and be Hispanic, Asian or African-American . . . something that will let Henry know he’s definitely not the father. If not, then maybe the baby’s blood type will be off and someone will catch that.

Henry learned that Gio and Betty had remained friends and still saw one other, because Amanda opened her big mouth about how Gio was in love with Betty. Henry confronted Gio and they got into a tiff. I think Henry doesn’t get to play the jealous or the Gio card really because of what is going on with Charlie. He and Betty keep saying they only have four weeks left together as is. It’s time for Henry to accept he’s going to lose Betty whether he likes it or not and he doesn’t get to be jealous or upset about it. He’s the one who knocked up Charlie, so we are led to believe.

Willy continued with her plan to drive Renee nuts and have her committed. Now Renee knows the truth about the Bradford scheme, so obviously that’s a reason to get her out of the way. However before she knew, Willy seemed to want her gone and I still don’t know why. Something more has to be going on that we don’t know about.

Without her pills, Renee started to become jealous and set her sites on Betty, convinced she was in love with Daniel and out to take her from him. Hilariously Daniel started to wonder about Betty and thought she was in love with him too! He even had a naughty dream about her. Oh no, are they going to have Daniel suddenly fall for Betty?

Nina Garcia and Christian Siriano made their cameos in this episode as they met with Daniel and Alexis. Christian didn’t think there was enough drama at Mode for him, until Renee burst in calling his models Daniel’s new whores! Christian loved it. I have to say I thought his appearance was campy and hilarious, just like him. I loved Nina Garcia saying winning “Project Runway” had completely gone to his head.

Christina was still trying to find out what was going on with Renee, having heard Willy refer to her as a murderer. She and Betty broke into Willy’s files and learned that Renee apparently had an affair with a professor at Stoneybrook, become jealous of his assistant and tried to kill her by arson . . . but killed the professor instead! So that it seems is the big secret behind her, candles and Stoneybrook. What I didn’t get was why it seemed like Christina hadn’t heard about the plan with Bradford’s sperm? I guess she didn’t hear about it after all, because that’s a bigger thing to reveal really in my opinion.

The show ended with Betty rushing to warn Daniel about Renee, only to be caught by Renee in Daniel’s apartment with a million candles. It seems she was out to repeat history. Fortunately Betty knocked her out and stopped a fire from starting and Willy had her committed. Renee told Daniel she was sorry, she thought she was getting better. Daniel also asked Betty about her “feelings” for him. She teased him, saying she loved him but wasn’t in love with him. She left to be with Henry, who she had worked things out with after the Gio stuff. Daniel however looked a little sad to me. I think he’s falling for Betty!

Posted by Dustin on 05.02.2008 at 6:17 pm

In the fall the rumor popped up that Lohan was set to guest star on an episode of “Ugly Betty,” but the deal fell through. Now TV Guide is reporting the talks are back on and it’s possible not only will she appear on the May 22nd season finale, she could become a regular next season with as much as 8 episodes!

Posted by Dustin on 04.29.2008 at 1:33 pm

So “Ugly Betty” is the first show I’ve caught up on, so let’s get to dishin it!

This show centered around Betty’s 24th birthday. She and Henry had plans to go to the Poconos, until Charile the “Baby Mama” showed up to ruin that. Charlie then set out to ruin all Betty’s other plans she made with Henry, such as dinner and a concert in the park with fireworks. Gio returned in this episode and became her knight in shining armor. He found her at a restaurant to deliver a message that Henry couldn’t meet her, because he had Charlie issues. Betty was unintentionally stood up by him, he tried to call her and tell her not to go, but Justin bedazzled her phone for her birthday and it interfered with her reception. Too funny! The episode ended with Betty and Gio seeing makeshift fireworks which came from some welders working on a building.

I have to say, the more I see of them, the more I like Gio and Betty together. Henry is getting on my every last nerves the way he lets Charlie play him. I still don’t believe Charlie is carrying his kid. Heck I wouldn’t be surprised if she lost the baby or was never pregnant and is faking it at this point. Pillow baby!

Other storylines going on in the episode . . . Willy set out to sabotage Daniel and Renee’s relationship, why we really don’t know. Clearly she can’t be protecting Daniel, she has to be looking out for her own butt for some reason. She told Daniel to ask Renee about “Stoneybrook.” Willy came between them, but they patched things up quickly. Renee claimed Stoneybrook was her college, she had a breakdown there and has been taking pills ever since. They then decided to move in together. Okay talk about fast moving here, this isn’t going to end well for poor Daniel.

Meanwhile Christina, locked in Willy’s place and determined to find out what is really up with Willy and her nutty sister, hid a baby monitor to listen to conversations. Renee got Mark drunk and got the truth out of him about Bradford’s sperm, which Christina must have heard no? Renee used it to blackmail Willy to leave her and Daniel alone. Later Willy caught the baby monitor right before she was to reveal a huge secret about her sister. Willy had Mark break into Daniel’s apartment to switch Renee’s pills with something else, which would drive her nuts again. Willy told Marc that he may think she’s the evil sister, but even she stops short of murder. Woah! I wonder what she did, and what’s with the hatred of candles Renee has? Also the scene with Daniel catching Marc looking at his undies, and Marc telling Daniel he wanted him to cover, was hilarious! Best scene of the show. The second best scene goes to Hilda for her confrontation with Charlie and flashing her nails, which aren’t just decorative.

The last storyline going on involved Claire starting a magazine for older women called Hot Flash. Alexis didn’t believe the magazine was going to be a success, it was a project they gave their mom to keep her occupied, but she was spending too much money and had to cut her off. After a pep-talk from Betty about how resourceful Claire is, Claire brought in ex-cons on a prison release program to help her with the magazine.

Photo Source: ABC.com