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ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

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ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Old 01-26-09, 06:18 PM
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ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Things are looking pretty gloomy for Ugly Betty.

In a just-announced Thursday night scheduling tweak, ABC is benching Betty beginning March 26 and replacing it with episodes of Samantha Who? and the new Megan Mullally-Cheryl Hines comedy In the Motherhood. The network's release concludes by saying, "Ugly Betty will return to Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. following the run of In the Motherhood and Samantha Who?"

After crunching the numbers, that puts Betty's return (provided Sam Who/Motherhood don't tank) sometime around (gulp) June -- a.k.a. outside the regular season. Now, granted, Betty hasn't exactly been killing it in the ratings this season, but it's still one of ABC's signature shows. At least I thought it was.

"The Thursday night block is a good opportunity to launch these comedies," counters an ABC spokesperson. "That said, Betty is a solid performer and there is no question that it will definitely be back to complete its season, just without repeats."

But when will it be back? The net's not saying, and that's the part that has me worried. Do you share my concern? Or is there a silver lining here that I'm just not seeing?
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/01/...ng-abc-be.html

WTF?
Old 01-26-09, 06:26 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

weird
Old 01-26-09, 06:42 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Strange. I've never watched it would they pushed it quite a bit and I figured it did well in the ratings.
Old 01-26-09, 06:42 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

I kind of lost interest in season two...I haven't seen any of season three yet and can't say I would really go out of my way to catch up on DVD.
Old 01-26-09, 07:09 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

I watch it every week but it is no where near as good as it was in the first season. I can't say I'll miss it when it is on hiatus.
Old 01-26-09, 07:20 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

9 weeks behind. I've gradually lost interest in it, but will eventually catch up at some point. I believe ABC greenlit a bunch of mid-season shows and needs timeslots to put them in hence Betty being benched.

Last edited by DJariya; 01-26-09 at 07:23 PM.
Old 01-26-09, 07:31 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

If you go to the EW.com blog where this story originated from, there is literally 300+ posts from people saying how outraged they are by this and will never watch ABC again.
Old 01-26-09, 07:48 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Originally Posted by calhoun07
I kind of lost interest in season two...I haven't seen any of season three yet and can't say I would really go out of my way to catch up on DVD.
Wife and I quit mid way through season 2. Just wasn't interested in the storylines.
Old 01-26-09, 07:59 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Could this and Salma Hayek's guest starring on an NBC show have anything in common?
Old 01-26-09, 08:12 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Pretty soon, I'll have NO scripted series to watch anymore. Especially on the Networks.
Old 01-26-09, 09:04 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Originally Posted by DJariya
If you go to the EW.com blog where this story originated from, there is literally 300+ posts from people saying how outraged they are by this and will never watch ABC again.
If there had been an Internet at the time, people would have become incensed and threatened to boycott NBC when they canceled Manimal.
Old 01-26-09, 09:10 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Originally Posted by Jason
If there had been an Internet at the time, people would have become incensed and threatened to boycott NBC when they canceled Manimal.
The truest thing I have read on the internet lately. Every show, no matter how bad it gets, has a hardcore fanbase that decries cancellation. If they pulled a test signal some people would get up in arms about it.
Old 01-26-09, 09:23 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

I'd be happy with an Amanda spinoff. She's the main reason I watch the show anyway.
Old 01-26-09, 11:16 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

I just couldn't get back into the show after the first episode this season, so I can't say I'll miss it or not.
Old 01-27-09, 12:28 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

This sucks, as there's another cast shake-up (one cast member wanting to leave, one guest getting killed off) added to this drama.
Old 01-27-09, 06:01 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Personally I think this is the right move. After this past episode, I removed this show from my weekly viewing. The only characters I can remotely stand to watch are Mark and Amanda anymore.

Betty always sublimates her career path to her family and her family always makes her feel guilty when she tries to take any responsibility for advancing her own career. Betty keeps making the same mistakes and letting everyone take advantage of her - it's all so frustrating.

Michael
Old 01-27-09, 06:44 AM
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Although I agree with many of the complaints about this season, I'll still miss this show.
Old 01-27-09, 08:07 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Originally Posted by fiver
Betty always sublimates her career path to her family and her family always makes her feel guilty when she tries to take any responsibility for advancing her own career. Betty keeps making the same mistakes and letting everyone take advantage of her - it's all so frustrating.
I concur. And while I will certainly miss it, I'll take advantage of that change to record something else in that timeslot since 8pm is one of the busiest for my HD TiVo. So I'm planning to switch things around to do Smallville, Earl and that new Megan Mullally-Cheryl Hines show (which really sounds promising even if it means Hines is definitely done with Curb Your Enthusiasm).
Old 01-27-09, 08:32 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

We were just discussing how bad this show has gotten. I found the last couple of episodes revolving around the "family" storyline to be particularly painful. The rest of it has been pretty good, but anything with the "family" just turns to poo.
Old 01-27-09, 09:00 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Originally Posted by fiver
Betty always sublimates her career path to her family and her family always makes her feel guilty when she tries to take any responsibility for advancing her own career.
Betty's family annoys me how they are always trying to bring her down. Her sister is the worst. Giving Betty grief for not being there when the father had his heart attack, when she was WORKING. That was just wrong, no one can predict something like that happening and be with someone at every moment.
Old 01-27-09, 09:03 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

I've lost interest in the show as well.
Old 01-27-09, 09:32 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

I never really watched this show, but always assumed it was still a fan favorite and drew solid ratings. As result, surprised to hear this move by ABC.
Old 01-27-09, 10:49 AM
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I just think the storyline needs a major shake-up: move Betty to reporting instead of assistant, for example. Moving her back home now feels like regression.
Old 01-27-09, 10:59 AM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Never caught this show (someday on DVD) but I feel for the fans. After ABC canceled all 3 of their sophmore shows I stopped caring for the network except Scrubs and Lost. After those end, I have no reason to tune to the network (much like CBS).
Old 01-27-09, 12:27 PM
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Re: ABC benches 'Ugly Betty'

Looks like you guys can blame Bones for kicking Ugly Betty's ass last week

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012602172.html

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