“A lot of drama, a lot of crazy moments but for the most part, an entertaining, solid third season for ‘UGLY BETTY’.  Top notch writing and wonderful performances by the cast.  Expect a lot of surprises and celebrity guest appearances in the third season and a DVD with plenty of entertaining special features! Highly recommended!
© abc studios/Disney. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: UGLY BETTY – The Complete Third Season
DURATION: 24 episodes (1032 minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French and Spanish Subtitles, Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions
COMPANY: abc studios
RATED: TV PG DLSV
RELEASE DATE:Â September 22, 2009
Based on the Colombian telenovela “Betty la fea” by Fernando Gaitan
Directed by Victor Nelli Jr., Matt Shakman, John Terlesky, Tom Verica
Written by Silvio Horta, Henry Alonso Myers, Sheila R. Lawrence, Bill Wrubel, Jon Kinnally, Trace Poust, Chris Black, Brian Tanen, Fernando Gaitan, Peter Elkoff
Executive Producer: Salma Hayek, Silvio Horta, Jose Tamez, Benjamin Silverman
Co-Executive Producer: Sheila R. Lawrence, Teri Weinberg, Victor Nelli Jr., Henry Alonso Myers, Jon Kinnally, Tracy Poust, Richard Heus, Billy Wrubel
Producer: Jim Weiss
Co-Producer: Jerem Beim, Samantha Thomas
Associate Producer: Gregg Fishman
Music by Jeff Beal
Cinematography by Michael A. Price
Edited by Jennifer Pulver, Sarah Boyd
Casting by Geoffrey Soffer
Production Design by Mark Worthington
Art Direction by Charles E. McCarry
Set Decoration by Rich Devine
Costume Design by Patricia Field
Starring:
America Ferrera as Betty Suarez
Eric Mabius as Daniel Meade
Michael Urie as Marc St. James
Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater
Tony Plana as Ignacio Suarez
Ana Ortiz as Hilda Suarez
Ashley Jensen as Christina McKinney
Becki Newton as Amanda Tanen
Mark Indelicato as Justin Suarez
Judith Light as Claire Meade
Christopher Gorham as Henry Grubstick
Alec Mapa as Suzuki St. Pierre
Anna Kuchma as Modie
Sarah Lafleur as Molly
Grant Bowler as Connor Owens
Daniel Eric Gold as Matt
Ralph Macchio as Archie Rodriguez
David Rasche as Calvin Hartley
Christine Baranski as Victoria Hartley
There are underdogs and then there’s Betty Suarez. In the snooty world of high fashion, Betty is the ultimate “fish-out-of-water.†Her efforts to fit in with her colleagues at a glossy magazine may bring unintentionally hysterical results, but they also have audiences rooting for their favorite fashionista. In Season Three, Betty’s success shocks her co-workers at Mode—she’s leaving the old neighborhood in Queens for a Manhattan apartment and a slot at YETI (the prestigious Young Editors Training Institute). But it wouldn’t be Betty without some hilarious setbacks along the way!
A lot of drama, a lot of excitement, a lot of wild and crazy moments…overall, highly entertaining and another wonderful season of “UGLY BETTY”.
“UGLY BETTY”, a series that captured the attention of millions of viewers with its heartwarming and hilarious storyline and it helps that the series is an adaptation of the popular Colombian telenovela “Betty la fea” by Fernando Gaitan. The series revolved around Betty Suarez (America Ferrera, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” films, “Lords of Dogtown”), a woman with a kind heart and is always giving. The problem is that she is not fashionable, known for her thick hair, eyebrows and big glasses and braces.
In Season 1, we see how Betty gets a job at the fashion magazine known as Mode Magazine and work as an assistant for Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius, “The L World”, “The O.C.”, “Eyes”)., the Editor-in-Chief. Despite her looks and how badly she is treated at the workplace, Daniel sees the kindness in her heart and she manages to reach out to him and help him through his troubles.
The stories tend to focus on various storylines that revolve around Betty’s world. Betty lives with her father, Ignacio Suarez (Tony Plana, “24”, “Commander-in-Chief”) who happens to be a God believing man and very protective over his family. Her sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz, “Boston Legal”, “Batman: Gotchic Knight”) who moves back at home with her son Justin (Mark Indelicato). They are a strong Latino family with Betty more proper, while her sister is more street smarts.
At Mode Magazine, there is a bit of strife as behind-the-scenes Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams, “Hannah Montana: The Movie”, “Boom Town”, “South Beach”) tries to find ways she can move up and own Mode Magazine and in Season 1, she goes after Daniel’s father Brandon Meade (Alan Dale, “The O.C.”, “LOST”) and has an affair with him. Wilhelmina trusts her loyal assistant Marc St. James (Michael Urie) to do her dirty work. Meanwhile, Marc and receptionist Amanda Tanen (Becki Newton, “American Dreams”) are like two peas in a pod as they gossip about those who work for Mode Magazine, constantly make fun of Betty but yet despite their trash talking, they somehow also end up getting closer to Betty. As for Betty, she can always depend on her friend and Mode Magazine costume designer Christina McKinney (Ashley Jensen, “Extras” and “Eleventh Hour”) to go, if times are tough at work.
In Season Two, Wilhelmina will do anything to own Mode Magazine but her goal to marry Brandon Meade doesn’t go quite well but she manages to have sex with him and gets pregnant right before he dies. Meanwhile we are introduced to Daniel’s brother Alex turned woman named Alexis (Rebecca Romjin, “X-Men” films, “Pepper Dennis”) who is like another rival to Daniel and we also meet his mother who just escaped prison, Claire Meade (Judith Light, “Who’s the Boss”). Meanwhile, two men – Henry and Gio vie for Betty’s affection and one asks her hand in marriage.
In Season Three, we see Betty taking a more proactive approach in her job and trying to rise in the ranks of Mode but things get a bit crazy when her high school rival Kimmie (played by Lindsay Lohan) enters her life once again and takes part in the Young Editors Training Program (YETI). Meanwhile, Hilda’s salon is doing well but the city shuts it down, meanwhile Cliff and Marc become closer and eventually want to marry or will they? As for Daniel and Wilhelmina, the two must work together in ensuring that Mode Magazine becomes profitable.
Featuring even more celebrity guest appearances and exciting episodes, “UGLY BETTY – The Complete Third Season” features 24 episodes on six discs. Included are (spoiler-less summaries):
DISC: 1
- EPISODE 42 – The Manhattan Project – Wilhelmina is now Editor-in-Chief at Mode, while Daniel runs another magazine and Betty makes her return. While her father Ignacio get s a job at a fast food restaurant.
- EPISODE 43 – Filing for the Enemy – Daniel knows he is up to a custody battle for Daniel Jr., meanwhile Betty becomes Wilhelmina’s assistant.
- EPISODE 44 – Crimes of Fashion – Christina is injured and Wilhelmina’s baby is in trouble. But who at Mode Magazine is responsible for the accident?
- EPISODE 45 – Betty Suarez Land – With Gio’s return, Betty thinks they can continue to be friends but she finds out that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 46 – Granny Pants – Kimmie visits Betty and asks for help to get her a job at Mode. But despite all the bad things Kimmie did to Betty in the past, maybe she’s changed.
- EPISODE 47 – Ugly Berry – Kimmie has become Assistant Editor at Mode and steals Betty’s spotlight.
- EPISODE 48 – Crush’d – Jesse becomes attracted to her neighbor/musician Jesse. Amanda needs a place to live after being evicted and lives with Betty temporarily. Can Betty stand her new roommate?
- EPISODE 49 – Tornado Girl – With the MODE Magazine upper management on a retreat, Betty is in charge but with a tornado on its way, Betty must avert a PR nightmare. Can she pull it off? Meanwhile, Marc must make a major decision.
DISC 3:
- EPISODE 50 – When Betti Met YETI – Betty and Marc apply to YETI (The Young Editors Training Program) and become each other’s rival. Daniel starts to become more attracted to his friend’s wife, Molly.
- EPISODE 51 – Bad Amanda – Betty and Amanda must work on an article “How I Blew Ten Grand Without Spending a Dime”.
- EPISODE 52 – Dress For Success – Betty wants to impress her idol Jodie Papadakis, editor of YETI. Meanwhile, she meets her match with ELLE Magazine’s Teri.
- EPISODE 53 – Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – Betty and Hilda have sister problems and Daniel and Molly, Wilhemina and Connor have an affair.
DISC 4:
- EPISODE 54 – Kissed Off – Connor tries to find out who is admiring his wife, Molly. And musician Jesse starts to distract Betty once again.
- EPISODE 55 – The Courtship of Betty’s Father – Betty works on a video tribute for Claire Meade’s 60th Birthday but by leaving the camera at home, she discovers something about her father.
- EPISODE 56 – There’s No Place Like Mode – Wilhelmina starts to worry that this affair is affecting her job and a new face joins MODE Magazine.
- EPISODE 57 – Things Fall Apart – With YETI having Betty and Marc analyzing the magazine’s budget, she discovers a surprising discovery. Meanwhile, Betty sees that Henry is trying to friend her on Facebook and we learn something surprising about Molly.
DISC 5:
- EPISODE 58 – Sugar Daddy – With the Suarez’s landlord wanting to sell their house, they must find a rental home. Meanwhile, Ignacio takes part in a TV cook-off.
- EPISODE 59 – A Mother of a Problem – The Suarez family try to hook Hilda up with City Councilman, Archie from Queens.
- EPISODE 60 – The Sex Issue – Wilhelmina and Daniel decide to do an issue all about sex. Matt wants to take his relationship with Betty to a higher level.
- EPISODE 61 – Rabbit Test – The Suarez get an invitation to meet Matt’s billionaire father at his Easter Egg Hunt event. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina thinks that William might not be her biological son.
DISC 6:
- EPISODE 62 – The Born Identity – Matt’s billionaire father is willing to bail Mode Magazine, meanwhile baby William has been kidnapped.
- EPISODE 63 – In the Stars – Betty must work with Matt and Marc on their final YETI project. Meanwhile, Claire and Wilhelmina square off against each other. Someone gets married…
- EPISODE 64 – Curveball – Betty agrees to move in with Matt but while things go good in her new relationship, her former fiance returns to New York.
- EPISODE 65 – The Fall Issue – With the passing of an editor at Mode, this leaves a position open and Betty and Marc compete for it. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina has dirt on Claire and wants her to resign. Meanwhile, things go terrible for Betty and a someone dies.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“UGLY BETTY” is presented in Widescreen (1:78:1) and is enhanced for 16×9 televisions. Production for “UGLY BETY” is quite slick and for a drama series, picture quality is along the same lines as abc studio’s other DVD releases. Which is pretty good and compression artifacts and low light noise is not as visible.
As for audio, “UGLY BETTY” is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The series is front and center channel driven. Dialogue is clear, music is clear and overall, not a series to expect a lot of sound effects on your surround channels but for the most part, dialogue is understandable.
Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“UGLY BETTY – The Complete Third Season” includes the following special features:
DISC 1:
- Mode After Hours: Six “Mode After Hours” episodes featuring Marc St. James (Michael Urie) and best friend Amanda Tanen (Becki Newton) in hilarious episodes featuring what they do at Mode after hours. Included are the following episodes: “Gwadalaharahh”, “Friend-iversary Vlog”, “Bowling for Cliff”, “Slumber Party Secrets”, “Sommer’s Seance” and “Trapped in the Elevator”.
- Deleted Scenes – Three deleted scenes are included on Disc 1: What Are You Doing Here?, Don’t Let that Foam Fizzle, Lettuce
DISC 2:
- Audio Commentary for “Crush’d” with Executive Producers/Writers Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally and Co-Executive Producer/Director Victor Nelli Jr.
- Deleted Scenes – Five deleted scenes are included on Disc 2: A Bitch Never Changes Her Stripes, You are My Hag, The Roof, Go Get’Em, You Must Be Molly
DISC 3:
- Deleted Scene – Only one deleted scene Disc 3 titled “No Shoes!”
DISC 4:
- Deleted Scenes – Two deleted scenes on Disc 4: Either Way I’m Cool and Good Amanda
DISC 5:
- Look Who Keeps Popping Up – View “The Sex Issue” with video commentary hosted by Michael Urie & Becki Newton along with several surprising guests. We see two screens side-by-side, on the left there is commentary with the right screen showcasing the episode.
DISC 6:
- Coming Home to New York City – (12:43) We learn how “UGLY BETTY” is shot in Los Angeles but how the series moved to New York and how the cast found out that the show is moving to another location and how they all reacted. How New York is essential to “UGLY BETTY” and the best way to capture the city is to go back to New York. Interviews with the executive producers and cast members.
- Mode After Hours – Two “Mode After Hours” episodes featuring Marc St. James (Michael Urie) and best friend Amanda Tanen (Becki Newton) in hilarious episodes featuring what they do at Mode after hours. Included are the following episodes: “I Spy” and “Prank Calls”.
- Deleted Scenes – Seven deleted scenes are included on Disc 6 which include You Can Wow Anyone You Set Your Mind To, Padded Walls, I Fell Like I’m Dating Daniel, To Be Terminated, It’s Just a Nice Buff, Your New Trophy Wife and the Wedding Dance
- Betty Bloops – (8:39) Bloopers from “UGLY BETTY” Season 3.
“UGLY BETTY” continues to have another solid, stellar year with season 3. If there is one thing that is consistent with the series is that the writing has always been top notched since the very first episode and most importantly, the cast has been quite awesome for the series. The series has been nothing but a pleasure to watch and see Betty’s journey as a professional but also in her personal life. Everything seems to come together and work.
With this third season, there is quite a bit of laughter, typical backstabbing but even more emotional, dramatic scenes. The season finale for this third season of “UGLY BETTY” was very well done and the best so far.
Of course, this season had a lot of hype with what went on behind-the-scenes between Lindsay Lohan and the cast and crew. Whether or not the gossip surrounding what took place behind-the-scenes were true or not, the gossip definitely made people want to turn in to see this rivalry between Betty and Kimmie. Another actor who brought some interest in the show was “Karate Kid” actor Ralph Macchio who played the city councilman that Hilda was interested in. Pretty interesting role and hopefully we see more of him.
The third season also had featured episodes that had focused on character development of Marc, Amanda and Claire’s character. Also, the other characters brought in to the series helped bring out emotions that we have never seen from our main characters. For example, Molly brought out the best in Daniel Meade. In fact, this season was a dramatic season for Daniel as he had to deal with a custody battle, a family member who may go to prison and then facing loss. It was good to see Daniel being put through these rollercoaster type of events.
Last but not least, this DVD release of “UGLY BETTY – The Complete Third Season” is solid. I found the featurettes such as the “Mode After Hour” web episodes and the “Coming Home to New York City” cool special features but also seeing the “Look Who Keeps Popping Up” video commentary. I hope in the next season’s DVD release, we get more of that.
Overall, there’s nothing negative I can say about this season of “UGLY BETTY”. Last year, was hit by the Writer’s Guild Strike and thus shortened to 18 episodes but fortunately, this third season, the move to New York, solid acting performances and writing definitely made this season the best in the series thus far.
“UGLY BETTY” fans, “UGLY BETTY – The Complete Third Season” is highly recommended!