Yo soy Betty, la fea

Yo soy Betty, la fea (transl. I am Betty, the Ugly one) is a Colombian telenovela, written by Fernando Gaitán and produced from 25 October 1999 to 8 May 2001 by RCN (Radio Cadena Nacional) network. More than a dozen versions of the telenovela have been made in other countries due to the popularity of the plot. American comedy-drama hit Ugly Betty and Mexican series La fea más bella are both based on the Colombian soap opera.

Yo soy Betty, la fea
Also known asBetty, la fea
Genre
Created byFernando Gaitán
Directed byMario Ribero Ferreira
Starring
Theme music composer
  • Francisco Canaro
  • Ivo Pellay
Opening theme"Se dice de mí" performed by Yolanda Rayo
Country of originColombia
Original languageSpanish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes335
Production
Executive producerMaría del Pilar Fernández
Production locationsBogotá, Colombia
CinematographyAlirio Farfán
EditorMaría Vásquez
Release
Original networkRCN Televisión
Original release25 October 1999 (1999-10-25) –
8 May 2001 (2001-05-08)
Chronology
Related showsBetty Toons (2002) I ♥ Betty La Fea

Betty, la Fea re-aired on Spanish-language U.S. network TeleFutura in January 2009. Eight years after the telenovela's original run, the highly anticipated return of the original version of Yo Soy Betty, La Fea delivered impressive ratings for the network, attracting over one million viewers, more than half a million of which were adults aged 18–49. In addition, the premiere episode doubled and in some cases nearly tripled its prior audience among all key demographics.

Due to the success of re-runs aired in the United States, in June 2009, Yo soy Betty, la fea re-aired in Mexico on Canal de las Estrellas, later Azteca 7.

Betty, la fea is one of the world's most acclaimed and popular television shows and is considered the most famous Latin telenovela in history. It is the first telenovela to have been remade worldwide and has been regarded as bringing the telenovela to new levels of success.[1]

Plot

Taking place mainly in Bogotá, Colombia, Betty La Fea is essentially a Cinderella comedy about the rise of poor, ugly Betty Pinzón and the fall of rich, handsome Armando Mendoza. Armando is a very incompetent playboy with a scheme to turn a huge profit as the new president of Eco Moda, a clothing manufacturing company. But his scheme is doomed for his faulty mathematics. Because Betty, his secretary (and economics wizard), is enamored with him, she helps Armando deceive the board of directors as he loses money and brings the company to ruin. The story has three movements: 1) Armando's foolish destruction of Eco Moda, 2) Betty's flight from the disgrace and her vacation in Cartagena where she is transformed to a beauty, and 3) Betty returned to Eco Moda, installed as new president. The structure is much like a classical symphony in three movements. The first is sonata-allegro, acted out with very fast velocity, with the irrational idiocy of Armando vs the calm rationality of Betty while she fantasizes romance with Armando in her mind. The second is a slow short movement with much time spent showing parades and the like in Cartagena counterpoised vs. the degradation of disgraced Armando back in Bogotá, while Betty undergoes a transformation from ugly to beautiful. The third is the stabilization of Eco Moda under Betty's presidency ending with the marriage of Betty and Armando with the birth of their baby.

Beatriz Aurora Pinzón Solano, (Betty), is an ugly but brilliant economist working as a secretary at a Colombian fashion empire, EcoModa. Betty constantly faces the scorn of Eco Moda's attractive manager-owners but proves herself indispensable to Eco Moda's new president, Armando Mendoza. Though Betty has a master's degree in finance and graduated at the top of her class, she has always been unable to secure a job interview, because, she claims, her ugly photograph ruins her otherwise impressive résumé. After searching unsuccessfully for a job to match her education and experience, she applies for a position as the secretary to the president of Eco Moda, a highly successful, trendy fashion manufacturer/retailer founded by two families, the Mendozas and the Valencias. She sends her résumé to Eco Moda without a photograph, thus securing an interview.

Armando Mendoza, who is Eco Moda's new president, is the handsome and stupid (though supposedly educated) son of the company's retiring co-founder Roberto Mendoza. He is engaged to Marcela Valencia (because he needs her vote to be president). Marcela is an Eco Moda executive and daughter of the deceased co-founder, Julio Valencia. Armando is in search of a new secretary and interviews both Betty and Marcela's best friend, named Patricia Fernández, for the same position. He is reluctant to hire Patricia because he knows that Marcela wants her there to spy on him, given his reputation as a womanizer. Armando then interviews Betty. While he notices her "ugliness", he likes the idea that she is well-educated in economics. In order to please Marcela, Armando decides to hire as his new secretaries both Betty, the ugly but brilliant economist, and the very attractive but air-headed Patricia.

Since Eco Moda is a fashion company that is primarily concerned with image and beauty, Patricia is seated in the lobby while Betty is seated in a large storage closet located in Armando's office, to not be shown to the public. Nevertheless, Betty continues to prove herself invaluable as she maneuvers effortlessly in the business and finance milieu, earning respect among industry insiders and the secretaries who would become her close friends, lately called El cuartel de las feas (The club of the ugly women). Betty is almost immediately enamored of love with Armando, but keeps her feelings a secret as she fantasizes about a relationship with him. She is thrilled to hear Armando say something like, "You are the woman that I need".

Along the way, Eco Moda falls from Armando's incompetent schemes that cause the company to lose millions of dollars, therefore putting the company into financial ruin. Out of loyalty, and love, to Armando, she helps him launch a new business in her name, which can lend money to Eco Moda and then put an embargo on the company to prevent its creditors from foreclosing it and seizing it if Eco Moda fails. The business plan sets up a legal company named Terra Moda, legally owned by Betty. Terra Moda prevents the banks from taking over Eco Moda, because Terra Moda forecloses on Eco Moda before the other creditors. Once the summer fashion line is released, Eco Moda will be secure in their finances, and Terra Moda can be dissolved. However, Armando asks Betty for the second time to cook the books of the company in order to deceive the board by hiding its ruined status, so he may remain in the presidency. Betty reluctantly agrees to help him with this fraud and asks her best friend, Nicolas Mora, to go along with it. Eco Moda's vice president (and Armando's best friend) Mario Calderon is the only other person at the company who knows about the business plan. However, because of how the plan works, Eco Moda has been taken over by legal process by Terra Moda, setting up Betty as the virtual owner. Mario is concerned that Betty plans to keep the company to herself after they suspect she is involved in a romantic relationship with her best friend (Nicolas Mora). He convinces Armando to make her fall in love with him for security. Armando is sure that Betty could never be so devious, but after hearing rumors about the supposedly relationship between Betty and Nicolas, he begins to worry that they will stay with the company and all its fortune. He takes Mario's advice and starts to seduce Betty, even though he is disgusted by the idea. Once the company is back in Armando's hands, he will break up with Betty and fire her.

As the weeks pass by, Betty falls more in love with Armando. In turn, Armando starts seeing past the "ugliness" and looks at the beautiful person that Betty is inside. He genuinely begins to fall in love with her, but keeps his feelings a secret from Mario, who constantly teases him about having to kiss the ugly girl. A couple of days before the budget meeting, Betty discovers a letter from Mario to Armando in a blue gift bag, describing details about the deception that is all disguised with chocolates and other things included in the bag. When the bag accidentally falls into her hands, the very curious Betty accidentally discovers the plan and learns of the deception. Not knowing how to react, Betty falls into a deep depression and silently cries in agony. A heart broken Betty is then discovered by Beauty Queen Cecilia Bolocco (as herself), and tries to care for her. She is refused by Betty's sudden hate and envy for beautiful women. After insisting on helping her, Betty opens up and the two of them have a heart to heart conversation. After Cecilia leaves, Betty begins to have hope that the deception is nothing more than a joke after remembering the wonderful moments that she had with Armando. She then makes photocopies of the letter, and asks the secretaries to return the gift bag as if it was never found.

When Armando receives a call from Mario, and he retrieves the gift bag, it is confirmed that the deception is indeed not a joke, and Betty wails silently in agony. She is devastated at how Armando could be so cruel and play with her feelings, but first decides to resign from Eco-Moda, but after a lot of thinking, she decides to play along with Armando's game. Betty first makes Armando believe she is losing feelings for him and falling in love with her childhood friend Nicholas. She begins to torment Armando by spending Eco Moda's money on a luxury car and fancy restaurants and then by spending more time with Nicholas, thus making Armando furiously jealous. After a few days of torment, tears, and fist fights (Nicholas and Armando), Betty realizes she is only making her pain worse by playing along with the game and decides to end it.

She exposes the truth of the secret business plan to his family at the meeting by presenting the real balance sheet and not the fake one. At that moment, Armando and Mario realize that she has known about their vicious plan the entire time. The families (who are also stockholders) are informed that Eco Moda is in financial ruin and that Betty is its new owner. However, Betty reveals that Terra Moda was only set up to prevent Eco Moda from going bankrupt and that she is handing back full ownership to the stockholders. Roberto Mendoza chastises Betty on her involvement in such a scheme, knowing her to be an honest woman, and she is banned from the building. Before she leaves, Armando confronts her, only to find out how much Betty was humiliated by his deception. He tries to confess his now true feelings for her, but she refuses to listen. As Betty leaves the building, Marcela suspects her as a thief and demands to know what she is hiding inside a black trash bag where she has been keeping all the fake love letters and gifts. Betty has no choice but to reveal the affair between her and Armando. Marcela is devastated and shocked but was told by Betty that their relationship was nothing more than a cruel plan to make sure she doesn't get away with the company. Marcela cancels the wedding and breaks up with Armando. Everyone, including his family, disowns him.

Hurt and heartbroken, Betty immediately takes a job as the assistant to a fashion icon who is in charge of the Miss Colombia Pageant. She runs to the airport to catch a flight to Cartagena. She decides to confide the whole truth to her new boss, Catalina Angel, who has also been her guardian angel and close friend throughout her hard times in Eco Moda.

Armando is desperate to find Betty, but cannot. He must also deal with the fallout of the business situation Eco Moda is now in. Armando is fired and his father comes out of retirement to take over the presidential duties. The attorney realizes that Betty did not correctly turn over the business back to the stockholders, therefore Betty and Terra Moda are still the rightful owners of the company, thus preventing the bank from seizing control. Knowing that the only way to save the company is to continue with the "business plan" until after the summer fashion line, the stockholders have no choice but to beg Betty to come back and run the company. The only problem is that they can't find her.

Meanwhile, Betty is surrounded by all the beautiful pageant ladies and has become fast friends with a gorgeous French photographer (Michel) who would later find interest in her. Catalina helps Betty come out of her shell and slowly helps Betty shed some of her ugliness. First she convinces Betty to accept an advance on her salary so that she can buy clothes that complement her figure better. The next day she takes Betty to a hair stylist and asks them to give her a more modern cut. A few days later she is taken back to the hair stylist to have her unibrow and stache waxed out and she is fixed with make up. Catalina "accidentally" breaks her nerdy glasses and the new pair is much more suited to her face. It seems that Betty has shed her ugliness overnight and looks quite beautiful. But then gets a call from her father saying that she needs to return to finish some business with EcoModa. Reluctantly, she returns home after finishing her work in Cartagena.

When she walks into Eco Moda, nobody recognizes her. Everyone is quite shocked at her transformation, for example, Patricia passing rumors to Marcela ("Marcela! I hate her! She spent Eco Moda's money in facial surgery!"). Thinking that Betty is still spending the company's money after purchasing a Mercedes-Benz (which is the luxury car like the one Patricia had, before it was repossessed and towed away from Patricia), and for the fancy restaurants. Roberto tells Betty about the critical financial situation they are in and asks Betty to help him save the company from going bankrupt. Although hesitant about working at Eco Moda once again, Betty agrees, feeling some unfortunate responsibility as to why they are in that situation. She is to be the new president of Eco Moda until the company can be financially stable again.

Months later, the new fashion line is a great success thanks to Betty's business savvy and her idea of modeling her friends (the club of the ugly women, "el club de las feas") instead of the usual, beautiful models. Although Betty appears to be dating Michel, who came to visit her from Cartagena, she is still in love with Armando but does not believe him at all when he confesses his feelings for her. Michel offers Betty to move to Cartagena with her family to work for a chain of restaurants and start a new life once she finishes her job in EcoModa. She is unsure whether to take the offer at first, but later accepts it.

Betty tells her friends she is leaving Bogotá and they are all devastated by the news. In fact, she decides to leave earlier than planned in order to forget Armando forever, and by making the club of ugly women photocopy, then hand out a letter to every member of the Board of Directors, about her resignation from Eco Moda. This puts the company back in danger because it is not yet stable. In order to prevent this, Armando decides to move far away so that Betty can stay and continue as president, without him (considered a nuisance) around. Betty's friends try convincing her to stay, truly believing that Armando has changed, but she refuses to stay and give him a chance. This means that the presidential role would go to Daniel Valencia, another executive and stockholder, who is also Marcela's brother, and Betty and Armando's rude enemy. He would sell the company and save whatever is left of it, therefore causing hundreds of people to be unemployed. When Marcela hears about this, she decides to swallow her pride and resentment and tells Betty the truth about everything that happened when she left for Cartagena, when she talked to Margarita (Armando's mother), and convinced her to not support Daniel as the new president, for fear of liquidating the company. Because of this, Betty realizes that Armando is truly a changed man, and she stops him from leaving. They both stay and run the company together and after a few months, the two eventually marry. But Armando never recovers his leadership role over Eco Moda.

The final scene shows everyone staring at Betty and Armando's new-born daughter, who possibly resembles Betty when she was first born.

Awards

In 2001, Yo soy Betty, la fea won the New York Latin ACE Award for the Best Scenic Program (Mejor programa escénico) and International Female Personality of the Year (Figura internacional femenina del año) to Ana María Orozco, and, also in 2002, the TP de Oro for Best Soap Opera (Mejor telenovela), and the INTE Award for Best Soap Opera and Actress of the Year (Actriz del año) to Ana María Orozco.

Series evolution

Betty la fea was created, filmed, and produced in Colombia and originally aired on RCN and was released to air on Telemundo in 2000, and on TeleFutura nine years later, in the United States. Several similar programs were created in other countries, as well as its rebroadcast in other languages around the world. The success of Yo soy Betty, la fea led to its first sequel in 2002 with Univision's release of "Ecomoda". Some scenes from the first episode were filmed in Buenos Aires and some scenes for the opening sequence were filmed in Miami, Florida.[2]

The phenomenal success of Betty la fea accounts for numerous adaptations and airings around the world. The story appeals to global audiences because it is centered around the life of an unattractive character rather than that of a typical attractive character.[3]

Spinoffs include an animated series called Betty Toons, featuring Betty as a child with her friends. In the U.S., Betty Toons previously aired Saturday mornings on most affiliates of Telefutura (now UniMás), as part of the Toonturama block from 2006 to 2008.

Ugly Betty, the U.S. adaptation of Betty La Fea, aired on ABC from 2006 to 2010. The hour-long program was developed by Silvio Horta and co-produced by Salma Hayek and Ben Silverman. America Ferrera played the title role. The show has received a Golden Globe[4] and Peabody Award.[5]

Cast

Main cast
  • Ana María Orozco as Beatriz "Betty" Aurora Pinzón Solano.
  • Jorge Enrique Abello as Armando Mendoza Sáenz; Eco Moda's CEO.
  • Ricardo Vélez as Mario Calderón.
  • Natalia Ramírez as Marcela Valencia; Armando's girlfriend.
  • Lorna Paz as Patricia Fernández de Brickman.
  • Mario Duarte as Nicolás Mora, Betty's best friend.
  • Celmira Luzardo as Catalina Ángel, Betty's "fairy godmother".
  • Stefanía Gomez as Aura María Fuentes; recepcionist, cartel member.
  • Dora Cadavid as Inés "Inesita" Peña de Gómez; seamstress, cartel member.
  • Paula Peña as Sofía de Rodríguez; secretary, cartel member.
  • Luces Velásquez as Bertha Muñoz de González; secretary, glutton, member of the cartel.
  • Marcela Posada as Sandra Patiño; secretary, member of the cartel.
  • María Eugenía Arboleda as Mariana Valdéz; secretary, cartel member.
  • Luis Mesa as Daniel Valencia, antagonist, Marcela's brother.
  • Julián Arango as Hugo Lombardi; antagonist, designer.
  • Júlio César Herrera as Freddy Stewart Contreras; messenger, infatuated Aura Maria.
  • Jorge Herrera as Hermes Pinzón Galarza; Betty's father.
  • Adriana Franco as Julia Solano Galindo de Pinzón, Betty's mother.
  • Kepa Amuchastegui as Roberto Mendoza; Armando's father, founder of the company.
  • Talú Quintero as Margarita Sáenz de Mendoza; Armando's mother.
  • Alberto León Jaramillo as Saúl Gutiérrez; Director of Human Resources, cad.
  • Martha Isabel Bolaños as Jenny García; Efraín's lover.
  • David Ramírez as Wilson Zastoque; security guard.
  • Patrick Delmas as Michell Doinel; Betty's love interest.
  • Diego Cadavid as Román, street rat, antagonist.
  • Pilar Uribe as María Beatriz Valencia; Marcela's sister.
  • Saúl Santa as Efraín Rodríguez, "El Cheque," Sofia's ex-husband.
  • César Mora as Antonio Sánchez; Betty's lawyer.
  • Elías Rima Nassaf as Rosales; lawyer, Antonio's colleague.

Guests

Original Colombian version in other countries

The original Colombian version of the show has been dubbed or subbed then broadcast in India, Lithuania, Indonesia, Poland (Brzydula), Bulgaria, Romania (Betty cea urâtă), Malaysia, Hungary (Betty, a csúnya lány), Czech Republic (Ošklivka Betty), Italy (Betty la cozza), Switzerland, Georgia (უშნო ბეტი), Japan – under the title Betty, Ai to uragiri no hishojitsu ("Betty, The Secretarial Office of Love and Betrayal ", ベティ愛と裏切りの秘書室)[6]–, Turkey, Philippines and China. The show was also broadcast in virtually all of Latin America plus Spain, achieving record ratings in every single country, including those where Colombian soaps do not usually achieve high ratings, such as Brazil and Mexico. Later the cast went on tour to meet fans throughout the continent.

Official international adaptations
Country Language Name Network Protagonist Date premiered Date ended
 Belgium Dutch Sara vtm Veerle Baetens 25 September 2007 29 June 2008
 Brazil Portuguese Bela, a Feia Rede Record Giselle Itié 4 August 2009 2 June 2010
 People's Republic of China Mandarin Chinese 丑女无敌 (Chou Nu Wu Di) Hunan Satellite TV Li Xinru September 2008
 Czech Republic Czech Ošklivka Katka TV Prima Kateřina Janečková 3 March 2008 20 April 2009
 Ecuador Spanish Veto al Feo Ecuavisa Efraín Ruales 16 April 2013 26 April 2013
 Egypt Arabic هبة رجل الغراب‎ OSN, CBC2, MBC 1 Amy Samir Ghanem 1 January 2014 14 October 2014
 Georgia Georgian გოგონა გარეუბნიდან (Gogona Gareubnidan) Imedi TV Tina Makharadze 24 May 2010 21 October 2012
 Germany German Verliebt in Berlin Sat.1 Alexandra Neldel 28 February 2005
 Greece Greek Maria, i Aschimi Mega Channel Aggeliki Daliani 1 January 2007 23 June 2008
 India Hindi Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin SET India Mona Singh 1 September 2003 4 May 2006
 Israel Hebrew אסתי המכוערת
Esti HaMekho'eret		 Channel 2 Riki Blich 2003
 Malaysia Malay Misi Betty TV9 Siti Fazurina 2011
 Mexico Spanish El amor no es como lo pintan TV Azteca Vanessa Acosta 2000 2001
La Fea Más Bella Televisa Angélica Vale 2006 2007
 Netherlands Dutch Lotte Talpa Nyncke Beekhuyzen
 Philippines Filipino i ♥ Betty La Fea ABS-CBN Bea Alonzo 8 September 2008 24 April 2009
 Poland Polish BrzydUla TVN Julia Kamińska October 2008 December 2009
 Russia Russian Не родись красивой / Ne Rodis Krasivoy STS Nelly Uvarova 5 September 2005 7 July 2006
 Croatia
 Serbia		 Croatian
Serbian		 Не дај се, Нина
Ne daj se, Nina		 RTL Televizija
FOX Televizija		 Lana Gojak 29 October 2007 (SRB)
3 January 2008 (CRO)		 3 March 2008 (SRB)
4 August 2008 (CRO)
 Spain Spanish Yo soy Bea Telecinco Ruth Núñez 2006 2008
 Thailand Thai ยัยเป็ดขี้เหร่
Ugly Betty Thailand		 ThairathTV Piyarat Kaljaruek 9 March 2015 7 September 2015
 Turkey Turkish Sensiz Olmuyor Show TV, Kanal D Özlem Conker, Yeliz Şar
 United States English Ugly Betty ABC America Ferrera 28 September 2006 14 April 2010
Spanish Betty en Nueva York Telemundo Elyfer Torres 6 February 2019 12 August 2019
 Vietnam Vietnamese Cô Gái Xấu Xí VTV3 Nguyễn Ngọc Hiệp 11 February 2008

El amor no es como lo pintan

(Love is not as it looks) (2000, Azteca 13, Mexico): Vanessa Acosta as Alicia "Licha" Ramírez Campos. El amor no es como lo pintan concluded in 2001.

Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin

(There's No One Like Jassi) (2003, SET, India): Mona Singh as Jasmeet Walia. The Indian version is not so much about beauty and ugliness, as about a simple middle-class girl with strong family values being catapulted into the amoral world of high fashion upper society, although Jassi was made to appear ugly by having on thick rimmed glasses, braces and an unsightly hairstyle. Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin concluded in 2006.

Sensiz Olmuyor

Turkey's "Sensiz Olmuyor" (Won't Work Without You) told the story of Gönül and Arda on two separate TV networks, with each channel showing thirteen episodes. When the weekly series debuted on Show TV in January 2005, Özlem Conker played Gönül (which means 'heart' in Turkish), the intelligent swan in ugly duckling clothing, and pop star Emre Altuğ appeared as her boss and love interest, Arda. The show did not go on hiatus when it was moved from Show TV to rival network Kanal D, but there was one big change: Yeliz Şar took over the role of Gönül, but the rest of the original cast remained intact.

Verliebt in Berlin

In February 2005, the German TV network, SAT 1, began airing a version called Verliebt in Berlin (The title is a word-play and can mean either In Love in Berlin or In Love with Berlin), starring local soap opera star Alexandra Neldel as Lisa Plenske and Swiss actor Mathis Künzler as David. The show had 5 million viewers daily and was extended beyond its initial 250-episode run in early 2006.

A few weeks later it was announced that the show would be renewed for a second season, but without Neldel and Künzler. The focus shifted onto a male lead character named Bruno Plenske (Lisa's half-brother, played by Tim Sander). Without Alexandra Neldel, however, the show lost much of its original appeal and dwindling ratings led to its cancellation in 2007. Verliebt in Berlin has also been broadcast in dubbed versions in Hungary (as Lisa csak egy van) and France (as Le destin de Lisa). Although Verliebt in Berlin continued with new featured characters and original storylines, it is still credited as "based on Yo Soy Betty La Fea".

Ne Rodis' Krasivoy
Main article: Not Born Beautiful

(Be Not Born Beautiful, from the Russian phrase, "be not born beautiful, but be born happy", "Ne Rodis' Krasivoy, Rodis' Shchastlivoy")

In 2005, STS broadcasting in Russia created a version of the show called Ne Rodis' Krasivoy starring Nelly Uvarova in the title role of Katya. This version was also broadcast throughout the former Soviet Union.

La Fea Más Bella

(The Most Beautiful Ugly Woman) (2006–2007, Televisa, Mexico): Angélica Vale as Leticia Padilla Solis.

The Mexican Televisa television network, produced its version La Fea Más Bella ("The Prettiest Ugly"), which debuted on 23 January 2006 and ended on 25 February 2007. In the United States, the series aired on Univision, and in the Philippines it was broadcast on ABC 5, where it debuted on 24 April 2006 and concluded on 25 June 2007. It was also aired in Lebanon on the Lebanese MTV network from 2009 to 2010. In both these versions, the protagonist's nickname is "Lety", which is also the name of the show in Lebanon.

Lotte
Main article: Lotte (TV series)

(2006, Talpa, Netherlands): Nyncke Beekhuyzen as Lotte Pronk. In 2006, the Dutch TV network Talpa began airing Lotte, starring Nyncke Beekhuyzen as the main character and Lars Oostveen as Vico Maesland.

Yo Soy Bea

Despite the original Colombian production already being in Spanish, Telecinco launched an adaptation in Spain called Yo soy Bea in July 2006. The Spanish version title (which translates to "I am Bea") is a pun, with "Bea" sounding like both fea ("ugly") and bella ("beautiful"), and being the short version of the protagonist name, Beatriz. Ruth Núñez played Beatriz Pérez Pinzón and Alejandro Tous was Álvaro Aguilar, the company boss.

The Spanish adaptation screens weekdays at 6:00 pm and pulls in an average of more than four million viewers (more than +35% share of the audience). The series' record is a 42,1% of share. It has become Spain's top-rated daytime programme. Ruth Núñez, known to Spanish viewers for her portrayal of a Yugoslav student in teen soap, Compañeros, plays the heroine.

In this version, Beatriz Pérez Pinzón (Núñez) is an unattractive 26-year-old economist whose looks aren't important to her. She's intelligent and kind, and one day, after having cared for her widower father for two years, she decides to look for a job. Although she's very well educated, she gets only a secretary job at the magazine "Bulevar 21". She becomes the secretary of Álvaro Aguilar (Alejandro Tous), the company boss. In the company, Bea will be against Cayetana (Mónica Estarreado), Álvaro's fiancée, and her friend Bárbara (Norma Ruiz), who is also Álvaro's secretary. The Spanish Version won a TP de Oro to "La mejor telenovela" in 2007.

Ugly Betty
Main article: Ugly Betty

The American production was broadcast on ABC in the United States from 28 September 2006 to 14 April 2010. This production also aired internationally on Citytv and Radio-Canada (as Chère Betty) in Canada, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom; 2007, RTÉ Two in Ireland, TV2 in New Zealand, Seven Network/7Two in Australia, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, Nova Television in Bulgaria, 8TV in Malaysia, Studio 23 in the Philippines and STAR World in Asia (Southeast Asia, India, Philippines and Middle East feeds).

In 2004, actress Salma Hayek's production company, Ventanarosa, in a joint venture with Reveille Productions and ABC Television Studio bought the rights to Betty la fea, converting it to an English-language seriocomedy series. ABC would acquire the series under the title Ugly Betty, and initially slated the program for broadcasting in summer of 2006 as a daily series, but its success led to ABC slating it as a weekly series.[7] The hour-long program aired Fridays at 9:00 pm (Eastern time);[8] the first episode was broadcast 28 September 2006. Actress America Ferrera portrayed the title character Betty Suarez – an unattractive, but efficient editorial assistant at a fashion magazine.[9]

Maria, i Aschimi

Mega Channel in Greece is airing its own version titled Maria, i Aschimi (Μαρία, Η Άσχημη – Maria, The Ugly One) starring Aggeliki Daliani and Anthimos Ananiadis . Maria exudes intelligence, humor, and kindness, but what she is missing is conventional beauty. She considers her appearance to be an obstacle in her search for employment, despite her collection of degrees, which are displayed proudly by her parents, Kaiti and Irakles. Having no luck in her job search, Maria decides to try for a job for which she is overqualified, secretary to Alexis Mantas, the director of a noted fashion house called Ecomoda. Alexis is the most coveted bachelor in Athens, but he has recently gotten engaged to Markella, who tries to get him to choose her best friend, Lilian, to be his secretary and to keep an eye on him. Lilian doesn't have Maria's natural intelligence or fine education, but she has a beautiful appearance, which makes her a better superficial fit at the fashion house.

This adaptation was originally supposed to start airing on 1 November 2006, but within two weeks of that date the show was removed from Mega Channel's schedule. Finally, it began on 1 January 2007 at 21:00 and although it was scheduled to move at 18:15 two weeks later, due to its high ratings (± 45% according to Agb Hellas and more than 2 million viewers) finally remained in the prime-time slot of the channel.

Sara
Main article: Sara (Belgian TV series)

The Flemish adaptation is called Sara, starring Veerle Baetens as Sara De Roose. The show was first broadcast on 25 September 2007 by VTM, a Flemish commercial TV-station. Sara was broadcast daily (except weekends) at 6:25 pm. On Sunday, VTM aired 'the week of Sara' at 9:25 pm, containing all the episodes of that week. Sara had a weekly audience between 650,000 and 750,000 viewers. The show ended in June 2008.

Sara works for 'Presence', where she falls in love with her boss Simon Van Wyck (Gert Winckelmans). Actors such as like Veerle Baetens, Sandrine André, Kürt Rogiers, Gert Winckelmans and Bieke Ilegems appeared on the show.

On 13 February 2008, the nominees of the Flemish TV-stars were announced. 'Sara' was nominated for 3 awards. Veerle Baetens, who plays Sara, and Sandrine Andre, who plays Britt, were both nominated in the category Best Actor or Actress. The show was nominated in the category Best Fiction programme. Veerle Baetens won in her category and also won the award as 'Most popular TV personality'. The show won the award for 'Most Popular TV Programme'.

Ne daj se, Nina
Main article: Ne daj se, Nina

A version of Betty la Fea made by Croatian RTL Televizija and Serbian Fox Televizija begins production in October 2007. The working title of the show is "Ne daj se, Nina" ( "Don't give up, Nina"). After a long audition, newcomer Lana Gojak has been cast in the role of Nina (Betty). Other reported cast members include established actors such as Robert Kurbaša, Edvin Livarić, Bojana Ordinačev, Petar Ćiritović, Andrija Milošević, Kristina Krepela and Sloboda Mićalović.

Ošklivka Katka

(Ugly Kate) (2008, TV Prima, Czech Republic): Kateřina Janečková as Kateřina Bertoldová. The series debuted on 3 March 2008 and it airs Mondays and Wednesdays at prime time.

Cô gái xấu xí

The Vietnamese version of Yo soy Betty, fea premiered on 11 February 2008. The series stars Ngọc Hiệp as Huyền Diệu and Chi Bảo as An Đông, the new president of SB Brands Trading J.S.C.. A number of real-life models co-starred in prominent roles, such as Nguyễn Bình Minh (who plays Tiến Mạnh), who competed in the 2002/03 Manhunt International competition and finished in the top ten; Phi Thanh Vân (as Phương Trinh), who worked as a top model and has freely admitted that she owes her beauty to the wonders of plastic surgery; Lý Anh Tuấn (Đăng Dương); and Trịnh Kim Chi (Huyền Thư). This adaptation is one of the most faithful remakes of the Colombian original so far, with episodes being recreated practically scene for scene, with only minor adjustments to account for cultural differences.

I Love Betty La Fea
Main article: I Love Betty La Fea

Filipina actress Bea Alonzo was chosen to play the title role of Betty Pengson and actor John Lloyd Cruz to play Armando Solis in the Philippine adaptation of the famous Colombian telenovela. The series started airing on 8 September 2008 on ABS-CBN network in primetime. Former beauty queen and actress Ruffa Gutierrez, plays the role of Daniela, the female version of Daniel from the original series. In this version, they are working for an advertising agency.

Chou Nü Wu Di

This soap opera, Ugly Wudi (literally "The Ugly Without Rival" for the name Wudi means Non-Rival, unconquerable, unbeatable or matchless), is a co-production of Televisa México, China's Hunan Satellite TV, the independent producer Nesound, and the Colombian network RCN Television. The program began broadcasting on 28 September 2008 and will be divided into five seasons of 80 half-hour chapters. The show has received some criticism via 3,300 comments on Baidu and newspaper articles stating the actress who plays Wudi isn't ugly enough, despite gaining weight and exhibiting glasses, braces and tan skin which is considered unattractive in China.[10] Some even suggested that the name of the show be changed to Pretty Wudi.

Despite criticisms, the debut episode was watched by 73 million viewers.[11] The show is sponsored by Unilever's Dove brand, which is woven into the plot as Wudi works on a Dove advertising campaign.[11] The show has also been used as a way to launch Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty in China.

Four seasons of Chounu Wudi have been aired in China. The 4th season started on 20 February 2010. It was named as the final season of Chounu Wudi.[12]

BrzydUla

Poland's adaptation of the Betty story, BrzydUla (play on words: Brzydula means ugly girl but Ula is a reference to main character's name), premiered on 6 October 2008 on the TVN network. This version stars Julia Kamińska as Ula Cieplak and Marek Włodarczyk as her father, Józef. Ula works for Marek Dobrzański (played by Filip Bobek) at a prestigious Warsaw fashion house called Dom Mody Febo & Dobrzański.

Bela, a Feia
Main article: Bela, a Feia

After months of speculation, the Brazilian TV network Record officially announced on 22 May 2009 that Mexican-Brazilian actress Giselle Itié would portray Bela, the protagonist of the Brazilian version of Yo soy Betty, la Fea. The extensive cast included Ana Roberta Gualda, André Mattos, André Segatti, Angela Leal, Aracy Cardoso, Bemvindo Sequeira, Bia Montez, Bruno Ferrari, Bárbara Borges, Carla Regina, Cláudio Gabriel, Daniel Erthal, Denise Del Vecchio, Esther Góes, Gabriela Moreira, Henri Pagnocelli, Ildi Silva, Iran Malfitano, Jonas Bloch, João Camargo, Laila Zaid, Luiza Thomé, Marcela Barrozo, Natália Guimarães, Pérola Faria, Raul Gazolla, Simone Spoladore, Sérgio Hondjakoff, Sérgio Menezes, Sílvia Pfeifer, and Thierry Figueira, with guest appearances by Babi Xavier, Gracyanne Barbosa, Rogério Fróes, Sérgio Mallandro, and Viviane Araújo. The series was produced by Record in partnership with Mexico's Televisa, which produced La Fea más bella. The story was adapted by scribe Gisele Joras and the series was directed by Edson Spinello. The novela premiered on 4 August 2009, and ended on 2 June 2010.

Gogona Gareubnidan

Georgia's version of the Betty story began on 24 May 2010, about one month after the U.S.A.'s Ugly Betty ended. The first episode was a pretty faithful remake of the pilot episode for Ugly Betty, with only minor changes, making this the first series to be adapted directly from the American Ugly Betty and not the Colombian Yo soy Betty, la fea. The series stars Tina Makharadze as Tamuna and takes place in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital (Tamuna lives in the outskirts, hence the show's title, which translates as "Girl from the Suburbs"). The first season consisted of 10 episodes and concluded on 26 July 2010. The second ran from 8 October 2010 through 31 December 2010, and consisted of 13 episodes. The second season diverged even farther from the story lines of Ugly Betty than the first season had, but many details within various episodes were directly or loosely based on details from second, third, and fourth season episodes of Ugly Betty. The third season began on 11 February 2011 without the show's leading man, Tornike Gogrichiani, who played Tamuna's boss, Nika Kekelidze. Gogrichiani was absent from the season's first four episodes and it was rumored online that he may be leaving the series altogether.

ยัยเป็ดขี้เหร่ Ugly Betty Thailand

A story of Pet (Thai: เป็ด; meaning 'Duck') (Pratchayanan "Babymind" Suwanmani), a young girl who looks ugly but is very capable. She works as a secretary for Danai (Wasin "Ko" Atsawanaruenat), who is a young playboy and the son of CEO of POSH Inc., a high-end cosmetics company and Ngamkhae (Nicole Theriault). Danai is the new CEO but things are not as they seem, because Danai has competition from the managing director Alisa "Alice" Phalakon (Sonia Couling) and the Phalakon family who holds shares of his company, Pet also has problems resulting from Danai's previous secretary, a young and beautiful woman.

See also

Sources

References
  1. Bellos, Alex (7 January 2007). "Telenovelas: the story so far". The Daily Telegraph.
  2. "Eco Moda, La Segunda Parte de Betty la Fea, Comenzara a Filmarse en Buenos Aires". Periodismo.com. 9 October 2001. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  3. "Not So Ugly: Local Production, Global Franchise, Discursive Femininities, and the Ugly Betty Phenomenon | Flow". Flowtv.org. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  4. From IMDB
  5. From Peabody Awards (4 June 2007) Archived 12 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Microsite at Super!dramaTV (in Japanese)". Superdramatv.com. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  7. ""ABC Rethinks Ugly Betty" from "Broadcasting & Cable" (23 April 2006)". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  8. From "Ugly Betty – ABC.com" (3 December 2009)
  9. Guider, Elizabeth (9 October 2006). "From "Variety" (9 October 2006)". Variety. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  10. Branigan, Tania. (19 September 2008). Chinese reject newest TV star as too pretty for ugly role. The Guardian. Retrieved on 13 March 2009.
  11. Yuan, Lily. (13 January 2009). Ugly Betty adapts again, this time for China and Dove. Ogilvy Entertainment. Retrieved on 13 March 2009.
  12. Chounu Wudi perfect finishing season debuts on Hunan Saterlite TV on the 7th day of the first month of lunar calendar (in Chinese language).
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