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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Salesrank: 2454
Released: August 21, 2007 |
| Our Price: $18.69 |
| Used Price: $10.93 |
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MPAA Rating:
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Audiences are cheering for a vibrant overachiever with the spirit and the smarts to live her dream. America Ferrera stars as go-getter Betty Suarez, a true beauty in the skin-deep world of high fashion. Two very different cultures collide in this sexy and stylish series about believing in yourself regardless of the odds. Earning Golden Globe Awards® for Best Television Series* and Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series* in its very first season, Ugly Betty is a runaway hit with fans and critics. "Ugly Betty is a thing of beauty," raves the Boston Herald. Experience every episode of Season One in this six-disc DVD box set. Plus, join executive producer Salma Hayek and actor Eric Mabius for exclusive show insights, and see what it takes for America Ferrera to get Bettyfied – available only on DVD. You’ll find yourself falling in love with every minute of Ugly Betty.
Description of Ugly Betty - The Complete First Season:
Based on the popular Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea, Ugly Betty is a biting comedy with plenty of heart. There are several ongoing plots, including murder, illegal immigration, infidelity, a vendetta, and death. And yes, this really is a comedy. Golden Globe winner America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Real Women Have Curves) stars as Betty, a whip-smart assistant at a women's magazine who is clueless when it comes to fashion. While her size 0 colleagues parade around in haute couture and stiletto heels, Betty shows up for work in her mismatched outfits, complete with thick glasses and awkward braces. The series, which made its debut during the 2006-2007 season on ABC, could've relied on physical humor for laughs. But the sharp writing and likeable cast bring the show to life. There's a lot going on in the first year. Besides setting Betty up as Mode magazine's ugly duckling overachiever, the first few episodes introduce viewers to a superb supporting cast that includes Betty's frenemies Amanda (Becki Newton) and Marc (Michael Urie), the hysterical duo that aligns themselves to whoever can best advance their careers. As for Betty's womanizing boss, Daniel (Eric Mabius), he's not the brightest bulb in the package. Recalling childhood outings with their mother, he says, "She used to like taking us to clothing museums." To which his sibling says, "Those were stores! She just called them museums to get us out of school." Salma Hayek--one of the show's producers--guest stars in an arc as a powerful editor who beds Daniel to prove a point. But it's her unexpected turn as an actress on Ignacio's favorite soap opera that is the real treat.
About halfway through the 23-episode series, it appears that the writers switched gears with one of their main plots revolving around a possibly undead fashion editor. But in a typical over-the-top Ugly Betty way, they make the plot switch work. The heart of the show is when Betty returns home from work. She still lives with her father, Ignacio (Tony Plana), older sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz), and nephew Justin (Mark Indelicato). Justin is one of TV's best kid characters. Not only is he equally adorable and wise, but he is most probably--or will grow up to be--gay. The way his family accepts him for who he is--rather than who they wish he was--is incredibly loving and thoughtful. Betty also is navigating a love life that she makes more complicated than it has to be. Instead of dumping a boyfriend who cheated on her, she allows her sister to manipulate her into staying with him. When she finally realizes she has strong feelings for Henry (Christopher Gorham), the adorable accountant at work who has a huge crush on her, it may be too late. The season finale will leaves viewers with several cliffhangers revolving around Ignacio, Justin's father, and (of course) Betty. For most fans, season 2 can't come fast enough. --Jae-Ha Kim
More Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty: The Complete First Season (Spanish Version) | 
Ugly Betty Wall Calendar |
Stills from Ugly Betty (click for larger image) Ugly Betty - The Complete First Season Reviews:
Surprisingly good show 
2009-12-08 - When this show first came out, I had as much interest in it as I do in fashion. Zip. I can't stand the whole industry, so why would I want to watch a show that takes place in the one place that I can't stand? Well, boredom got the best of me and I rented season 1 from the library. Half a day later, I was completely done with the season and was frantically searching the library catalog for season 2. Finally I had to just go out and buy the second season.
This show is addicting. Even though it bugs me to no end that they think that just adding braces, glasses, making her hair stand out a foot from her head, and making her dress in awful clothes (for me to say that...it's bad) will suddenly make America Ferrera "ugly". When she is surrounded by all the beautiful models and handsome men that have natural fashion sense, you can see that she's the ugly duckling. The whole time you're rooting for her...like you should be.
The first two seasons were amazing. There are all these little subplots while Betty is running around, saving the day. People are plotting to take over Mode magazine, blackmailing is going on, dead people come back to life...etc. (sounds just like a cheesy soap, but this is so much better) But, by the time season 3 started, the show lost some of its flair.
When season 4 started, I decided that it should't be called Ugly Betty anymore because they aren't even trying to make her look like the ugly duckling anymore. She dresses in completely awesome work clothes that look normal, no more braces, she lost weight...it's just not the same Betty. Granted, you really only have braces for so long and they were bound to come off sooner or later, but all the other stuff on top of it? She looks more like someone who belongs at Mode and that's why I liked the show in the first place...because it was obvious that she was in a place where people thought she didn't belong. She was going for what she believed in...but not so much anymore.
Don't get me wrong, I still watch the show every week, but I love the first and second seasons the most. If you want to see the show, at least see just those two seasons.
So unrealistic it loses any comedic value 
2009-11-14 - Good comedy and satire have an element of truth. Unfortunately, Ugly Betty is so divorced from reality that it isn't even funny. I just don't get why anybody would watch the show. Everything from the clothing and sets to the relationships seems bizarre. The storylines and acting are simply unbelievable. The characters do things that no sane person would ever do in real life, such as dressing up in a hotdog suit for a news report or pretending to kiss an imaginary person at your desk at work or e-mailing a nude photo of yourself to a mass e-mail list accidentally. At the end of the day, an average viewer like me simply can't connect to the show or the characters because they are so unlike anything I deal with in life.
And by the way, for people who work at a fashion magazine, what do these characters wear? They supposedly work in a professional media publication and yet come to work dressed like clowns. In one recent episode they came dressed to work wearing beads from a cult. Really? If the producers of the show had ever stepped into a corporate office, the would notice that people generally wear business suits or slacks and a buttoned shirt. The ensemble and sets just make the show seem like a farce rather than actual comedy.
Forever an ugly duckling. 
2009-06-21 - Ugly Betty - The Complete First Season had a killer, sweet pilot episode but after that, I lost interest in this critcs darling comedy. America Ferrera is 100% Betty, her character is intelligent, sensitive, and anything but a fool. The first five episodes were really strong but the show got hokey and the jokes grew to be lame. I watched a couple of episdoes from season 3, the show has only gotten worse - what happened to Betty's hair? Looks like Ugly Betty will never transform into a beautiful swan.
Very entertaining! 
2009-05-03 - The situations Betty gets into are very funny. I will enjoy watching Betty for many years to come.
Faster than I thought
2009-03-11 - I would order from this place again! I received the DVD right away, and in great condition! Thanks!
