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? Comment away.
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wow this season has been getting progressively better. Doesn’t ABC have other days it can air programing on. Or is everybody that afraid of American Idol
What’s wrong with ABC these days? They had this fantastic roster of shows and now they’re killing them off, one by one. Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and now Ugly Betty? Granted, it hasn’t been canceled yet but it’s not looking good. Will someone please hurry up & find a new way to rate shows so these awesome character-driven stories can continue?!
I wondered when this would occur. I never understood the appeal of this ridiculous show, especially when ABC is busy cancelling creative shows like Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money and Pushing Daisies.
But of course, I’m sure this show will be back with Salma Hayek (and her representatives) pulling all of her influence with the network.
Still, what a terrible show. I hope they remove Private Practice along with it as well.
Why not pull a Boston Legal and move the remaining episodes to next fall?
Ehhh. I’m surprised but not really affected. It’s a tired show, with crappy writing.
Nope. Not a fan of this show even though I LOVE America. I’m a fan of the Betty soap opera series from all over the world, but I just didn’t like that the creators made the US version of Betty Mexican-American. Was it to make more jokes? When I saw the first scene with Betty wearing the Guadalajara poncho I gave up. I loved the original Betty from Colombia, and the remake from Mexico. Much better IMHO.
it seems like abc is trying to piss off ALL of its viewers
it started with eli stone pushing daisies and dirty sexy money. (thankfully i didnt care about any one of them) but now ugly betty? screw abc! seriously wat the hell
the next thing i know they’ll cancel greys and private practice (the only other two shows i watch on abc)
why not jus cancel everything and have everyday with the highschool musical reality show they had and dancing with the stars
seriously SCREW ABC
No, it’s a niche. Always was. Writing on the wall for months. People please don’t post all surprised, especially when this happens to Heroes sooner than anyone expects and nobody will understand why such well-publicized programs have suddenly disappeared. Hint: they weren’t that great to begin with, and the party’s over.
Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, Boston Legal, and Ugly Betty all could be canceled in one season. Then Lost ends next year, and a few other shows they have aren’t doing as great as they used to. So what will the network have left?
PS Let’s not put Betty in the same conversation as Daisies. It’s just too depressing, and wrong.
This was a fun and creative show in the beginning but I stopped watching some time last year. So this gets a solid mehh from me.
Is it just me, or does it seem like studios are using the excuse of the strike to mess about with wacky scheduling experiments?
C’mon, EW–where’s the full-fledged TV Watch for Betty? (Seriously, even my husband enjoys this show).
*wields burning torch and pitchfork in menacing fasion*
Ugly Betty hasn’t been keeping my attention recently, and then I am annoyed with the whole family angle of the storyline right now. Honestly, I find myself flipping and waiting for the return of Survivor.
Betty should start advancing it’s storyline to match the arc of the original telenovela. In the original Betty got her confident and started adapting to her environment and goes from an ugly duckling to a swan.
I quit watching about 5 episodes into this season. There was just something so unfunny about it. But I still come back for Grey’s. But Marc and Amanda are two of my favorite characters on TV. So… they need to fix something.
Thank goodness. This show is horrible.
This is the only show I love to watch. Not cool ABC! Not cool!
Does The Bachelor really need to be two full hours?!!
Was waiting for Samantha Who? to return a couple of weeks ago but its been shoved aside. What is ABC planning to air when The Bachelor is over anyway?
this blows. ugly betty is one of the best television programs on the air and abc decides to bench it for other unproven comedies? This is just ridiculous. First it was DSM and then Pushing Daisies. What’s next ABC? What a bunch of idiots.
I could care less about Ugly Betty, but Sam Who? moving to Thursday nights stinks. It will now be up against Smallville and Bones, which means of the 7 shows I watch, 3 of them will be on at the same time. Throw in the Office and Burn Notice, and everything I watch except for Scrubs & 24 will be on Thursday.
Bummer.
Sorry J, you are right, Pushing Daisies had a talented writing team and the show had style, those are clearly missing from UB.
Yeah, Ugly Betty rocks! And if they would promote the show more, they’d have better ratings. God, I hate ABC right now…..
Betty has been off its game this season but come on! ABC, why do you suck? Grey’s is so boring and bad this year.
I’m not the least bit surprised. I used to love this show, but it has become painful to watch. The constant bullying is wearing thin, and Betty needs to get those damn braces off already. She hasn’t grown at ALL since the start of the series. She needs to start improving her appearance and stop cow-towing to Daniel and to her family. She’s 24 years old but acts like she’s mentally-handicapped.
OMG!!!! Are these people INSANE!?! That show was the last reason that I watch ABC! Man, with the cancellations of my other fav shows(Pushing Daises,Eli Stone & Dirty Sexy Money) and their inability to put my fav soap (OLTL) online, ABC is OVER FOR ME!!
Ugly Betty is awesome. I hope it returns as soon as possible.
Ugly Betty is such a great show….ABC would be stupid to cancel it!
I just love this show. I too thought it was one of ABC’s signature shows. Who knows with ABC though they’ve taken off almost all their quality shows this year and kept a show like Private Practice on the air. What’s next, cancelling Lost!?
I have been a big Ugly Betty fan from the beginning, but the show is REALLY going downhill. Nobody is remotely likeable or interesting anymore, and all the plotlines are just annoying. This show used to be fun, but now it’s overwrought and angsty. And are we really supposed to believe that Betty would be satisfied to be somebody’s assistant for THREE years without moving on? Maybe the writers need some time off to think about what they’ve done.
I have always enjoyed my thursday night routine of Ugly Betty and Grey’s. I was pissed when Bones was moved to Thursdays, but I guess this takes care of my conflict at least. I won’t be watching either Samantha Who or that other new show. The networks these days don’t seem to think before they make these serious moves. I get that they think pairing a new show with a solid performer is a good idea, but really they just need to make GOOD new shows…if they are good people will watch them no matter when they’re on. Right now I don’t watch anything on Wednesdays…and would probably stick with something that is only mediocre just to occupy my time.