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The Good, the Bad, and Ugly Betty

With Ugly Betty on a creative upswing, executive producer Silvio Horta discusses how the series has avoided “jumping the shark” and how he navigated Justin’s coming-out story line.


SILVIO HORTA UGLY BETTY MAIN X390 (GETTY IMAGES) | ADVOCATE.COM

Things are getting beautiful again for the Emmy-winning comedy series Ugly Betty. Banished to a water cooler-unfriendly Friday night time slot for the first half of its fourth-season run, Betty experienced an undeserved ratings drop just as it began picking up delicious creative steam. Key plotlines so far this season have included Betty graduating from comically put-upon assistant to comically put-upon associate editor; the ever-scheming editrix Wilhelmina squaring off with her equally Machiavellian daughter; and Justin, Betty’s fashionable nephew, finally coming to terms with his sexual identity.

Credit goes to the show’s writing staff for handling this latter story line with both ripped-from-the-headlines freshness (in a recent episode, Justin was crowned prom queen at his high school) and surprising unpredictability (in the same episode, Justin announces “I’m not gay” to his sympathetic family). For gay audiences, Justin’s story is dramatically powerful and comically relatable television that shouldn’t be missed. Fortunately, the powers that be at ABC have recently seen the (Judith) Light and are moving Betty to a more viewer-friendly Wednesday night slot at 10, beginning January 6 (tonight’s episode airs at 9).

Advocate.com chats with Ugly Betty’s executive producer Silvio Horta about making the move to Wednesdays, avoiding “jumping the shark” and navigating Justin’s coming-out story line.

Advocate.com: So, what does this move to Wednesday nights mean to you?
Silvio Horta: I think it means we’re back on the map [laughs]. We’re back on the radar. We were certainly off it for a while. I mean, Friday nights was ... you know, it wasn’t a good night for us. ABC’s hope was that our audience would follow us there and it didn’t happen. Hopefully this new night and slot will allow people to rediscover the show. I think we’ve been on a really good creative upswing of late, so hopefully everything will come together and we’ll have a shot at going beyond a fourth year.

What’s the key ingredient to keeping a show fresh after its first few seasons?
Someone once told me, “Never be afraid of holding off on stories.” Oftentimes, we’ve said, “Let’s wait and do that [story] later.” Ultimately, however, if we don’t hold off on something, we’re still able to find great stories to tell with our characters and our amazing cast. So, that’s one of the things we decided to do going into this year — to not hold back. To really tell the stories we want to tell because we don’t know how much time we have left, so let’s just do the best show possible. It’s given us a great deal of creative freedom.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Sonia
    Date posted: 12/14/2009 1:19:07 PM
    Hometown: Greece

    Comment:

    Speaking of heart, Betty and Daniel exchanged a little unintended kiss this season. Is there any chance they might be finally headed for romance? I’ve gone back and forth in my head over it. At this point, nothing is out of the realm of possibility. When will he know for sure? Why is it so hard to see the obvious?? Daniel and Betty are meant to be! It's great that he doesn't say"no" like he did in an interview during season 3, but I'm tired of this back and forth tactic of his.. I want to believe that he will not disappoint the DETTY fans at the end, for I'm sure that we are the majority! Most of the UB fans see that these two are made for each other! DETTY ALL THE WAY!

  • Name: Anna
    Date posted: 12/13/2009 3:59:20 AM
    Hometown: Canada

    Comment:

    Great interview! And yeah Ugly Betty really deservers to be seen on a better night. Rob - while some fans followed, they all didnt. Fridays hit Ugly Betty really hard. Thank goodness the writing was amazing or else the ratings would have sank to the bottom. I too hope that Betty gets a season more and hits that iconic 100th episode mark. This show is like no other on TV and that Justin storyline is so hard hitting and so different. I love this show, it makes me laugh, cry and warms my heart =) LONG LIVE BETTY! And Remember to follow it - WEDNESDAYS JAN 6TH ABC!

  • Name: Vince Q.
    Date posted: 12/12/2009 5:25:28 PM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    The relationship between Mark and Justin should show the more typical case of an older more experienced gay man helping a young man "come out". Mark's character has a chance to show the more typical friendship relationship between gay men, and it would develop Mark's humanity. I sort of like plots when the villains are not quite as evil as they first appear. Can anyone believe that Wilhemina would ever support a anti-gay cause or figure? I can imagine her supporting an AIDS charity or making quips about Rush Limbaugh! I see Mark showing real concern and compassion for Justin. Characters should be complex and human!

  • Name: Rob
    Date posted: 12/12/2009 10:01:28 AM
    Hometown: Raleigh, NC

    Comment:

    I don't get his comment about Ugly Betty's fans not following them to Friday's. We did...we just didn't watch it live. We recorded it and watched it as we recovered from our weekends! ;-)

  • Name: Rodrigo Barreto
    Date posted: 12/12/2009 8:31:11 AM
    Hometown: São Paulo - Brasil

    Comment:

    Bring David Blue back!

  • Name: Realme
    Date posted: 12/12/2009 12:57:29 AM
    Hometown: Cleveland

    Comment:

    Eastwick never gained an audience, because it was not a very good show. Ugly Betty started off strong, but then the show lost it's way and the writing weakened. Then the ratings started to decline, and ABC decided to move it to Fridays. Which is a awful day for any show, but now they are moving it to Wednesday nights at 10:00. Hopefully they will promote it right, and give the show some time to gain an audience.

  • Name: M
    Date posted: 12/11/2009 8:23:22 PM
    Hometown: Portland

    Comment:

    ABC canceled Eastwick, a new show that wasn't given the chance to thrive even though it had a loyal fan base, and that's why Ugly Betty is being moved to a new time slot. It was obvious from the start that the network was trying to kill Ugly Betty by placing the show in the Friday night death slot that has seen other shows go down in flames. ABC has the annoying habit of canceling quality tv shows like Eastwick and Pushing Daisies, and not allowing shows time to find an audience and grow. I hardly think they intend to save Ugly Betty, this move is most likely being done to allow the show one final season before the idiots at ABC cancel it and replace it with something else.



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