I have a friend who has been raving about this show for a while. I’d watched part of it once, but it was in the middle of the show, in the middle of the season, and it just didn’t make any sense to me at the time. So I gave up on it for more interesting things on other channels–at the time, I had about 100 or more.
But then to cut down on unnecessary things in my budget, I turned off the DirecTV and suddenly found myself with a borrowed set of bunny ears and five or six stations to choose from, right during the time I was having the most free time. I’ve filled my time well with other things, of course–traveling home, visiting friends, actually reading a book for my own pleasure, knitting–but tonight I was flipping through the stations and the only thing remotely interesting on was an episode of Ugly Betty–which I happened to catch from the beginning of the episode.
I think I hit the right episode, because it really hooked me. I liked her a lot, and I liked her boss, and I just rooted for her to triumph over all the snobs in the office. (Probably helps that I watched The Devil Wears Prada ov
er my vacation, too.)
So now I’m doing an Ugly Betty marathon online (I love that the networks have been posting the whole season of several shows!)–catching up from the beginning–and I have to say, I really like it. The first couple episodes have plot points ripped out of The Devil Wears Prada, of course, but it has a lot of other stuff going for it, and Betty remains herself in a way that the main character of Devil (whose name escapes me) doesn’t till the very end. The story of the show becomes much more about a talented young woman succeeding because of her strengths, rather than her looks.
Though I must say–take off the braces, give her a nice outfit that fits her shape, and she’s far from ugly. Even with the braces, she just needs an outfit that fits her body type and has a good color. It’s not *that* hard, and you’d think she’d absorb a little sense of style, even without an interest in fashion. Perhaps I see that because I’m a bit of an Ugly Betty myself, and even I have learned over time how to dress for my shape (usually, *if* I can actually find a good color for me in my size–it can be quite a challenge sometimes, one that I usually forego). Though she’s worn a couple nice normal business outfits (nothing high couture–who cares about that?) that are a good cut in the first couple episodes that give me hope. 
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And heh, it’s midnight, and I just want to watch more. Though I’m picking up a friend from the airport in the morning, so I suppose I should get *some* sleep. 🙂