Ugly Betty

I initially wrote this show off as a "Devil Wears Prada" for the small screen. Though the general concept may be similar, it's execution is entirely different. Betty's boss, played by the tasty Eric Mabius, is on her side. His Daniel Meade character came across in the first couple episodes came across as a one-note playboy who wasted every opportunity to make something of himself and yet has been given a plum position because his father owns the enterprise. Mabius and the writers over the last few weeks have managed to humanize this character as they reveal a young man who simply wants his father's approval after a lifetime of living under the shadow of his far more successful and now-deceased older brother. For once, Daniel has taken full advantage of this opportunity to step up and exceed expectations.

Betty's (America Ferrara, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants) attempts to fit in without losing herself have provided a couple of hysterical moments for this light drama. The other assistants (who have totally sold themselves out to the corporate machine) played by Becky Newton and Michael Urie have provided some other laughs through their snide and uppity interactions with Betty. Young Mark Indelicato's overly fashion aware probably-is-but-it-could-still-be-a-phase role as Betty's nephew Justin is a younger version of Urie's Marc characterization, which was briefly made quite obvious through a few great lines in their Halloween offering.

I also enjoy Ana Ortiz's typically brashy Queens sister Hilda (Yes. Hilda.) and mother of Justin. Tony Plana plays Betty's father, who continues to feed his addiction to coffee despite doctor's orders. An early running gag has Betty constantly stopping her father from drinking coffee whether she has just entered the scene or was just preoccupied with something else. There was a funny series of gags a few weeks ago with Betty's father sneaking sips of her ex-boyfriend's (Kevin Sussman) coffee each time his back was turned. Alan Dale rounds out the cast as Daniel's father Bradford who has quite a few secrets of his own to protect.

The most familiar face of course is the fantastic Vanessa Williams, who plays the devil in Versace to her unbelievably loyal eyes-and-ears assistant (Urie). Her Wilhelmina is wonderfully bitchy without being unbearable. She is a veteran with the magazine and was recently passed over for the Editor-in-Chief position in favor of Daniel after the longtime EIC's "accidental" death (who may or may not be dead after all). Wilhelmina is intent on exposing Daniel as incompetent but has so far been thwarted at every turn. Ironically, like Daniel, she has similarly spent much of her life trying to impress her own father.

Throughout the last several weeks, each character has been appropriately dimensionalized without taking away from Betty herself (after all, it is HER name in the show's title). An added plus is the appearance of Executive Producer Salma Hayek in a multi-episode story arc.

Great cast, great writing, great stories, great performances. "Betty" was picked up for the full season two weeks ago, so we can look forward to more from this terrific new series. If you miss it on Thursdays at 8pm, do as I do and watch it online at abc.com for free.

Honorable Mention: ABC's "The Nine" with Tim Daly, Scott Wolf, Kim Raver and Chi McBride on Wednesdays at 10pm

Also check out Showtime's "Dexter" with the equally tasty Michael C. Hall on Sundays at 10pm.