One Time Betty's Optimism wasn't Enough

Even when one is expecting bad news it’s still hard when you finally hear it.

Yesterday it was announced that the fourth season of Ugly Betty will be its last. ABC had decided to cancel the rating struggling show and will air its last episode sometime in April. In addition the network had decided to trim the episode order from 22 down to 20, making it even harder to wrap up the story lines for these characters we’ve grown to love and hate.

While it is not surprising that this decision has been made it is still upsetting news. Ugly Betty is a fun little show with a diverse cast. Furthermore it’s a pleasing visual show that’s exceptionally quirky, something I feel people need in the wake of such difficult times. America Ferrere plays Betty with such optimism and gusto, making you love her even more when she embarrasses herself and quickly shakes it off. The rest of the cast is terrific, especially Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater, a character that one on-line poster described as someone “you don’t want to see win and yet hate to see lose.”

Ugly Betty started off strong as a ratings darling for ABC, but lost it’s footing in the second season, partially brought on from a depletion of episodes as a result of the writers strike. Things seemed grim indeed this season when the show was moved to the Friday Night Death Slot, a move that has led to many once popular shows dying off. As a last ditch effort to save the show it was moved to Wednesday nights after the cancelation of The Witches of Eastwick. While ratings did pick up it seems it wasn’t fast enough to save the show.