Bye-bye (Ugly) Betty?

As someone who loved the first season of “Ugly Betty” and has been indifferent at the sophomore season, news like the following isn’t a surprise:

The network has bumped "Betty” from her regular Thursday 8 p.m. time slot to showcase instead its sitcoms "Samantha Who?"starring Christina Applegate and "In the Motherhood,” a new show starring Megan Mullally and Cheryl Hines.

"Ugly Betty,” starring actress America Ferrera, hits the bench on March 26 and won't return until sometime in June after the regular TV season has ended, reports Entertainment Weekly.

On the surface, going on a three-month hiatus shouldn’t equal the kiss of death for the acclaimed series. Yet “Ugly Betty” has suffered from sagging ratings over the past year; 7.5 million viewers watched the series in mid-January 2009, a drop of over 2 million compared to the same period in 2008. As TV critic Verne Gay noted, “Ugly Betty” is “just one more victim of the '07-'08 (Writers Guild of America) strike - a show that soared before and flopped after".

Despite the somber news there has been one ray of sunshine for “Ugly Betty”: the series was nominated for the 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards.

(Hat tip: Vivirlatino).

Image- Canada.com
Online Sources- Vivirlatino, New York Daily News, AHN, Reuters, newsday.com, TV by the Numbers

Daily Headlines: April 28, 2008

* U.S.: Congrats to “Ugly Betty”; the sitcom won outstanding comedy series for the second straight time at the GLAAD Media Awards.

* Argentina: The Turkish government is peeved at Argentina over a bill regarding Armenian victims of genocide.

*Paraguay: Who does unmarried president-elect Fernando Lugo choose as his First Lady? How about his older sister.

* Mexico: Opposition legislators ended a 16-day suspension of Congress while thousands of protestors marched against the government’s proposed oil reforms.

Image- Sydney Morning Herald

Sources- BBC News, Reuters India, Today’s Zaman, International Herald Tribune