ABC bets on ‘Ugly Betty’

Over the past week, ABC’s new fall show “Ugly Betty” has gotten the kind of lucky break most producers would swap their August rental in the Hamptons for.

The big question now is whether its target audience of young women will turn the series into this year’s sleeper, a la “Desperate Housewives” – or be repelled by a concept that just didn’t translate.

Inspired by the Colombian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty, la Fea” (“I Am Betty, the Ugly”), a smash hit in Spanish-language markets, “Ugly Betty” stars America Ferrera as a smart but fashion-challenged young Hispanic – her signature garb is a loud print poncho – who endures regular humiliation in her job at a snooty magazine.

There’s no shortage of glamour on either side of the camera. The cast includes the former Miss America-turned-pop singer Vanessa Williams, who plays a haughty fashion editor, and one of the executive producers is Mexican-born actor Salma Hayek, who also has a cameo in the pilot.

But what really raised the hourlong program’s profile was ABC’s decision to shift it from the dead zone of Friday nights to a high-visibility 8 p.m. Thursday berth leading into “Grey’s Anatomy,” one of the most-watched shows on TV.

Thursday is shaping up as prime time’s top race this fall, and “Betty,” a show that just a few weeks ago looked like an also-ran, is suddenly in the thick of it, taking on CBS’ durable “Survivor” plus the NBC comedies “My Name Is Earl” and “The Office.”

Thanks to “Grey’s” and “Housewives,” ABC has had recent success courting women ages 18 to 49, and if “Betty” continues the trend, the payoff could be enormous.

But the show already is fending off concerns that having characters ridicule an unattractive heroine every week might strike many Americans as anti-feminist or politically incorrect.

TV blogger Terry Morrow of the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel wrote: “The title is terrible. … Why don’t they just call it ‘The Sexist Show’ and be more obvious?”

Hayek told reporters last month that the title is meant sarcastically and that the show intends to criticize superficial notions of beauty.

“We’re making fun of the people that would think that’s ugly,” she said of the title character. “I think she’s beautiful.”

Thursdays are especially important to TV executives because that’s when car and movie companies spend top dollar to pitch their products to prospective weekend shoppers.

And ABC needs the help more than one might think. The network battled to No. 2 last season in the 18-to-49 age demographic, just a fraction behind market leader Fox, home of “American Idol.”

But its new shows performed badly last season; the low-rated “What About Brian” was the only first-year scripted series invited back.

Some of the new ABC shows slated for this fall have run into trouble, too. Last week, the executive producer behind “Brothers & Sisters,” a family drama with Calista Flockhart, abruptly quit the series after a dispute with the show’s creator over the program’s creative direction.

“ABC really needs some hits this year,” said Brad Adgate, senior vice president at ad firm Horizon Media in New York.

That may help explain why “Betty’s” creators already are working to reposition the series not as a telenovela import with an off-putting title but rather a timeless ugly-duckling tale.

As executive producer Ben Silverman told reporters: “It is an eternal show. It is ‘Cinderella.’ It is ‘My Fair Lady.’ It has worked a thousand times in a thousand places in a thousand ways.”