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Betty la fea
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Yo soy Betty, la fea (I am Betty, the ugly one), also known as simply "Betty la fea" (Ugly Betty), was a popular telenovela (soap opera) filmed in Colombia, written by Fernando Gaitán and produced between 1999 through 2001 by the Colombian network RCN. More than a dozen versions of this telenovela have been made in other countries. In the U.S., both the comedy-drama hit Ugly Betty and Televisa program La Fea Más Bella are based on the Colombian soap opera.
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Yo soy Betty, la fea (I am Betty, the ugly one), also known as simply "Betty la fea" (Ugly Betty), was a popular telenovela (soap opera) filmed in Colombia, written by Fernando Gaitán and produced between 1999 through 2001 by the Colombian network RCN. More than a dozen versions of this telenovela have been made in other countries. In the U.S., both the comedy-drama hit Ugly Betty and Televisa program La Fea Más Bella are based on the Colombian soap opera.
Betty La Fea is being reaired weeknights in the United States since Monday, February 9th 2009 on TeleFutura at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central. Monday night’s much awaited return of the original version of “Yo Soy Betty, La Fea” (I Am Ugly Betty) on TeleFutura delivered impressive ratings for the network, attracting nearly one million Total Viewers 2+ and motr than half a million Adults 18-49. In addition, the premiere episode doubled and in some cases nearly tripled its prior audience among all key demographics.
Synopsis
Beatriz Aurora Pinzón Solano, is an unattractive, but very intelligent woman working for the Eco Moda company. Betty constantly faces the scorn of her prettier workmates, but eventually is promoted to a senior job, becomes romantically involved with her boss,(armando mendoza) and receives a grooming makeover.
Although graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s degree in finance, and fluent in English and French, Betty has been unable to secure a job interview, because, she claims, her ugly photograph ruins her otherwise impressive résumé. Tired of unsuccessfully searching for a job matching her education and experience, she applies to be the secretary to the president of the fashion company Eco Moda, but sends her résumé without a photograph, in hopes of securing an interview; however, that job was given to an inexperienced, university drop-out, but very attractive Patricia Fernández, who happens to be best girlfriend of the president’s fiancée, Marcela Valencia.
Armando Mendoza, Eco Moda’s new president, is the smart, handsome, and well educated son of one of the company's two, owner-founders. He is engaged to Marcela Valencia, daughter of the other company founder, who also holds a high position in Eco Moda. Armando refuses Patricia as his secretary, assuming Marcela wants her to spy on him, given his womanizer's reputation, so, he urges the hiring of another candidate with the most desired requirements; he hires Betty and Patricia as his secretaries, after Marcela pressured him, arguing that the company president could not have an ugly secretary representing him.
Since there is no available office for Betty, she occupies a store room in back of Armando’s office, while Patricia receives the prime public spot; nevertheless, Betty is in charge of the most important task, proving to Armando how intelligent, versatile, and well educated she is, and daily gaining more responsibilities, becoming essential to Armando’s risky, new business plan for Eco Moda.
Awards
In 2001, Yo soy Betty, la fea won the New York Latin ACE Award for Best Scenic Program (Mejor programa escénico) and International Female Personality of the Year (Figura internacional femenina del año) to Ana María Orozco, and, in 2002, the TP de Oro for Best Soap Opera (Mejor telenovela), and the for Best Soap Opera and Actress of the Year (Actriz del año) to Ana María Orozco.
Series evolution
Betty la fea was created, filmed, and produced in Colombia where it originally aired on RCN. After it's success it was released to air on Telemundo in the United States. Its popularity led to the creation of several similar programs in other countries, as well as its rebroadcast in other languages around the world. The success of Yo soy Betty, la fea led to its first sequel in 2002 with Univision's release of Ecomoda. Some scenes from the first episode were filmed in Buenos Aires and some scenes for the opening sequence were filmed in Miami, Florida.
Betty la fea has been so successful that it has been either adapted and/or shown in many different countries. The story seems to be attractive and original because it revolves around an unattractive person in contrast with most soap operas where the stars are always good looking, which it's seen to be a global affair involving most of soap operas public around the world.
Another released spinoff was an animated series called Betty Toons, which features Betty as a child, with her friends. In the U.S., Betty Toons can be seen Saturday mornings on most affiliates of the Telefutura network, as part of the Toonturama block.
An article in Variety reported that the success of Yo soy Betty, la fea spin-offs has led to the search for other telenovelas being planned for the United States. Other shows developed by Fernando Gaitán are in production for 2007. "While some characters remain and new ones have been added, I think that the U.S. version preserves the spirit of the original Betty la fea", Gaitán says.
Eventually, an American adaptation of Betty la Fea materialized. Entitled Ugly Betty, the hour-long program is developed by Silvio Horta and co-produced by Salma Hayek and Ben Silverman. America Ferrera plays the title role. The show has received a Golden Globe- and Peabody Award.
Other than the English version, this series has also been adapted in an Indian version.The series was very successful and was entitled Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin or "There is no one like Jassi". The program was very popular and reigned from 2003-2006, and starred the Indian actress Mona Singh. The show was broadcasted by Sony Entertainment Television and has been nominated and won various awards including ITA"S Best Serial-Drama,the Indian telly award for Best Actor of the year and Best Daily Serial.
Cast and crew
Main cast
- Ana Maria Orozco as Beatriz Aurora "Betty" Pinzón Solano
- Jorge Enrique Abello as Armando Mendoza Sáenz
- Natalia Ramírez as Marcela Valencia
- Lorna Paz as Patricia Fernández de Brickman
- Luis Mesa as Daniel Valencia
- Julián Arango as Hugo Lombardi
- Ricardo Vélez as Mario Calderón
- Mario Duarte as Nicolas Mora and as himself
- Kepa Amuchastegui as Roberto Mendoza
- Talú Quintero as Margarita Sáenz de Mendoza
- Celmira Luzardo as Catalina Ángel
- Jorge Herrera as Hermes Pinzón Galarza
- Adriana Franco as Julia Solano Galindo de Pinzón
- Pilar Uribe as Maria Beatriz Valencia
- Júlio César Herrera as Freddy Stewart Contreras
- Dora Cadavid as Inés Peña de Gómez
- Stefanía Gomez as Aura María Fuentes
- Paula Peña as Sofía de Rodríguez
- Luces Velásquez as Bertha Muñoz de González
- Marcela Posada as Sandra Patiño
- María Eugenía Arboleda as Mariana Valdéz
- Paulo Sanchez Neira as "Engineer Ortiz"
Others
- Alberto León Jaramillo as Saúl Gutiérrez (Bertha and Sofia's boss)
- Martha Isabel Bolaños as Jenny Garcés (Sofia's husband's woman)
- David Ramírez as Wilson Zastoque (Ecomoda's Security Guard)
- Rubén Óliver as Miguel Robles
- Norma Nivia as Hugo Lombardi's Model #1
- Marcela Carrillo as Hugo Lombardi's Model #2
- Rosa Margarita Guerrero as Hugo Lombardi's Model #3
- María Claudia Botero as Hugo Lombardi's Model #4
- Diego Cadavid as Román
- Patrick Delmas as Michell Doinel (Catalina's French friend)
- Lorena de McAllister as Rag Tela's CEO
- Angelly Moncayo as Karina Larson
- Verónica Ocampo as Claudia Bosch
- Scarlet Ortiz as Alejandra Zingg
- Elías Rima Nassiff as Dr. Contreras
- Saúl Santa as Efrain Rodríguez (Sofia's former husband)
- Carlos Serrato as Gustavo Olarte
- Alberto Valdiri as Gordito González (Bertha's husband)
- Diego Vivanco as Mi Chesito Su Mercé, Hugo Lombardi's Boyfriend
Guests
Crew
- Original Script by Fernando Gaitán
- Script Writer - Liliana Hernández
- Assistant to Script Writer - Elsa Cortés
- General Producer - María Del Pilar
- Production Management - Amparo Gutiérrez
- Production Assistants - John Sierra and Guillermo Andrés Vega
- Director - Mario Ribero
- Director Second Unit - Mario A. Galindo
- Cinematography - Alirio Farfán
- Set Design - Liliana Cortés, Enrique Linero, Juan Fernando Peréz
- Wardrobe Design - Rosita Cabal
- Makeup Design - Rossio López
- Makeup Artist - Clara Inés Cubillos
- Music and Musicalization - César Escola and Diego Fernando Páez
- Coordinator - Pablo Emilio Henríquez
- Editing - María Vásquez
- Singer of Main Theme: "Se dice de mí" - Yolanda Rayo
- Author and musician's original theme song: Francisco Canaro and Ivo Pelay
Original Colombian version in other countries
The original Colombian version of the show has been dubbed and broadcast in India, Lithuania, Indonesia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Malaysia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Italy (Betty la cozza), Switzerland, Japan – under the title Betty, Ai to uragiri no hishojitsu ("Betty, The Secretarial Office of Love and Betrayal ", ????????????)–, Turkey, Philippines and China. The show was also broadcast in virtually all of Latin America plus Spain, achieving record ratings in every single country, including those where Colombian soaps do not usually achieve high ratings, such as Brazil and Mexico. The show was so popular that the cast went on tour to meet fans throughout the continent.
Other versions
Tudo Por Amor
Tudo Por Amor (Everything For Love) was a soap opera shown on TVI in Portugal. It did not have a large audience, even though it had some of the biggest stars of Portuguese television. Sofia Duarte Silva starred as the protagonist, Alice. Centered on an ugly young woman who ended up finding her love online, but she lacked the courage to meet him in person, because of her appearance. Little does she realize her online love is actually the handsome rich son of the owner of the company she has gotten her new job at. She had great difficulty finding a job because of her ugly appearance. Later, she discovered the existence of her twin sister, Daisy—a sensual and sexy girl, full of "girl power", determination, and rebellion—who turns her life upside down.
Esti Ha'mechoeret ???? ???????
Although many sources on the internet claim that this series was a remake of Yo soy Betty, la fea, it was actually another remake of Mexico's El Amor no es como lo pintan. This story was adapted by Israel's SET in 2003, and was named ???? ??????? Esti Ha'mechoeret ("Ugly Esti"). The series starred Riki Blich as Esti Ben-David, a cop's daughter. After legal action was pursued by RCN, the company that owns the rights to Yo soy Betty, la fea, changes were made to Esti Ha'mechoeret for its second and third seasons, during which the title was changed to Elvis, Rosental, VeHaIsha Hamistorit and then just plain Elvis.
(There's No One Like Jassi) (2003, SET, India): Mona Singh as Jasmeet Walia. The popular Indian version is not so much about beauty and ugliness, as about a simple middle class girl with strong family values being catapulted into the amoral world of high fashion upper society, although Jassi was made to appear ugly by having on thick rimmed glasses, braces and an unsightly hairstyle. Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin concluded in 2006.
Sensiz Olmuyor
Turkey's "Sensiz Olmuyor" (Won't Work Without You) told the story of Gönül and Arda on two separate TV networks, with each channel showing thirteen episodes. When the weekly series debuted on Show TV in January 2005, Özlem Conker played Gönül (which means 'heart' in Turkish), the intelligent swan in ugly duckling clothing, and pop star Emre Altug appeared as her boss and love interest, Arda. The show did not go on hiatus when it was moved from Show TV to rival network Kanal D, but there was one big change: Yeliz Sar took over the role of Gönül, but the rest of the original cast remained intact.
Verliebt in Berlin
In February 2005, the German TV network, SAT 1, began airing a version called Verliebt in Berlin (The title is a word-play and can mean either In Love in Berlin or In Love with Berlin), starring local soap opera star Alexandra Neldel as Lisa Plenske and Swiss actor Mathis Künzler as David. Due to its immense popularity (5 million viewers daily), the show was extended beyond its initial 250 episode run in early 2006.
A few weeks later it was announced that the show would be renewed for a second season, but without Neldel and Künzler. The focus will shift onto a male lead character named Bruno Plenske (Lisa's half-brother, played by Tim Sander). Verliebt in Berlin has also been broadcast in dubbed versions in Hungary (as Lisa csak egy van) and France (as Le destin de Lisa). Although Verliebt in Berlin continued with new featured characters and original storylines, it is still credited as "based on Yo Soy Betty La Fea".
Ne Rodis' Krasivoy (?? ?????? ????????)
(Be Not Born Beautiful, from the Russian phrase, "be not born beautiful, but be born happy")
- Debuted in 2005 on STS, Russia
- Starred Nelly Uvarova as Katya Pushkaryova
STS broadcasting in Russia created a hugely popular version of the show called, Ne Rodis' Krasivoy, starring Nelly Uvarova in the title role of Katya. This version is also broadcast throughout the former Soviet Union. This particular adaptation has gone through heavy rewrites in order to tone down its many sister series' campy humour and feminst & gay subtext in order to make the show better suited for the extremely conservative Russian audience.
La Fea Más Bella
(The Ugliest most Beautiful) (2006-2007, Televisa, Mexico): Angélica Vale as Leticia Padilla Solis.
The Mexican Televisa television network, produced its version La Fea Más Bella ("The Ugliest most Beautiful"), its début was 23 January 2006, its finale 25 February 2007. Univision, in the United States and ABC 5 network broadcasted it in the Philippines, where its début was 24 April 2006, and its finale 25 June 2007. In this version, the protagonist is named "Letty".
Lotte
(2006, Talpa, Netherlands): Nyncke Beekhuyzen as Lotte Pronk.
In 2006, the Dutch TV network Talpa began airing Lotte, starring Nyncke Beekhuyzen as the main character and Lars Oostveen as Vico Maesland.
Yo Soy Bea
Despite the original Colombian production already being in Spanish, Telecinco launched an adaptation in Spain called Yo soy Bea in July, 2006. The Spanish version title (which translates to "I am Bea") is a pun, with "Bea" sounding like bella and being the short version of the protagonist name, Beatriz. Ruth Núñez played Beatriz Pérez Pinzón and Alejandro Tous was Álvaro Aguilar, the company boss.
The Spanish adaptation screens weekdays at 6:00 pm and pulls in an average of more than four million viewers (more than +35% share of the audience). The series' record is a 40,7 % of share. It has become Spain's top-rated daytime programme. Ruth Núñez, known to Spanish viewers for her portrayal of a Yugoslav student in teen soap, Compañeros, plays the heroine.
In this version, Beatriz Pérez Pinzón (Núñez) is an unattractive 26-year-old economist whose looks aren't important to her. She's intelligent and kind, and one day, after having cared for her widower father for two years, she decides to look for a job. Although she's very well educated, she gets only a secretary job at the magazine "Bulevar 21". She becomes the secretary of Álvaro Aguilar (Alejandro Tous), the company boss. In the company, Bea will be against Cayetana (Mónica Estarreado), Álvaro's fiancée, and her friend Bárbara (Norma Ruiz), who is also Álvaro's secretary.
The Spanish Version won a TP de Oro to "La mejor telenovela" this year (2007)
Ugly Betty
The American production is broadcast on ABC in the United States. This production is also broadcast on Citytv and Radio-Canada (as Chère Betty) in Canada, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom; 2007, RTÉ Two in Ireland, TV2 in New Zealand, Seven Network in Australia, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, Nova Television in Bulgaria, 8TV in Malaysia, and Studio 23 in the Philippines.
In 2004, actress Salma Hayek's production company, Ventanarosa, in a joint venture with Reveille Productions and ABC Television Studio bought the rights to Betty la fea, converting it to a English seriocomedy series. ABC bought it titled, Ugly Betty, initially slated for broadcasting in summer of 2006 as a daily series, but its success led to ABC slating it weekly. The hour-long airs Thursdays at 8:00 pm (Eastern time); the first episode was broadcast 28 September 2006. Actress America Ferrera is Ugly Betty — an unattractive, but efficient editorial assistant at a fashion magazine.
?a??a ? ?s??µ? (Maria, i Aschimi)
Mega Channel in Greece is airing its own version titled Maria, i Aschimi (?a??a, ? ?s??µ? - Maria, The Ugly One). Maria exudes intelligence, humor, and kindness, but what she is missing is conventional beauty. She considers her appearance to be an obstacle in her search for employment, despite her collection of degrees, which are displayed proudly by her parents, Kaiti and Irakles. Having no luck in her job search, Maria decides to try for a job for which she is overqualified, secretary to Alexis Mantas, the director of a noted fashion house called Ecomoda. Alexis is the most coveted bachelor in Athens, but he has recently gotten engaged to Markella, who tries to get him to choose her best friend, Lilian, to be his secretary and to keep an eye on him. Lilian doesn't have Maria's natural intelligence or fine education, but she has a beautiful appearance, which makes her a better superficial fit at the fashion house.
This adaptation was originally supposed to start airing on November 1, 2006, but within two weeks of that date the show was removed from Mega Channel's schedule. Finally, it began on January 1, 2007 at 21:00 and although it was scheduled to move at 18:15 two weeks later, due to its high ratings (± 45% according to Agb Hellas and more than 2 million viewers) finally remained in the prime-time slot of the channel.
starring: Aggeliki Daliani and Anthimos Ananiadis
Sara
The Flemish adaptation is called Sara, starring Veerle Baetens as Sara De Roose. The show was first broadcast on September 25th 2007 by VTM, a Flemish commercial TV-station. Sara was broadcasted daily (except weekends) at 6:25 pm. On Sunday, VTM aired 'the week of Sara' at 9:25 pm, containing all the episodes of that week. Sara had a weekly audience between 650,000 and 750,000 viewers. The show ended in June 2008.
The company, where Sara falls in love with her boss Simon Van Wyck (Gert Winckelmans), is called 'Presence'. A lot of famous flemish actors (like Veerle Baetens, Sandrine André, Kürt Rogiers, Gert Winckelmans and Bieke Ilegems) played a role in the show.
On February 13 2008, the nominees of the Flemish tv-stars where announced. 'Sara' was nominated for 3 awards. Veerle Baetens, who plays Sara, and Sandrine Andre, who plays Britt, were both nominated in the category Best Actor or Actress. The show was nominated in the category Best Fiction programme. Veerle Baetens won in her category and also won the award as 'Most popular TV personality'. The show won the award for 'Most Popular TV Programme'.
Ne daj se, Nina
A version of Betty la Fea made by Croatian RTL Televizija, Serbian Fox Televizija and Bosnian Federalna Televizija (FTV) begins production in October 2007. The working title of the show is "Ne daj se, Nina" ( "Don't give up, Nina"). After a long audition, newcomer Lana Gojak has been cast in the role of Nina (Betty). Other reported cast members include established actors such as Robert Kurbaša, Edvin Livaric, Bojana Ordinacev, Petar Ciritovic, Andrija Miloševic, Kristina Krepela and Sloboda Micalovic.
Ošklivka Katka
(Ugly Kate) (2008, TV Prima, Czech Republic): Katerina Janecková as Katerina Bertoldová.
The series debuted on March 3, 2008 and it airs Mondays and Wednesdays at prime time.
Cô Gái X?u Xí
The Vietnamese version of Yo soy Betty, fea premiered on February 11, 2008. The series stars Ng?c Hi?p as Huy?n Di?u and Chi B?o as An Ðông, the new president of SB Brands Trading J.S.C. A number of real-life models co-starred in prominent roles, such as Nguy?n Bình Minh(who plays Ti?n M?nh), who competed in the 2002/03 Manhunt International competition and finished in the top ten; Phi Thanh Vân (as Phuong Trinh), who worked as a top model and has freely admitted that she owes her beauty to the wonders of plastic surgery; Lý Anh Tu?n (Ðang Duong); and Tr?nh Kim Chi (Huy?n Thu). This adaptation is one of the most faithful remakes of the Colombian original so far, with episodes being recreated practically scene for scene, with only minor adjustments to account for cultural differences.
I Love Betty La Fea
Filipina actress Bea Alonzo was chosen to play the title role of Betty Pengson and actor John Lloyd Cruz to play Armando Solis in the Philippine adaptation of the famous Colombian telenovela. The series started airing on September 8, 2008 on ABS-CBN network in primetime. Former beauty queen and actress Ruffa Gutierrez, plays the role of Daniela, the female version of Daniel from the original series.
Ugly Wudi (Chou Nü Wu Di) - ????
This soap opera, Ugly Wudi (literally "The Ugly Without Rival" for the name Wudi means Non-Rival, unconquerable, unbeatable or matchless), is a co-production of Televisa México, Hunan Satellite TV station of China, the independent producer Nesound, and the Colombian network RCN Television. The program began broadcasting on September 28, 2008 and will be divided into five seasons of 80 half-hour chapters. The show has received some critisem with veiwers through message sites stateing the actress who plays Wudi isn't ugly enough despite having glasses, braces and tan skin which is considered unattractive in China.
BrzydUla
Poland's adaptation of the Betty story, BrzydUla (play on words: Brzydula means ugly girl but Ula is a reference to main character's name), premieres on October 6, 2008 on the TVN network. This version stars Julia Kaminska as Ula Cieplak and Marek Wlodarczyk as her father, Józef. Ula works for Marek Dobrzanski (played by Filip Bobek) at a prestigious Warsaw fashion house called Dom Mody Febo & Dobrzanski.
Bela, a feia
Bárbara Borges signed with Brazilian TV network Rede Record to portray the protagonist of the Brazilian version of Yo soy Betty, la Fea, which will be called Bela, a Feia. The series will be produced by the station in partnership with Mexico's Televisa, which produced La Fea más bella. The series, which is expected to premiere in May, will be adapted by scribe Gisele Joras and will be directed by Edson Spinelli.
See also
Sources
External links
- - Brief summary of the show; includes its ratings
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- - Analysis of the show's appeal.
- - Official website of the Mexican version of "Yo Soy Betty la Fea", which airs on Univision and Televisa.
- Comments on Betty La Fea - Spanish
- The Official website of the Spanish version-Spanish
- '' on the German TV network SAT 1.
- (?? ?????? ????????). Not born beautiful.) Official website of the Russian version of "Yo soy Betty la fea"
- Official website of the Dutch version of "Yo soy Betty la fea"
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- - site has plenty of information about I Love Betty La Fea, plus international Betty news.
- Official website of the Polish version of "Yo soy Betty, la fea"
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