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Ugly Betty

2006 American dramedy television series

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ276528 ↗
Source-derived summary

Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, created by Fernando Gaitán. The series follows Betty Suarez, a smart and well-meaning young woman from Queens, New York, who lacks fashion sense but secures a job at a high-end fashion magazine, Mode. As she navigates a glamorous but cutthroat industry, Betty challenges stereotypes and expectations while advancing her career and maintaining close ties to her family.

The series was produced by Salma Hayek's production company Ventanarosa, along with Silent H Productions, Reveille Productions, and ABC Studios. The pilot episode was filmed in New York City, but production moved to Los Angeles for the first two seasons before returning to New York for the final two. The show stars America Ferrera as Betty, alongside Eric Mabius, Vanessa Williams, Ana Ortiz, Tony Plana, Michael Urie, and Becki Newton.

Ugly Betty received critical acclaim for its performances—particularly Ferrera's—as well as for its themes of identity, body image, and representation. It won several major awards, including two Golden Globes, three Emmys, and a Peabody Award in 2007. Though ratings declined in later seasons, the series developed a strong following and is credited with advancing Latino and LGBTQ+ visibility in American television.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Ugly Betty” as 2006 American dramedy television series. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ugly, Betty and American.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2006, 2010, 2007—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Ugly, Betty and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ugly Betty”, the useful work is to connect “2006 American dramedy television series” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q276528. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2010 and 2007.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ugly Betty”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ugly Betty primary sources, Ugly Betty archive and Ugly research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ugly Betty”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ugly Betty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.