thanks to tv savvy misshoax i found out today that ugly betty is getting benched come march 26th. in its place will run a new sitcom, in the motherhood (with megan mullally and cheryl hines) which will be followed by christina applegate's samantha who?, which is in its sophomore year. both shows will run their seasons, with ugly betty returning to finish its third season when they're done.
i'll be the first to admit that lately, ugly betty has been like watching the same episode again and again. betty has family drama, problem at mode arises, she disappears, family complains, betty says they don't understand...yet somehow all problems work out in time for the drama at seattle grace to start. even the connor/daniel/wilhelmina love triangle has gotten tired and repetitive. and so, ratings have been slipping. but doesn't that mean it's time to revamp? retool? refashion?
apparently not. networks are bringing in new shows from now into april as midseason replacements, just as they always do. this can be a little jarring because viewers are loyal only to a point. take a show away from them for too long, and they don't come back. strong shows that decided to wait out the year after the writer's strike proved that point. they came back the following fall, and struggled to regain the numbers they enjoyed the previous season, while shows that returned immediately following the strike did just fine. networks know this which is why they traditionally only replace shows that are severe ratings losers or ones they have decided to cancel. as predictable as ugly betty has gotten, it's neither of those. it just needs some new energy.
but who knows. maybe in the motherhood will be fabulously funny. maybe samantha who? will finally find its audience. maybe they will provide the lead-in to grey's anatomy abc is yearning to recover, and ugly betty will simply get moved to another night and feel fresh again (though shows often have a hard time surviving such scheduling changes). or maybe audiences won't love either half-hour comedy and won't return for ugly betty either. it's much like television russian roulette.
we'll find out the results in june sometime- likely when ugly betty will be back to finish its season. so enjoy the next two months while you have them.
• ugly betty airs thursday nights at 8 pm on abc.
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