Is It Getting Ugly for Betty?

It was announced that ABC is shelving Thursday night staple "Ugly Betty" come March 26th. It will be replaced with Christina Applegate's sitcom, Samantha Who? Her show has been without a home since The Bachelor premiered and ABC decided to continue running the show in two hour blocks. Applegate will share the hour with Megan Mullally's new show. It was a bit of a shock as Ugly Betty was one of ABC's biggest hits, but a decline in ratings was cited in the article. 

And frankly, I'm afraid I can see why. 

Now, I'm the type of person who likes a show and will defend it no matter what the writing on the wall says. Sadly, the writing on the wall for Betty isn't good. I love the website Television Without Pity and they recap Ugly Betty. I wasn't too thrilled when the recaps for this season were taking over by recapper Jacob. He used to do Doctor Who and while I know the show is brilliant, even I can find ways to snark about it (my Moron's Guide to Doctor Who). Jacob however decided to use the time to write his thesis paper. I wanted snark not commentary on how the show matched up with various poets. However, his work on "Love and Monsters" was pretty good so I decided to give him a second chance. His open hatred of the show, though, put me off again. 

But his latest recaplet made points that cannot be ignored even by me--since the original show runners left after the writer's strike last season, Ugly Betty hasn't been as good as it used to be. It is as if the writers did not even watch Season 1. Betty was a smart, determined girl who found herself in odd situations she had to get out of. It seems now that she's gotten dumber from working at Mode, more likely to create more messes than she solves while her usually supportive family suddenly hates her for deciding to have a career. There's a way to show the difficulty in balancing family and work without having to make ultimatums, show. Bring back the loving, supportive Papi. Bring back the smart Betty. Good lord, I even miss WALTER. During this hiatus, I hope the show runners watch Season 1 and realize why we loved Betty. 

And hopefully, Ugly Betty will get a fourth season and she will dazzle us again.