Synopsis

Wannabe writer Betty Suarez is a plain girl from Queens, who is smart, hardworking and savvy but lacks a fashionable sense of style. When publishing mogul Bradford Meade puts his son Daniel in charge of Mode magazine, he hires Betty to be Daniel's new assistant -- mostly because he knows that she may be the only woman in Manhattan with whom the younger man won't sleep.

The season finale is the episode called "East Side Story".

On March 21, 2007, ABC renewed the series for a second season.

The idea to bring Ugly Betty to American TV screens began in 2001 when NBC was planning to adapt Betty as a half-hour comedy, which would be produced by Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television) but it did not get past the planning stages (three writers were needed to come up with a concept based around the character) until ABC and Hayek's company came on board in 2004 and retooled it as an hour-long comedy drama.

ABC had announced the title of the series would be Betty the Ugly, a change from its development title, but changed it back to Ugly Betty on July 14, 2006.

On October 13, 2006, ABC ordered a full season pick-up for the series, beyond the original 13 ordered at the May Upfronts due to its premiere ratings.

ABC originally announced 22 episodes for season one, but increased the number of episodes by one to 23.