Television series

Ugly Betty

Name: Ugly Betty
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 2006
Cast: America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Becki Newton, Tony Plana, Ana Ortiz

America Ferrera plays the awkward, big-hearted assistant who talks her way into a glossy Manhattan fashion magazine despite (or because of) not fitting the mould. It's a workplace comedy with a soap opera's plotting and a sitcom's warmth — braces, ponchos, backstabbing editors, and a family in Queens who ground every ridiculous twist. Big-hearted, occasionally silly, genuinely sweet.

TVMaze rating

7.7

If you liked this

Jane the Virgin2014

Same telenovela DNA — heightened plotting, a wry narrator, a loving working-class family, and a heroine who stays decent while chaos multiplies around her.

But The soap plotting gets even more baroque here; if Betty's twists occasionally strained you, this turns the dial further.

The Devil Wears Prada2006

The other side of the fashion-industry-outsider coin — glossier, meaner, with Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly as the icy inverse of every warm mentor Betty gets.

But No family scenes, no big heart — it's colder and more cynical about whether the industry is worth surviving.

The Bold Type2017

A magazine, three women finding their voices, and the same optimism that ambition and kindness aren't mutually exclusive — Betty's spiritual descendant.

But Skews younger and glossier, with less of the family-in-Queens texture that gave Betty its ballast.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Yo soy Betty, la fea1999

This is the actual source: same character, same premise, decades earlier and in an entirely different television grammar — a chance to see the original engine before American sitcom polish was applied.

The Colombian telenovela Ugly Betty was built from — over 300 episodes, rawer, funnier and more melodramatic, with a Betty whose humiliations and triumphs land harder because there's no laugh track cushioning them.

But Subtitled, enormous in length, and paced like a telenovela — daily-episode plotting that assumes real patience.

30 Rock2006

Same era, same network-adjacent absurdity about the media industry, but joke-density over sentiment — if you loved Betty's silliness, this is pure concentrate.

But Far less sincere; there's no emotional throughline here, just relentless, sometimes exhausting gag velocity.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend2015

A messy, big-hearted heroine, musical numbers instead of magazine spreads, and the same trick of being genuinely funny while sneaking in real feeling.

But Darker underneath the candy colours — it's ultimately about mental illness, not office politics, and gets heavier than Betty ever did.

Younger2015

Publishing instead of fashion, a lie instead of glasses and braces, but the same engine: an underdog faking her way up while staying likeable.

But Leans harder into romance and less into family; the Queens-kitchen warmth of Betty is largely absent.

Parks and Recreation2009

If what you loved was Betty's relentless, unembarrassed optimism in a workplace full of egos, this is the gold standard for that particular kind of hope.

But Small-town government instead of Manhattan glamour — a completely different flavour of ambition.

Schitt's Creek2015

Fish-out-of-water comedy that starts broad and silly and quietly becomes about family loyalty and self-acceptance — Betty's arc in miniature, reversed.

But Slower to find its heart; the first season is much more mocking than anything in Betty.

Suburgatory2011no page yet

A sharp, decent outsider navigating a world obsessed with surface appearances, played with the same mix of satire and genuine sweetness.

But Thinner and shorter-lived — three seasons of diminishing returns compared to Betty's steadier long haul.

Absolutely Fabulous1992

Same setting, industry and satirical target — fashion's vanity and cruelty — but played for total, filthy excess instead of heart, showing the same joke in its trashiest possible costume.

A British sitcom set in the fashion-and-PR world, but drunk, vain and gloriously unrepentant — Edina and Patsy are everything Betty's bosses could have been if nobody ever grew a conscience.

But Deliberately grotesque and shameless where Betty is warm — if you need someone to root for, there's genuinely nobody here.

The September Issue2009

Swaps sitcom invention for documentary fact, showing the real-world version of Mode's boardroom — the same industry Betty satirised, filmed straight, letting you judge how exaggerated the comedy actually was.

A documentary following Anna Wintour and Vogue assembling the real magazine issue that Mode was clearly modelled on — the actual power dynamics, the actual editor's ice, no fiction required.

But Quiet and observational rather than plotted; there's no underdog arc, just fly-on-the-wall access to people who don't perform warmth for cameras.