Episode 1 - The Interview

In this Telenovela, the first few scenes we see are of Betty.

We see the reaction of the world to her but we don’t see her.

On her arrival at EcoModa for her job interview, she met Wilson, who after explaining to him that she has a job interview, showed her in. The next person she met was Aura María who told her to go on up to Presidency. There, she ran into Patricia, and this telenovela character looked at her with an “I can’t believe THIS” look.

She mistakenly went to Hugo’s lair, where he pretty much told her to get out and never come back. She tried to explain that she’s looking for the Presidency and he told her where it was. Later Berta called for Patricia Fernández and Beatriz Pinzón, to meet with Gutiérrez and another executive.

He interviewed them at the same time asking them the same questions since they were both interviewing to be the President’s secretary. Patricia explained that though she had no experience as a secretary, she did finish “six semesters in Finance at San Marino University.”

Betty also explained that she does not have any experience as a secretary, but that she did graduate from university with high honors and has undergraduate and graduate degrees in finance and economics, and also worked as an assistant at Banco de Montreal.

Gutiérrez asked them about their foreign language skills and Patricia said that she knows a bit of English besides Spanish. Betty answered that she speaks English and French fluently, and a bit of Italian. In addition she listed other things she could do and knew about, which impressed everyone.Gutierrez then asked them about their marital status. Patricia explains that she was separated from Mauricio Briggman (and Gutiérrez of course said that he knew him!).

Beatriz answered that she was still single, to which Gutiérrez said, but of course. Gutiérrez asked Betty why she didn’t include her photograph with her résumé. Betty explained that she’s been to so many interviews that she ran out of photos. Gutiérrez told them that he will get in touch with any news, but as they were leaving the office, he offered the job to Patricia right in front of Betty.

Betty literally ran into Berta, who was carrying a trashcan that flew out of her hands. At that moment, Armando and Roberto exited the elevator, and Berta begged Betty to help her pick up the mess, because she did not want the bosses to see it. Armando noticed the trash and started scolding Berta. He did not even notice Betty, who looked at him in total shock because of the way he was yelling.

Gutiérrez told Armando that he had found him a secretary, and showed him Patty’s paperwork. Armando got mad at him and asked him how he was ever going to get Hugo to understand him, that he did not ask him to hire Sharon Stone, but someone efficient who spoke two languages.Armando was especially upset because Patricia was Marcela’s best friend. He asked Gutierrez if he did not pre-select any other candidate and asked him to get him the other résumés for him to peruse.

Betty got home and her mother asked her how the interview went. She said it was okay and just then Nicolás came in. She told him that she went to a fashion house to interview for a job as a secretary, but that she did not dare apply for assistant or executive positions because of her looks. She told them how they practically hired “a pretty one” in front of her even though she was not qualified and she (Betty) was over-qualified. She reminded them that people were always impressed by her résumé, but when they see her she never gets hired.

Meanwhile, we see Armando, Roberto, and Gutiérrez walking around EcoModa’s production area (Armando was holding his famous “stress ball”), talking about the various applicants. When Armando and Roberto saw Betty’s resume, they are duly impressed and ask Gutiérrez why he did not hire her on the spot. He answered that she had a problem — she is very ugly.

They called Betty’s former employer at Banco Montreal, to ask about her work there. He give her a glowing recommendation, saying that she’s an exceptional woman, that she’s got all the educational qualifications and can work circles around anyone. Roberto told Armando that it was his choice to make; either hire a pretty woman or a qualified one.

Ugly Betty - Run Down to the Main Story

This is the story of Beatriz Pinzón Solano, a brilliant economist with a master’s degree in finances, but she has one flaw: she is ugly.

Her only boyfriend abandoned her after a few days' romance. She learned the hard way that love was not for her and that she would be a spinster all her life.

So, while her neighbors danced at discos and experimented with love, Betty dedicated all her time and efforts to her studies and instead prepared herself for a bright professional future. This pleased Hermes, Betty’s father, a very demanding and over protective man.

Everything changes when she starts to work at Ecomoda, one of the largest fashion enterprises in the country. There she meets and falls in love with Armando Mendoza.

Being overly desperate to get a job after many failures, she agrees to work as his secretary, a position well under her intellectual abilities. She knows that her looks do not help her, and for this reason she decides to start from the bottom and work her way up to an executive position, which she deserves.

Betty really starts low at Ecomoda! She is stashed away in an old attic, while a beautiful woman sits at the reception area of the company’s CEO office. That’s her luck for being hideous looking.

Betty accepts this all, just to be there. She makes this dark closet her office and her place to dream. She is happy with this situation since it allows her to be near her boss, Armando Mendoza, a handsome executive who has inherited the company’s presidency from his father. She has to see him on a daily basis, tending to his every need, pining for him; while Armando is not aware she exists as a woman. To him, she is only a human being who provides him with brilliant ideas and covers up his clandestine dates from his fiancée, Marcela Valencia, a sophisticated fashion designer who despises Betty.

Betty never had any friends, since none of her neighbors or classmates wanted to be associated with someone as ugly as her. Yet in Ecomoda she identifies with other women who are ostracized because of their bad looks.

Hugo Lombardi, top designer at Ecomooda, has categorized them as belonging to the “Ugly Women’s Barrack”, and never allows them to come near his working area. From their Barrack, Betty and her friends watch the world of the glamorous, delight themselves by gossiping about the models that work there, and give each other support in their problems.

Betty thinks she is the most unfortunate one of the group. The other women of the Barrack are either married, divorced, single mothers, or engaged, but she has never had the chance to experience love.

Pretty soon things start to change for Betty. Armando involves the company in financial problems. Betty is always there to help him get out of trouble time after time, but Ecomoda is constantly exposed to the dangers of his rash business moves. They both work side by side long hours every day.

One evening Armando ends up madly and passionately kissing Betty. This is the most beautiful kiss Betty has ever known, a kiss which sends her flying and start dreaming and hoping for love. Yet, it is also the most infernal kiss of her life, since she knows that is was not meant with love, but instead it was all part of a business strategy that her boss played with the ugly girls at work, sacrificing himself by kissing her. It is also this kiss which changes her life, for she will never be the same. The new Betty will have an amazing body together with a complete soul transformation which will teach her boss that that girl which he kissed drunk one evening with eyes wide shut, is now a woman worthy of any man's love.

The Cast of the Telenovela

The main cast.

Ana María Orozco as Beatriz Aurora Pinzón Solano (Betty)
A good person, who dreams of being loved by a man. She is intelligent but knows next to nothing about dressing or making up and her braces and horrible eyeglasses makes matters even worse.

Jorge Enrique Abello as Armando Mendoza
President of Ecomoda, a man who admires the beauty. He is handsome and a successful man and uses this to conquer many beautiful women. He is engaged to marry Marcela Valencia, a beautiful, sexy and very jealous lady from the same social class.

Natalia Ramírez - Marcela Valencia
Armando's fiancee. A Beautiful and sexy woman but very jealous. She also works with Ecomoda. Patricia is her good friend.

Lorna Paz - Patricia Fernández
Armando's secretary. Beautiful but with a bad attitude. Always dreams of living in luxuries but is broke and divorced. Marcela's good friend, always spying on Armando and slandering the "ugly women group". She is nasty to any one who she considers not of the same social class because she was once married to a rich man who after divorcing her left in a terrible financial state. Her quest is to find a millionaire husband but she falls in love with Nicolas Moorish because she thought he was rich man.

María Eugenia Arboleda - Mariana
Marcela's secretary. A sincere and nice person whose greatest ambition is to one day become a model. She dates only men who she thinks can be of help to her in achieveing her dream. She is an expert card reader and one of the "ugly women group".

Ricardo Vélez as Mario Calderón
Armando's best friend. A Cassanova to the core. Passion comes before feelings in his dictionary. He uses is attractive looks and elegance style to entrap women and even his colleagues (Patricia and Aura Maria).

Luis Mesa as Daniel Valencia
Marcela's brother. He desperately covets the Ecomoda's presidency and hates Armando as a result of this. He is always conniving to get the president's seat and take interest in things that could benefit him.

Stefanía Gómez as Aura María Fuentes
She is the pretty receptionist. Widowed with a son and lives with her parents. She is a woman who believes in enjoying her self by living life to the fullest and making new friends. Sadly, no man takes her seriously. A member of the "ugly women group".

Luces Velásquez as Bertha de González
A happily married woman whose life revolves around her husband. Always worried about her figure and she tries to diet but cannot resist food. One of the "ugly women group".

Alberto León Jaramillo as Saúl Gutiérrez
He is the Human Resources Officer at Ecomoda. Married but engages in extra-marital affairs though he is afraid with his wife.

Julián Arango as Hugo Lombardi
The Fashion designer in Ecomoda. He is a competent professional and is not afriad of critics. Consider himself gay and proud it. He is friends with Marcela and Patricia.

Júlio César Herrera as Freddy Stewart Contreras
He loves to dress like the executives though is the Office Boy at Ecomoda. He works with Armando. A polite and humourous guy who respects women. He eventually falls in love with Aura Maria.

Kepa Amuchastegui as Roberto Mendoza
Armando's father, the founder of Ecomoda. He is a very kind person and loved by all his workers.

Celmira Luzardo (II) - Catalina Angel
Armando's sister and Ecomoda's PRO. She has a great charisma and elegance. Dedicated her life with her job after separation from her husband. She is the one person that single handedly changed Ugly Betty's life.

Paula Peña - Sofía
Gutierrez's secretary. Her husband left her for a younger woman (Jenny) but she still loves him. She lets all hell lose if he fails to deposit the monthly up-keep for their 2 children into her bank account on time. A meber of the "ugly women group".

Pilar Uribe - María Beatriz Valencia
Daniel's and Marcela's sister. Goes by the name of Beatriz. She is a vain woman who spend almost all her life having every kind of plastic surgery. All she cares about are clothes and makeup.

Dora Cadavid - Inesita de Gómez
Hugo's assistant, who are worked for the company for years. A few years ago her husband walked out and never returned. Full of experiences and always advises the "ugly women group" never create problems to Betty. She is honest and faithful.

David Ramírez (II) - Wilson 'Security Guard'
Ecomoda's security guard. A nice and simple man. Friendly with Freddy and the "ugly women group".

Mario Duarte - Nicolas Mora
Betty's neighbourhood and her good friend who is always protective of her. A Bookworm, innocent but intelligent man but is naive about love and sexuality. Fell in love with Patrician Fernandez at first sight.

Jorge Herrera (II) - Hermes Pinzón Galarza
Betty's father. A very conservative and caring man. Always proud with his daughter. He trust his daughter, Betty to improve his the quality of his life.

Adriana Franco - Julia Solano de Pinzón
Betty's mother. A good woman who manages to dress well inspite of their social status. She is Betty's main support.

The Original Ugly Betty "Yo Soy BettyLa Fea"

Dear Telenovela Lovers,

I will be posting clips of the Original "Yo Soy Betty, La Fea" Telenovela on this blog.

The original Colombian series was made up of 169 episodes and ran for a total of three year between 1999-2001.

This Telenovela has been reproduced into different versions and has received wide Tv audience the world over.

I will try to post all the episodes of this Telenovela (God helping me) in the shortest time possible.
It a story you’ll love. It encompases Drama, Comedy, Romance, and Deceit.

Today, I’ll start serving you this Award-winning Telenovela by introducing the main cast.

Who is Ugly Betty?

Have you seen Ugly Betty?

She stars in that popular television program that everyone talks about.

More than 80 million people in the United States and Latin America tuned in to "Betty La Fea," the telenovela in which an ugly woman navigates a world where beauty is generally all that matters.

I promise to give you clips of the all the episodes in this Intriguing, Romantic and Hilarious Telenovela.

See you soon.