Ugly Betty (season 1)

For the first season of Ugly Betty, nine characters were initially included in the main cast. Michael Urie and Kevin Sussman were originally credited as Special Guest Stars but were upgraded to regulars mid-season. However, Kevin Sussman's character was written off the show in the fifteenth episode but was still credited as a regular for the rest of the season. Rebecca Romijn's character was introduced in the middle of the season and was immediately credited as Starring.

The first season of Ugly Betty follows Betty Suarez, a recent college graduate from a struggling Latino family in Queens consisting of her supportive widower father Ignacio, her sassy older sister Hilda, and her fashion-obsessed nephew Justin. Betty is rejected for an entry-level position at Meade Publications due to her homely appearance. However, company CEO Bradford Meade spots her and has her hired as an executive assistant to his son Daniel Meade, the newly installed editor-in-chief at Mode magazine. Daniel is succeeding Fey Sommers, the much-revered former editor-in-chief of Mode, who died under mysterious circumstances.

Although Daniel is initially dismayed to be working with Betty, the two eventually come to terms and Betty finds herself helping Daniel on a personal and professional level. Daniel has always been unfavorably compared to his older brother Alex Meade, who died before the beginning of the series. He has no confidence in his own abilities, except as a lothario and fears that he will never be taken seriously. Much of Daniel's insecurity also comes from the fact that Wilhelmina Slater, Mode's creative director is conspiring to oust him and become editor-in-chief herself. Meanwhile, Betty struggles to fit in at Mode and her only friend is seamstress-fashion designer Christina McKinney. Betty and Christina are often teased by Mode receptionist Amanda Tanen and Wilhelmina's assistant, Marc St. James. Despite Amanda and Marc's animosity towards Betty, they do eventually come to respect her and enlist her help to solve their problems.

Daniel falls in love with Sofia Reyes, the publisher of Modern Young Woman (MYW), a new Meade Publications magazine. Sofia entices Betty to come work for her, promising her the respect and responsibility that she would never see at Mode. Betty agrees but at MYW, she discovers Sofia's plot to make Daniel propose to her as part of a MYW cover story. Betty attempts to warn Daniel, but Sofia announces their engagement and how it was all part of her story, and then publicly breaks up with Daniel. Daniel is devastated but welcomes Betty back to Mode.

As Fey Sommers' estate is put to rest, Bradford attempts to cover up his affair with Fey and possible involvement in her death. Wilhelmina frequently meets with a mysterious Masked Woman, who wants to help Wilhelmina take over Mode and ruin Bradford. Midway through the season, the Masked Woman is revealed to be Alex Meade, who has undergone gender reassignment surgery and is now known as "Alexis Meade." Bradford rejected Alexis when she announced her intention to transition and as revenge, Alexis faked her death and enlisted Wilhelmina to frame Bradford for Fey Sommers' death. Wilhelmina promises Christina a spot at Mode's Fashion Week show in exchange for dropping off a package at the police station. The package turns out to contain evidence linking Bradford to Fey's death and Bradford is publicly arrested at Fashion Week as Alexis publicly reveals herself for the first time. Claire Meade, the Meade family matriarch, is pleased to have Alexis back but Daniel is in shock, especially since Alexis is conspiring with Wilhelmina.

Now in prison, Bradford demands Daniel hire lawyer Grace Chin for his defense. Daniel is dismayed to discover that he previously stood up Grace in college because she was ugly. Now a beautiful adult woman, Grace remembers how Daniel mistreated her but ultimately forgives him, agrees to take Bradford's case, and the two begin a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, a drunken Claire confesses to Betty that she killed Fey because Bradford was having an affair with her. When Alexis discovers Daniel's relationship with Grace, she threatens to ruin Grace's career if she stays on the case so Grace recuses herself. Angrily, Daniel reveals to her that Claire is the actual murderer. Claire attempts to flee the country, but after talking with Betty, she decides to turn herself into the authorities to protect Bradford.

While being detoxed at a hospital as she prepares to face murder charges, Claire names Alexis as Mode's co-editor-in-chief in an attempt to improve the relationship between her children and her husband. It is revealed that Claire is Mode's actual owner, after Bradford started the magazine under her name to evade taxes. Alexis decides to try to reconcile with her family, believing they have changed and tells Wilhelmina that she will no longer help her take over Mode. Wilhelmina is angry, especially Wilhelmina comforted Alexis after Alexis was rejected by her former friends. She then decides to focus on driving a wedge between Alexis and Daniel, and seduces Bradford. She manipulates him into divorcing Claire and proposing marriage, so Wilhelmina can take over Meade Publications. The scheme makes Claire furious, prompting her to team up with a fellow inmate Yoga to break out of prison in order to stop the wedding. Alexis becomes angry at Bradford when she learns he paid off a Mode Brazil editor to seduce Alexis and convince her to leave Meade Publications so Alexis hires a hitman to kill Bradford.

Meanwhile, Amanda becomes one of Daniel's many paramours, until she realizes that he will never commit to her. She briefly has a relationship with a fashion designer named Tavares, who is pretending to be gay so he can get his designs noticed. When Tavares behaves rudely to Amanda at a party, Marc encourages Amanda to dump him and publicly humiliate him. While stealing clothes from the Mode closet to cheer herself up, Amanda stumbles upon Fey's secret "Love Dungeon", where she discovers baby pictures of herself and a birth certificate that shows Fey Sommers is Amanda's birth mother.

At the Suarez home, Ignacio's HMO will no longer cover his medication. When Betty speaks to an HMO representative, she and Hilda discover that Ignacio is an illegal immigrant who fled Mexico after killing his wife Rosa's abusive ex-husband. Ignacio is assigned an immigration casework, Constance Grady, who quickly develops a romantic obsession with Ignacio. Ignacio plays along with Constance's flirtations for fear that she would sabotage his case. The family then discovers Constance was fired for being too involved in her clients and after confronting her, Ignacio's case is fast tracked for review. Ignacio is ordered to return to Mexico and then legally re-enter the country in order to be eligible for a visa. The Suarez family travels to Mexico together but Ignacio is ordered to stay in Mexico as his visa application is reviewed. Unbeknownst to him, Rosa's ex-husband survived and plans to take revenge on Ignacio.

When Hilda's Herbalux business is discontinued, she tries to find a new job that fits her skills. After several setbacks, including being scammed by a fake immigration attorney who takes the family's savings, Hilda discovers her talent for cosmetology. Hilda also reconciles with her ex-boyfriend and Justin's father, Santos. The two begin dating again, eventually becoming engaged as Santos develops a paternal relationship with Justin. On the night of Justin's school musical, Santos is shot while trying to foil an armed robbery.

Betty's love life also undergoes significant development. At the beginning of the season, Betty discovers that her long-time boyfriend Walter has cheated on her with her next-door neighbor Gina Gambarro. Betty reluctantly takes him back, but eventually realizes that they have become different people and they ultimately part ways. Betty develops a mutual attraction with Henry Grubstick, an accountant at Meade Publications. However, Henry's on-again/off-again girlfriend Charlie from Arizona shows up, prompting Betty to hold off on her pursuit of Henry. When Betty returns from Mexico, she declares her love for Henry and they two agree to date. Charlie then reveals she is pregnant and Betty's relationship with Henry is halted. Betty discovers that Charlie cheated on Henry and there is the possibility that he is not the father of her unborn child. Still, Betty decides not to speak up and Henry prepares to go to Arizona with Charlie.

After Daniel is nearly scammed by a mother/daughter team who seduced him and then attempted to blackmail Daniel in exchange for a Mode cover, Betty tells Daniel that he might be a sex addict and urges him to seek help. A sex therapist advises Daniel to find a new outlet when he wants sex, suggesting drugs. Daniel quickly develops an addiction and overdoses on pills. Alexis finds him and drives him to the hospital in Bradford's car. Unbeknownst to Alexis, the hitman she hired cut Bradford's car's brakes. The car crashes and Alexis and Daniel are left unconscious.

Notes:

• "Swag" was originally scheduled to be aired as the 4th episode, but was moved to 11th by the network. The change resulted in a number of continuity problems, which were "fixed" by making most of the episode a flashback and adding scenes with Betty telling Christina the bulk of the story. In Italy, Denmark, Spain, India and the Philippines, the episode is retained as the 4th episode.[1]
• On the season 1 DVD box set, "Swag" is listed as episode 4, without the scenes of Betty talking to Christina in a flashback. Other noticeable changes on the DVD were the reversed order of the show's episode chronology: "The Box and the Bunny", which is the second episode, is listed as the third episode, having swapped places with "Queens for a Day". However, "The Box and the Bunny" should be the second episode.

The 23 episodes, along with bonus footage and unaired extras, are featured in "Ugly Betty: The Complete First Season — The Bettyfied Edition", which is distributed internationally by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. According to TV Shows on DVD, BVHE released the six-disc set on August 21, 2007 and is available in regions 1 (United States and Canada), 2 (European territories) and 4 (Asia and Australia). The features include a look at the show's best and worst fashions, a Spanish audio track, a discussion with the cast on the show's origins, and a behind-the-scenes documentary with commentary from the production, set, and costume designers on the program. The discs are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and have a total running time of 992 minutes/946 minutes R4.

Among the features:

• "Becoming Ugly"
  • America Ferrera and the cast discuss what it means to get Bettyfied
• "A La MODE"
  • Behind-the-scenes with production, set and costume designers to discover how the world of MODE was created
• "Green is the New Black"
  • See the high fashion of Manhattan and coziness of Queens all created on a Hollywood sound stage
• Deleted scenes
• Audio commentaries
• Bloopers

Despite never having a physical or digital release a soundtrack of the series. This music was used during the first season of the series.