Stuti Gokhale
Developed by Silvio Horta and based on the Colombian telenovela ‘Yo soy Betty, la fea,’ ‘Ugly Betty’ is a comedy-drama show. It revolves around Betty Suarez, a kind-hearted and intelligent girl who hopes to make it big in New York’s fashion circuit. Her dreams come true when she is hired at a popular magazine called ‘Mode,’ yet things are not as easy for her as she imagined. Not only do Betty’s colleagues exploit her naivete, but they also ridicule her for her unconventional appearance, which goes against the societal perception of beauty. Regardless, she strives to prove herself, and her confidence soon starts winning hearts, including her boss Daniel.
The show first arrived in 2006 and became immensely popular for its depiction of a sweet girl-next-door proving her self-worth and winning over all those who didn’t believe in her. Moreover, the relatable characters and the cast members who brought them alive garnered a massive fan base worldwide. Thus, even after so many years of the last season airing, the audience is eager to know if Betty and her misadventures shall return one more time. To answer everyone’s curiosity, here’s everything we know about ‘Ugly Betty’ season 5! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Will Ugly Betty Season 5 Happen?
‘Ugly Betty’ season 4 premiered on October 16, 2009, on ABC, and the season finale was broadcast on April 14, 2010. The fourth iteration of the show comprises 20 episodes, with a runtime of approximately 42 minutes each. While the first eight of the weekly episodes aired on Friday nights, the remaining twelve were moved to the Wednesday night slots. Now, here is what we can tell you about the possibility of a potential fifth season.
Unfortunately, ABC announced on January 27, 2010, that ‘Ugly Betty’ will not return for a fifth time. Despite the show achieving cult status over its four seasons and receiving a highly positive response, it struggled to maintain good ratings ever since season 3. In fact, season 4 had such a rocky start that its seventh episode is considered one of the lowest-rated episodes in the overall series. This was the very reason the fourth iteration was moved from Fridays to Wednesdays, yet it failed to retain its audience.
Hence, ABC decided to pull the plug on the show permanently, with the then-President of the network stating, “We’ve mutually come to the difficult decision to make this ‘Ugly Betty’s’ final season, and are announcing now as we want to allow the show ample time to write a satisfying conclusion…We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking series and felt it was important to give the fans a proper farewell.” Consequently, as of writing, ‘Ugly Betty’ season 5 officially stands canceled.
Even though the show ended in April 2010, fans were still eager to see more of their favorite characters and continued watching reruns. Not just that, America Ferrera, who essays Betty in the show, thanked the viewers for their love for the show and even indicated her interest in reprising her role for a reunion movie. In the press tour for her film ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ Ferrera commented, “I’m happy with the way it turned out. And hopefully, the fans will want more, and they will come back and see ‘Ugly Betty: The Movie,’ and we can see what life after the show brought for this character and all these characters that the audience is in love with.”
Nevertheless, all rumors of a new season were hearsay, and neither the makers nor the cast members ever announced such further plans. Elaborating on the low chances of the show’s fifth outing to Entertainment Weekly, Vanessa Williams, who portrays Wilhelmina Slater in the show, shared, “The concept would be great. Unfortunately, our creator-executive producer, Silvio Horta, died last year due to suicide, so I don’t know what the status of the rights is,” she explains. “We love each other, we keep in touch, but who knows? At the moment, not at all [possible].”
Having said that, the show being continued through either a movie or a fifth season is also unlikely because the season 4 finale gave fans the perfect ending to Betty’s story. However, given the unpredictable nature of the entertainment industry and the intense love of fans, we’d still like to hope there is still a tiny chance that ‘Ugly Betty’ could someday make a surprise comeback on our screens.
Read More: Is Ugly Betty Based on a True Story?
