Naman Shrestha
Based on the Colombian telenovela titled ‘Yo Soy Betty, La Fea’ by Fernando Gaitán Salom, ABC’s ‘Ugly Betty’ is a comedy-drama series that aired from 2006 to 2010. It focuses on Betty Suarez, a wannabe writer who might be smart, savvy, and hardworking but has a questionably different sense of style. Despite her lack of style or because of it, Bradford Meade hires her as his son Daniel’s new assistant after putting him in charge of Mode magazine.
Meade does so, believing that Betty might be the only woman in the city with whom Daniel won’t sleep. The Silvio Horta creation features hilarious performances from talented actors, including America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Tony Plana, Ana Ortiz, and Becki Newton. With most of the show unfolding within the office of Mode magazine and Meade publications, many of you will likely wonder where ‘Ugly Betty’ was filmed.
Ugly Betty Filming Locations
‘Ugly Betty’ was filmed in California and New York, particularly in Los Angeles and New York City. The shooting for season 2 of the comedy series seemingly began in early 2008 and reportedly wrapped in May 2008, just a month or so before the production for season 3 commenced in June of the same year. As for the fourth and last season, the principal photography probably wrapped up in late March 2010. Now, let’s not waste time and find out the specific locations where ‘Ugly Betty’ was filmed!
Los Angeles, California
To shoot all the scenes of the inaugural and sophomore seasons of ‘Ugly Betty,’ the production team set up camp in the city of Los Angeles. Even though the show’s pilot episode was shot in New York City, they decided to relocate the series to the City of Angels as it was way more financially feasible. Specifically, the First Congregational Church at 540 South Commonwealth Avenue featured quite heavily in the comedy-drama series.
New York City, New York
After shooting the first two seasons in Los Angeles, the filming unit moved the production of ‘Ugly Betty’ to New York City, where they recorded various interior and exterior scenes across the city. For instance, the Metropolitan Life North Building at 11-25 Madison Avenue in New York City’s Manhattan borough served as the fictional headquarters of Mode magazine and Meade Publications in ‘Ugly Betty.’
There are a few more establishments that the production team made the most of for taping several important portions of the series, including The St. Regis New York at Two East 55th Street and the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. Interestingly, the house seen in the pilot episode was an actual residence located at 37-27 92nd Street in the Queens borough. The cast and crew members set up camp in the living and dining rooms of the house. Some important scenes for ‘Ugly Betty’ were also lensed around Madison Avenue & East 25th Street in New York City.
The filming unit also utilized the facilities of the Silvercup Studios for taping numerous parts of season 3 and season 4 of the comedy series. Situated at 42-22 22nd Street in Queens, New York City, the film studio is home to 13 different shooting stages that come with fully-equipped lighting and grip department, production office suites, dressing rooms, and rooftop shooting space that provides the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. All these amenities make Silvercup Studios one of the prominent production locations in New York City.
Read More: Is Ugly Betty Based on a True Story?
