(Sorry, my Wordpress-Fu is failing me, and embedding just isn’t working for me.  That’s OK, Bob Andelman has a very good site, an you should check it out anyway )

After some obligatory small talk, they talk about the move from Friday nights.  (Andelman wonders if DVRs make timeslots irrelevant – I’ll refer him to TVByTheNumbers who give a great explanation of the ratings and business side of things).  Ortiz and Plana both address the more important meaning of the move to Wednesdays: they are now part of a cohesive (and promotable) “comedy night”.  I think they are absolutely right. 

I think some of the naysayers are going to be quite surprised by Betty’s performance over the next few weeks.  But, I digress.

Andelman gets Tony to say how much he likes sex (and how as one ages, he appreciates it more )

They talk about Hilda repeating history by chasing another “bad boy”.  (Placeholder for self – the way Ortiz mentions the pregnancy makes me wonder if it’s not going to end sadly.  But, that’s just a hunch).

Ortiz says she thinks the writers have balanced “the family” and “Mode” more this year. She likes when the family and Mode “collide”. Plana adds that the show’s seasons many times have a natural progression: focusing on Mode, then exploring the same concept in the Suarez house. 

I’d never thought of it that way before.

The two both weigh in against Detty.  They describe the Colombian version of the show, and how when the Betty and Armando characters got together in the end, it caused a heavy controversy.

They also say Betty shouldn’t become fashion-model beautiful in the end (I agree).   “Evolve”? Yes.  Become Miss Universe? No!

Ortiz says all the platform shoes hurt her feet, but she wouldn’t be Hilda without her.

I loved this interview, and I’m rarin’ to go, ready to watch tonight!

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

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Here’s what Horta says about moving to Wednesdays:  “I think it means we’re back on the map [laughs]. We’re back on the radar. We were certainly off it for a while. I mean, Friday nights was … you know, it wasn’t a good night for us. ABC’s hope was that our audience would follow us there and it didn’t happen. Hopefully this new night and slot will allow people to rediscover the show. I think we’ve been on a really good creative upswing of late, so hopefully everything will come together and we’ll have a shot at going beyond a fourth year.”

Horta confirms something I have suspected about this season.  He has always shown restraint in holding back story lines, but this year, the producers are going for broke.

“So, that’s one of the things we decided to do going into this year — to not hold back. To really tell the stories we want to tell because we don’t know how much time we have left, so let’s just do the best show possible. It’s given us a great deal of creative freedom.”, Silvio says.

Of course, there’s a lot of talk about Justin.  He praises Mark Indelicato, who surprisingly made the character his own early in season 1.  “He [Indelicato] just nailed it. He took it beyond being just a punch line — he made it a real character and a real performance. That was one of the great early surprises on the show. He was so young coming in, so you really don’t know what he’s going to be capable of over the course of the series. He’s been terrific.”

Surprisingly, Horta did not experience as a youth the things Justin  is going through.  I always assumed that this year’s Justin storyline was autobiographical.

AND — Mr Horta plays the Ship game to the hilt.  Asked about the possibility of a Daniel/Betty relationship:  “I’ve gone back and forth in my head over it. At this point, nothing is out of the realm of possibility".”

Ahhh, he plays all of us like a violin.

About the similarities between The Community of The Phoenix and a certain other religion:  “No. I think they’ve been bashed so often in the past couple years, they really can’t come after us. I honestly think we’re the least of their problems.”

(BTW, I’m nearly positive that the subject matter was the reason that episode was preempted in cities like Tampa and Washington, DC.  — Tinfoil, on)

There is actually a lot more in the interview/  Check it out.

Image: Zuma Press

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Mark Indelicato

As far as Justin entering high school, Indelicato says, “Justin is a freshman in high school this year, and he’s not what the other kids are. The kids are superficial and don’t look at him for who he is. You’re new in a school, you’re around people you don’t know, you’re intimidated by kids who’ve been there longer than you. So that’s kind of the gist of his whole problem.”

[Me] – I’ve always loved how they’ve handled Justin’s “different-ness”.  Anyone who’s ever been to high school knows this was coming, and although the writers work around the edges of what makes Justin different, the effect is still the same.

Indelicato agrees, I think:  He says, “I am a sophomore in high school, so I know what it feels like. It’s a comedic show, but they’re not sugarcoating it at all — it’s real. The way they are portraying Justin is something, I think, that could change someone’s life. I’m trying to portray this as reality because I’ve seen this happen. I’m in it, so I know exactly what’s going on there.”

According to Mark, when the troubles start in high school, he will have an ally.  “Marc helps him out. I think he sees that Marc went through the same type of thing. He went to a public school and dealt with being different. I think he’s kind of a role model. [Justin] just loves fashion and is fascinated by Mode and the people who work there. And I think Marc is there to be a mentor and to say, "Look, it’s OK to be different, it’s OK to not be a jock and not do what everyone else is doing. Do your own thing because you’re going to be great no matter what." And that’s a big thing for Justin.”

[Me] – I’ve always though these scenes between Marc and Justin have worked well.  And, they kind of reflect reality, I think.  At Justin’s age, the last thing you want is your mother stepping in to save you when you get into troubles.  And for a young man, an older male mentor, who has been through what you are going through, carries more influence in your life.

About Hilda: “She wants to protect him [Justin] so much, but she can’t anymore because he’s growing up and she can’t really tell him what to do. It’s hard for her, but I think it’s something every mom goes through. She’s really trying to cope with him taking that step towards being a young adult and making his own decisions and fighting his own battles.”

Tonight is the night!  The Ugly Betty season 4 premiere begins at 8/7c on ABC.  I won’t be doing a live blog this season (those rarely attracted people who actually read here – they were…interesting), but I WILL be Twittering.  If you aren’t following UglyBettyNews on Twitter, now’s your chance!  And, of course, come back later for my quick thoughts and famous novel-sized recaps!

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

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First thing:  they say that Betty is "unofficially" renewed.  I know sometimes I sound like a sourpuss about ratings here, but deep down, I’ve always believed the show was coming back (although I HAVE to report the good and the bad).  I’m glad the producers say the show is "unofficially" returning.  Also, the show will stay in New York, for now.

As for keeping all the various story lines under control (a problem in season 2), Poust says, "We try to arc out different character arcs but we work really hard to figure out how to possibly put Betty into each story."  I’ve noticed that this year – they’ve done a much better job of keeping Betty at the center.

Now for a pet peeve of some of the readers here:  will Betty remain an assistant forever?  Kinnally says, "…at the end of the season… she’s getting a promotion but it’s going to come with strings attached. We love Betty most when she’s an underdog and when she’s vulnerable. That’s when she’s most relatable. When people hate her, we like her more so we have to keep some people disliking her."  Does Matt, or his parents, attach the strings, maybe?

About Justin, Poust says, "The interesting thing is that we really haven’t come up against anyone putting any boundaries on him yet. Right now, he’s a 13-year-old kid on the show so we’re trying to take it slowly, not make it an ‘issue show’ and try to keep what’s fun about Justin in that he’s completely embraced for who he is."  Kinnally adds, "We do have to be careful because he is only 13 so we don’t want to sexualize him in any way. I hope the series goes long enough where we see Justin with his first boyfriend."

As for those braces that cause so much contention, Poust says, "We don’t know. You know, it’s a hard thing because you don’t want it to be, "Oh, she finally gets to be pretty."  Kinnally adds, "That’s the message you don’t want to put out there. You want the message to be that she’s beautiful with braces so we don’t want to do a ‘Betty makeover’ but, having said that, we’ve talked about the episode where that happens. "

Great stuff.  I’d say the show is in very good hands, and hopefully we’ll have two or three more seasons to see the show blossom.  It’s a great interview – go read the whole thing!

Image: splashnewsonline.com

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