"Ugly Betty" Jumps The Shark

Damn, I’m irritated. Last night I started writing a post about how “Ugly Betty” jumped the shark in season three and has become downright grating… but when Ayhan got home, I was quickly distracted by his request to begin watching “30 Rock,” season two. So long, blog-a-boo.

So this afternoon I got a Web link from fellow pop culture/music lover buddy Andy, announcing that ABC is essentially shelving the show, replacing it with eps of “Samantha Who?” and a new Megan Mullally-Cheryl Hines comedy “In the Motherhood.” “Betty” will allegedly return in June—uh, when no one is watching TV. Sounds like a death knell to me. I suppose I missed my opportunity to lead the bitch call.

Granted, a year ago, "Desperate Housewives" was on the brink of death, and this season it returned to shrewd depravity, so there is hope yet. But at this point, "Betty" is just plain annoying.

1. The economy is in the shitter. Betty has a great, glam job and yet her family continues a one-dimensional storyline of inflicting guilt for not always standing by their every need. And she never fights back. Yawn.

2. Betty has been working for a glamour mag for three years now, and still has no fashion sense? It took Anne Hathaway about 45 minutes in “The Devil Wears Prada” to transition from “the smart, fat one” to don designer duds, thanks to a full closet of clothes available to her. Betty has the same, and yet still dresses like she’s working for a quilt.

3. Braces for three years? I had the ultimate buckies and it took a year and a half to align my teefs. Enough, already.

4. This season, the show moved on location to NYC and Betty finally moved out of her family’s clutches, into a fabulous Manhattan dive apartment, which was wonderfully, colorfully decorated. And yet Betty is never there. Not to mention the reckless teasing of introducing a promising love interest, Jessie, played by pretty Val Emmich, that went nowhere. I posted a previous entry bitching about this.

Maybe ABC is doing "Ugly Betty" a favor. Amuse us... or lose us.