by Michael Ausiello
Image Credit: WENN.comHere’s some (potentially) good news for Ugly Betty fans hoping for a Betty/Daniel happy ending: The show is shooting several pivotal scenes on location in London today with America Ferrera and Eric Mabius for the April 14 series finale. “They’re shooting in Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, amongst other places,” reveals a source. The British flag on Betty’s farewell banner was a rather big clue that her new career opportunity would take her across the pond, but that doesn’t explain what Daniel is doing there. Hmm…
America Ferrera races around London landmarks as she films final Ugly Betty episode
By Lizzie Smith
Last updated at 10:20 AM on 6th April 2010
London came to a standstill yesterday as it formed the setting for the last ever scenes of the hit U.S. TV show Ugly Betty.
Tourists enjoying the Easter bank holiday gathered in their droves to watch as America Ferrara raced around the capital’s most scenic loacations in an attention-grabbing cerise coat.
In a packed day of filming America was spotted inTrafalgar Square, the Millennium Bridge in front of St Paul’s Cathedral, Leicester Square, Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus and a red London bus.
Scenic route: Ugly Betty launches her own magazine in the final show
Time for a drink: After a hard days filming Eric Mabius, who plays Daniel Meade, and America Ferrera headed to Kensington nightclub Boujis
The actors are working to a tight deadline as there is little more than a week until the episode airs in the U.S.
But after all that work there was time for a celebratory drink – as the cast headed to Boujis nightclub in Kensington.
More…
The last episode sees Betty launch her own magazine, but the exact details of the plot are not known. But with no further series planned, it is sure to tie up all the loose ends.
Gone were the thick-rimmed glasses and braces that once defined America’s character Betty Suarez, which she has played for more than three years.
Traffic stopping: Betty takes a red London bus
Famous location: America films amongst the shoppers at Piccadilly Circus
On the tube: Betty takes public transport, jumping on the tube
Micheal Urie, who plays Marc St James, said emotions were running high among cast members.
He told the New York Post: ‘Oh God, I’ve been on the verge of tears for a week.’
And he admitted his upcoming final moments with Vanessa Williams, who plays Wilhelmina Slater, might just send him over the edge.
‘It’s going to be so hard to film my last scene with Vanessa, I’m going to be a mess for that.
‘We’ve all started acknowledging “this is our last – this is the last time we’ll do that.”‘
No time to stop: With just a week until the episode is screened, Betty won’t be watching Chicago on this trip
Time for the end: America films her scenes on Westminster Bridge
Urie, currently starring off-Broadway in The Temperamentals, confessed he doesn’t know how the show will wrap up, but suggested a scenario for how he’d like to see things end.
He said: ‘I would love for Marc to find someone, but what I really want is for Marc and Wilhelmina’s relationship to continue professionally. More than anything else, I feel that they belong together at Mode, running things.’
America herself admitted that she ‘felt a lot of things’ when she was told the show was to be axed.
‘Did I want the show to be over?’ she said. ‘Not necessarily. It wasn’t a complete surprise because the ratings were turning south, but we still had our very loyal audience.’
End of an era: America Ferrera and Eric Mabius in Trafalgar Square in London
Final show: A photographer was on hand to snap photos of the cast and crew as they worked together for the last time
She said she is happy with the way the final season has turned out.
‘I was pleased that this season and last season we really kind of hit our creative stride,’ she explained.
‘Critics and our audience were very pleased with what was happening this season. It’s nice to at least go out when we found a nice creative place rather than going out when it wasn’t working creatively.’
And Nelson’s Column: The whistlestop tour included the historic landmark
New attraction: Trafalgar Square came to a standstill as tourists enjoying the bank holiday stopped to watch America filming
- The final episode of Ugly Betty airs in the U.S. on April 14 on ABC.
Source: EW
By now, you’ve read the sad news that Ugly Betty’s current season will be its last. If you want to debate whether ABC should have pulled the plug on the four-year-old show, Michael Ausiello is hosting that debate. Here on PopWatch, we’re accepting the cancellation and moving forward. Exec producer Silvio Horta and ABC president Steve McPherson have confirmed that Betty’s writers will have time to pen a “satisfying conclusion” and “proper farewell.” So, knowing that they now have less than 10 episodes left, it’s time to seriously ponder that question we’ve all been asking since we first found out that Betty and Daniel coupled up in the original Colombian series:
In the series finale of ‘Ugly Betty,’ Betty should end up with:
Critical Darling ‘Ugly Betty’ Is Canceled
By Edward Wyatt, NYT, 1-27-10
“Ugly Betty,” the ABC series that won a Golden Globe award for best comedy series in its first season on the air in 2006-2007 but whose audience has fallen by half over its four seasons, will end its primetime run this spring, the network and the show’s producers announced Wednesday.
ABC and the program’s producers, who include the actress Salma Hayek and Ben Silverman, the former NBC programming chief, said: “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.”
The program, which was developed for American television by Silvio Horta, is an adaptation of a popular Spanish-language television show, “Betty La Fea,” about an unattractive but cheerful secretary at a fashion magazine. It was imported to the United States by Mr. Silverman’s Reveille production studio and featured America Ferrera as Betty, a role for which she also won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for acting in her first season.
The buzz around the show was strong even before the series had its premiere, leading ABC to move the show from its initially planning time period of 8 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Thursday, where it served as a lead-in to the network’s enormously popular series, “Grey’s Anatomy.”
But after drawing more than 11 million viewers in its first season, viewership steadily declined, to 8 million in the third season. After the network moved the series to 9 p.m. Fridays beginning in the fall of 2009, viewership fell further. The series was moved to 10 p.m. Wednesdays after the cancellation of “Eastwick,” but has drawn only about 5 million viewers per week this season.
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