Ugly Betty Now Alone on ABC Renewal Bubble

by Tom on March 4th, 2009

If you’ve followed Ugly Betty News for a while, you know that I am a huge fan of TV industry blog TV By The Numbers, especially their statistics-crunching Renew/Cancel Index. As with any fan of Ugly Betty, I watch the ratings quite carefully. For most of this season, Ugly Betty has been “on the bubble” in the R/C index, meaning renewal or cancellation for next season could go either way.

With the cancellation of Life On Mars, Ugly Betty now stands alone on the bubble for ABC renewal. You could look at this as a bad thing, but I don’t. ABC has already cancelled Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Life On Mars, and According To Jim, Scrubs (maybe), and Boston Legal are all in their final seasons.

That only leaves six scripted shows set to come back next season: Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Brothers and Sisters, Private Practice, and Samantha Who? I think this gives Ugly Betty a fighting chance. I just don’t see them doing a complete network overhaul - they aren’t NBC.

As much as we’d like to believe that Ugly Betty’s renewal is certain, its fate will rest on the success or failure of ABC’s spring pilots. This is a good thing, too, because I really don’t have much faith in In The Motherhood. The promos look like the show might be a little funny, but it also looks like it may be just a little too snarky and annoying to catch on with the Ugly Betty demographic.

I hate to be hoping for shows to fail, but regardless of what we’re being told, I think Betty’s fate comes down to just that. So, Ugly Betty fans - don’t watch any new ABC shows this spring! :)

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