Early word on ‘Betty’: It can get pretty ugly

The first of the new fall shows don’t roll out until next month, but already ABC’s “Betty the Ugly,” executive produced by Salma Hayek, is turning into a critical battleground.

Based on a popular Colombian telenovela, “Betty” concerns one Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), a young working-class woman with the fashion sense of a cloistered 12-year-old -- she wears braces and hideous printed ponchos -- who gets a job at a snooty fashion magazine. In the pilot, Betty learns to reform her doormat ways after she is humiliated at a photo shoot.

The early reaction on the Internet is sharply divided. “You know how every year there’s one show that makes you wonder ‘How ... did this get made?’ Well, this is that show,” wrote Brian Ford Sullivan at thefutoncritic .com. But over at mediavillage .com, Ed Martin loved it: “ ‘Betty’ is an hour-long comedy brimming with heart, humor, humanity, compassion and the possibility of dizzying romance. There is nothing quite like it on broadcast television. It presents a uniquely fascinating mix of richly detailed characters, some recognizable from everyday life, others seemingly pulled from someone’s very vivid imagination, all of them compelling.”

Count me in the Sullivan camp. I watched the pilot -- or roughly three-quarters of it, which is about all I could take. Clearly we’re supposed to appreciate Betty as a scrappy underdog (pardon the expression), but I didn’t find the episode nearly funny or engaging enough to win me over.

Call me Scotty the Bored. Both Betty’s bickering family and catty co-workers feel recycled from countless other TV shows and movies, starting with “Working Girl.” Worse, I don’t know (or care) how the series can be sustained over the long term. If Betty remains a clueless naif, then the premise seems cruel. But if she grows worldly -- or at least stops wearing ponchos -- will there still be a show?

And what’s up with that title? Ferrera’s ugly not even by the unforgiving standards of Rodeo Drive. Beneath her ridiculous makeup and costumes, she’s actually pleasant-looking, even striking.

The epithet’s meant to be ironic, I guess, but shouldn’t we have to view the heroine that way at least initially? Any producers who think this Betty lives up to her dubious billing should get out in the world and learn what ugly really looks like.

CBS receives

a reality check

For the first time, CBS put its two key summer reality shows, “Big Brother: All-Stars” and “Rock Star: Supernova,” back-to-back Thursday. (Well, the departed “Tuesday Night Book Club” was supposed to be a key reality show, but we know how that turned out.) It was a weak night, but CBS won in viewers and eked out a victory among 18- to 49-year-olds, a key demographic.

The regular time slot premiere of “Big Brother” notched a 2.8 rating/10 share in the demo (7.7 million total viewers), according to early data from Nielsen Media Research. Hardly a barnburner, but enough to win the slot against lame rivals like ABC’s “Master of Champions” (1.5 rating/5 share in the demographic; 5.2 million overall).

“Rock Star,” meanwhile, is looking like a thoroughly mediocre performer. Thursday’s special edition did a 2.6 rating/ 8 share in the demographic (6 million total viewers), or up 18% in young adults compared with Wednesday’s premiere.

Despite all the hype surrounding the addition of Tommy Lee’s new band to the festivities, this year’s “Rock Star” is unlikely to finish big.