Esti is Ugly

January 24, 2007 at 12:37 pm | In Advertising & Media, Art & Cinema |

Some people say beauty is skin deep, but that ugly is to the bone. Well last Sunday, actress America Ferrera won a Golden Globe Award for playing the title character in the hit TV series Ugly Betty, and muted the point all together. It doesn’t matter what people say when you’ve got a globe. However, what makes any of this relevant, is that three years before Ugly Betty premiered, Israeli TV viewers had Esti Ha’mechoeret (Ugly Esti), which starred Riki Blich.

Ugly Betty and Ugly Esti are based on a 1999 Colombian telenovela (Latin American-formatted soap opera), Yo Soy Betty La Fea (I am Betty the Ugly). After that show’s success in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries, its format was sold to production companies around the world, including the Israeli company Dori Media Group Ltd.

I guess ugly translates well.

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Saw her in Tel Aviv, she is quite a lovely lady.

Comment by Danny Lowe — January 24, 2007
“…and muted the point” should say “and mooted the point.”

Comment by Marilyn — February 10, 2007
I have an “Ugly Betty” website and many people have suspected that “Esti Ha’mechoeret” wasn’t an authorized adaptation, but I’ve never been able to find any evidence that it was or wasn’t. There were many similarities, but of all the international adaptations, “Esti” was the most different. Can someone confirm for me that Dori Media Group Ltd. did indeed pay licensing fees to make “Esti” as an official adaptation?

Comment by Tony Lagarto — February 19, 2008