"Ugly Betty" is a refreshing show from ABC that is based on a soap opera, I believe from Mexico. The place and the characters are quite similar to "The Devil Wears Prada," except that in "Ugly Betty" her boss loves her.

Like Prada, UB takes place in the offices of a fancy fashion magazine a la Vogue, in the series called Mode, and we come into the show shortly after the death of its former editor-in-chief, "Faye." Mode's owner, Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) has put his son Daniel (Eric Mabius) in Faye's place instead of the ambitious Wilhemina (Vanessa Williams) so much of the plot is taken up with Wilhemina trying to discredit him with the help of her assistant, a bitchy queen named Marc (Michael Urie). Wilhemina has something cooked up with a masked woman whom we are led to believe is Faye returned to life, and they are trying to link Bradford with Faye's death and thus take control of the company. Into this maelstrom comes Betty (America Ferrera) with her ponchos, braces, glasses and hideous clothes, saving Daniel's job week after week and bolstering his ego.

The other part of the series concerns Betty's home life with her Mexican-American father (Tony Plana), her street-smart sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz) and Hilda's fashionista son (Mark Indelicato). Though the show has great warmth, it is in the family scenes where not only warmth but a sense of reality reigns.

All of the roles are perfectly cast. The show has clichéd characters, but they're supposed to be - it's part of the fun. Certainly Michael Urie is capable of playing a much more subtle character than the outrageous Marc, but the magazine is supposed to be an environment of total shallowness and political intrigue where Betty is the only real person. When asked why, when going to a Breast Cancer event, Wilhemina is wearing an AIDS red ribbon and not a pink one, she answers, "The AIDS one looks better with what I'm wearing."

What "Ugly Betty" has going for it is lots of heart. Betty's open, outgoing and friendly attitude breaks down barriers in the office and keeps the family grounded at home. The message is, just be who you are and be proud of it.