Producers rejected ‘Ugly Betty’ creator’s pitch to make Betty an undercover FBI agent

“Ugly Betty” creator Silvio Horta pitched Betty Suarez as an undercover FBI agent investigating wrongdoing at MODE magazine. Executive producers Ben Silverman and Teri Weinberg rejected the idea, telling him to follow the Colombian telenovela’s original approach.

The ABC comedy premiered Sept. 28, 2006, and ran for four seasons through 2010. It was adapted from the Colombian telenovela “Yo soy Betty, la fea.”