The third season of the American comedy-drama television series Ugly Betty was confirmed by ABC on February 11, 2008.[1] The season premiere aired on September 25, 2008, while the season ended with a special double episode on May 21, 2009.
In Australia, season 3 premiered on 3 November 2009, as one of the first exclusive premieres on the new digital channel 7TWO, after two years on the Seven Network. Season 3 premiered on Tuesday 13 January 2009 in South Africa and on Wednesday 24 June 2009 in the UK.
The season would be the first to be produced in the show's actual setting, New York City, in an attempt to take advantage of a credit change.
Most of the main cast from the show's second season returned for the third season, with former main characters Alexis Meade (played by Rebecca Romijn) and Henry Grubstick (played by Christopher Gorham), becoming recurring characters.
In addition, the season featured cameo appearances by Adele, Mark Badgley and James Mischka, Nigel Barker, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Billie Jean King, Adriana Lima, Rachel Maddow, Isaac Mizrahi, Roberta Myers, Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, Zac Posen, Antonio Sabàto Jr., Liz Smith, Robert Verdi, and Joe Zee as themselves.
During production of season 2, the ideas for both a musical episode and a recurring guest role for Lindsay Lohan came up.[2] Both ideas were put on hold due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and in the end, only Lindsay Lohan's storyline came to fruition, with Lohan making a brief uncredited cameo appearance in the season two finale "Jump", before reprising the role in season 3.
Shooting of the episodes moved from Los Angeles to on-location shooting in New York City, where the show was set.[3] The last time the show was shot in New York was in the pilot episode.[4] In addition, the season had more physical elements, especially for Betty.[5]
In an interview about the new direction the series would be taking, Silvio Horta told E!'s Kristin Dos Santos at an ABC press meeting for its show runners: “This season is going to be about growing up. We aren't going to be doing anymore child-like storylines. It is going to be about moving Betty forward."[6] He then added more details to MediaWeek about the changes: "On Ugly Betty I think we started to veer a little too much into the romantic storyline, where it started to really become the show. And it started to just get away from what I originally wanted to do and where we originally started, which was about a girl making it in the city and her work life. So we're trying to refocus that back. But there's always temptation and you want to explore it. You want to have the opportunity to explore it. And the second you start getting too involved in it, it's like any plot line. You go in; it's very hard to get out and it takes a little longer."[7] He later revealed that the audience would see a more evolving Betty: "Betty will solve a crime. Inject Botox. Get attacked by an animal. Throw a Wilhelmina mannequin down a flight of stairs. And that's just the first three episodes."
It was announced before the season aired that Rebecca Romijn would only be returning as a recurring character because of Romijn's dissatisfaction with the direction in which the writers had taken her character.[8] It was speculated that the move was also, partially, due to Romijn's pregnancy, although TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reported that it might have been a ploy to ask for a salary increase.[9]
Christopher Gorham (Henry Grubstick) revealed to TV Guide that "the show is moving, I am not."[10] On July 11, 2008, TV Guide confirmed that Gorham and Freddy Rodriguez would be moving on from Betty as the two actors would be making their last appearances due to other commitments; especially Gorham, who began working on CBS' Harper's Island.[11] However, in a Q&A submitted to Ausiello at his webpage at Entertainment Weekly, he asked Ferrera about the absence of the two actors after they were no-shows at the Season 3 premiere party in New York City on September 12, 2008: "Betty's decision at the beginning of this season is not an ending to anything," Ferrera insisted. "It's more about huge beginnings for her. Christopher [Gorham], who we love and adore, and Freddy [Rodriguez], who is wonderful and so great on our show, are not gone [forever]. You'll never know when they'll pop in or pop out, but they'll be around."[12]
Notes:
For the third season, a spin-off online series called Mode After Hours accompanied the main series. The program followed Marc St. James (Michael Urie) and Amanda Tanen (Becki Newton) having fun around the Mode offices when they were not working.[17][18] Thirteen 5-minute episodes were produced.
On March 13, 2009, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment announced that the release date of Ugly Betty Season Three, subtitled "Start Spreading the News", would be September 22, 2009 in the United States and Canada. All 24 episodes were included in the set, along with additional "Betty Bloopers", alternative takes, deleted scenes and a featurette, "Coming Home to New York City", detailing the show's return to the Big Apple after having filmed the pilot there.[19]
Among the features: