Ugly Betty star American Ferrera (Photo Credit: Jerry Avenaim)

It can’t get any uglier than this as Ugly Betty gets the boot from television executives.

Ugly Betty, the comedy series about an average-looking girl trying to survive in the discriminating world of fashion, will not return for a fifth season, ABC bigwigs confirmed.

“We’ve mutually come to the difficult decision to make this Ugly Betty’s final season,” Yahoo quoted a joint statement by the show’s executive producer Silvio Horta and ABC President Steve McPherson read.

“And (we) are announcing now as we want to allow the show ample time to write a satisfying conclusion,” the statement also said, adding, “We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking series, and felt it was important to give the fans a proper farewell.”

In a related development, ABC has also decided to cut down its Ugly Betty episode orders for this season to 20 from 22.

Ugly Betty’s bitter end is not a surprise though as its numbers have been steadily declining.
This season, the not-so-pretty show averaged a slim 5.3 million viewers compared with its promising maiden 2006-2007 season, when it cornered over 11 million viewers a week.

Ugly Betty reportedly started going downhill in the middle of its second season when it began losing its herds of loyal fans and strings of advertisers, and things got worse when ABC moved its 4th Season on the tough Friday night timeslot from its original Thursday spot.

In a last-ditch effort to save ailing Betty, ABC moved it again on Wednesday in January. Capping ABC’s Wednesday comedy block, it was easier for the show to tap the viewers of earlier programs. But the people still snubbed the show as Betty failed to capture the 40 percent audience of Cougar Town, the show before it.

Meanwhile, sympathetic fans rooting for Betty’s not-so-typical ever after flooded forums saying they are disappointed by ABC’s decision.

“I had a feeling that this was coming but at the same time I was hoping to be wrong,” one viewer commented on CNN, adding, “I guess there’s only so many storylines that you can throw in to make a show successful without overdoing it.”

Another viewer took a jab at ABC’s confusing timeslot saying, “I loved Ugly Betty but it was too hard to find it in recent times.”

But despite falling behind ABC’s expectations in terms of ratings, Ugly Betty has its fair share of achievements in its four-season run. It received multiple Emmy nominations and got a best actress Emmy plum for its lead, America Ferrera in 2007. (Grace R)

Source: CNN and Entertainment Weekly