Several of my friends on Twitter have shared that ABC is canceling Ugly Betty and this season, number 4, is going to be the last season. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m pretty devestated. When they moved the television show from Thursday to other evenings I knew there was some trouble brewing.

It was not that long ago that we lost The George Lopez Show, one of the ONLY US national television shows (on a non cable network for folks like me without cable. That conversion has left me with only receiving 3 channels with my rabbit ear antenneas), that showed the Latino family. I don’t even want to think about what was before this show because I’m almost positive it was Chico and the Man. Ugly Betty has filled a part of that void for so many of us.

I just keep remembering I grew up with A Different World, seeing young people of Color who looked like me going to college and graduating. It really formed my perspective of what I can accomplish. It is possible for some Latinos today that Ugly Betty may have done the same: helped someone cope with the passing of the matriarch in their family, help us re-examine how we treat one another, recognize the discrimination many of us face in the workplace, and how to forge and maintain relationships.

Ugly Betty also allowed us one of the first complicated and layered looks at a Latino family, love, interracial relationships, body diversity, and age diversity in its characters. Recently they included one of the LatiNegr@s I mentioned looking out for in 2010, Adam Rodriguez as a love interest for older sister Hilda, performed by Ana Ortiz.  Talking with film director Kortney Ziegler of BLACKSTARMEDIA, who shared that the characters that will be missed the most are those performed by Judith Light, Vanessa Williams, and America Ferrera. Light and Williams are two older women who I hope will find more work because they were ferocious in their representations of their characters. Ferrera in general wins for everything in life! This is really because of her being so outspoken on how Latinos are represented and treated in Hollywood.

We must not forget that Ugly Betty is driven by a Latina, La Macha’s love, Salma Hayek as Executive Director. So this is more than just a lose for us visually, it may also be a business loss as well for Latina entrepreanurs and media makers.

Our stories are important. Our realities must be shared. This is terrible news for US media. A huge void will remain. What was/is your favorite Ugly Betty episode/phrase/wardobe?

And in case you don’t know about the show, here’s one of the original advertisements: