*NB: For those of you who haven't seen the third season in its entirety, I would refrain from reading this, as it might contain potential spoilers- Waiching*[b]

[b](US DVD release date: 22 September 2009)

(UK DVD release date: 7 December 2009)

Season 3 Synopsis -'The fashionable world of Ugly Betty continues to evolve in the complete third season that takes Betty to another life change as she grows up, moves into Manhattan and embraces her independence.'

With Ugly Betty there appears to be a different theme occuring in each season. Season 1 was mainly about Betty and her friendships with Daniel, Henry and Christina; Season 2 was all about Betty, Gio and Henry. Season 3 looks set to be about Betty, Marc and Amanda.

A couple of months ago before the season 3 premiere had even aired, Silvio Horta mentioned that this season was going to be all about Betty growing up. Well, to be frank, the product description at the back of the box which says '...moves to Manhattan and embraces her independence' is misleading and wrong; thus, this should be changed because Betty eventually leaves her...

Texts are created for mass consumption by the producers, but the text and its ideas and storylines are disemminated, perceived and interpreted differently by us- the audience or be it consumers. This leads us onto Stuart hall's encoding/decoding model.

For Hall, the encoding/decoding model is a concept he originally devised where he explains that through the transmission of ideas and messages in the texts, Hall proposed three ways of reading and decoding texts: dominant, negotiated and oppositional. The dominant reading is where the viewer takes away that meaning from the TV show and accept what has been shown to us; the negotiated meaning is when the viewer negotiates the viewpoint or idea: in other words we tend to agree with this idea but also disagree with it because of something else. An example of this would be something like professional sports atheletes: the negotiated reading would be that they are good role models for young people and that because of their exisitence this enables them to actively take part in sport and to encourage them to keep fit and be healthy.

Synopsis: Two very different cultures collide in this sexy and stylish series about believing in yourself regardless of the odds. Experience every episode of the award-winning Series One in this sensational collection.

Based on the original Columbian telenovela, 'Yo Soy Betty La Fea', the first series of Ugly Betty is so watchable and addictive after one episode that afterwards you want to continue with the rest of the series. Just so that you can find out what happens to the characters and their predicaments.

Betty Suarez is a young Latina with red rimmed glasses, metal braces and who wears hideous clothing, who is hired by Bradford Meade as his son Daniel's personal assistant. Initially hired to look after Daniel, as well as to prevent Daniel from sleeping with her, Betty soon makes a positive impression at work and a smooth transition in a short space of time. Though she becomes a butt of Mode's jokes and having to endure constant verbal bullying by Mode's bitchiest employees- namely Marc and Amanda-, as well as deal with Wilhelmina's scheming antics, Betty navigates her way through the dark and tricky waters of Mode Magazine.