"Pilot" is the first episode and the series premiere of the American comedy-drama series Ugly Betty. It first aired on September 28, 2006 on the ABC network in the United States. This is also the most watched episode of the season and the series with more than 16 million viewers.
Plot
Betty Suarez, an unglamorous woman in her 20s, starts work for a fashion magazine called MODE, and in the process is introduced to the harsh treatment she will have to deal with from her more beautiful co-workers. She also meets with her boss, Daniel Meade, who was just named the new editor in chief by his father, Bradford Meade. Daniel succeeds the revered Fey Sommers, who was killed in a suspicious car accident. The announcement of Daniel being named editor-in-chief does not sit well with Wilhelmina Slater, the magazine's creative editor who has been vying for the position herself.
Daniel is not keen about having Betty working with him because she is homely, so he plots to have her quit by giving her difficult and outrageous tasks. When Betty gets wind of this from the company seamstress, Christina McKinney, she is badly hurt and says that perhaps that is the way she was supposed to land a job. After Daniel makes Betty stand in for an embarrassing modeling shoot, he has a change of heart after realizing what he is putting her through and halts the shoot as Betty walks out in anger and tears, leaving a regretful Daniel behind.
In her personal life, Betty has to deal with her sister Hilda Suarez, a single mother who thinks that her college-educated sister is not cut out for work in the fashion world, and wants Betty to join her in selling Herbalux. Betty takes responsibility for her father Ignacio Suarez by phoning his HMO to get treatment for his health condition. As well as this, Betty's boyfriend, Walter, dumps her for her neighbor Gina Gambarro. After going to Gina's house to complain about her dating activities, and walking in on her making out with another man, Betty learns that Gina was using Walter in order to get a discount on a plasma TV. Fuming, Betty storms out of Gina's house, accidentally destroying the TV in the process.
Daniel later learns that he is in danger of losing the Fabia cosmetics account, unaware that he is being sabotaged by Wilhelmina and his best friend, a photographer who has been known to plagiarize other people's work (after Betty mentions a layout he did) and is responsible for the aforementioned shoot that Betty was in. After seeing a new cosmetics layout proposal created by Betty, Daniel realizes that he needs her. Walter later ends things with Gina and tries to convince Betty to take him back. However, they are interrupted when Daniel walks in, so Betty tells Walter to leave, after which Daniel makes a passionate plea to her to return after seeing her layout proposal. Betty eventually returns and in the process not only saves the campaign, but also his job.
Meanwhile, Wilhelmina pays a visit to a person whose face is partially wrapped up and it is revealed that the two are already discussing behind-the-scenes sinister plans to take over Meade Publications. While she looks in the mirror, she also says that they should keep a close eye on Betty.
Production
Casting
America Ferrera was cast as the titular character, after Hayek approached her about the role. Ferrera said she read the script and "fell in love with the character". Ferrera compared Betty to Bridget from Bridget Jones's Diary, calling her an "underdog". In February 2006, Christian Toto from The Washington Times reported that Eric Mabius had joined the cast as Daniel Meade, the son of the publisher who was made editor-in-chief of MODE. Actress Charlotte Ross was originally cast as Wilhelmina Slater, but she pulled out before filming to join the pilot for ABC comedy show Pink Collar. Vanessa L. Williams replaced Ross.
Becki Newton did not expect to get the role of receptionist Amanda Tanen, after she attended two unsuccessful pilot auditions on the same day. Of her casting, Horta said "We were trying to find a girl that is gorgeous and funny, and that's a lot tougher than you think. It's really rare. And Becki came in and she was beautiful and she just nailed it." Michael Urie knew that his role of Wilhelmina's assistant Marc St. James was a one episode appearance, as an original story idea had Wilhelmina firing her assistants each week. Urie explained that he only had a few scenes in the pilot, but Williams made sure he stood close to her, so they could perform some funny moments together and then she would "bark" the character's name, so his scenes were not cut. Urie became a series regular when Horta noticed that he had good comic timing.