Unlike many other overworked undergraduates who look forward to Thursday nights for an opportunity to indulge in some decidedly bacchanalian pleasures, I long for it so I may indulge in my own cathartic release: "Ugly Betty" on NBC.
Spare me the heated reaction that another show is somehow "better." Yes, I realize that "The Office," "30 Rock" and "Scrubs" also air on Thursdays and that they have incredibly devoted, maniacal fans of their own.
But please, can you really beat the unadulterated, unapologetic, overwrought campiness of "Ugly Betty?" No, mis amigos, you cannot. Where else can you find guest stars like Patti Lupone and Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham along with a rumored Lindsay Lohan appearance in the future? Besides, in re-runs of such camp-embracing shows like "Will & Grace" and "Absolutely Fabulous," it may be the savior of campiness.
On the surface, "Ugly Betty" is a formulaic show par excellence: It's basically "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006), but with a Mexican immigrant - already a point for us liberals.
Like a good drag queen, the genius of "Ugly Betty" lies not only in content, but also in technique and execution. The show's truly revolutionary direction, set decoration and editing lend it an air of polished sophistication that belies some of the most subversive and progressive plots on television.
The queer content is obvious and - thankfully - politically agnostic. The overt coding of Betty's young nephew Justin aside, flaming assistant Marc St. James and his sidekick, deep-as-a-puddle receptionist Amanda Tanen manage to out-camp Jack and Karen from "Will & Grace."
Recently, promiscuous Marc even received a steady boyfriend - kudos to the show for giving us a real representation of a twink-cub relationship!
Some of you may not know what that means, but I take the same risk that the show does by embodying another intrinsic element of camp: obscure allusions and an insouciant attitude towards an audience that may not understand them all.
As a reference queen with an appreciation for pop culture miscellanea, I laughed for three minutes when Wilhemena Slater, creative director of fashion tome MODE, noted blithely that she needed to find an older date for a charity function, as the young boy-toy she had brought the night before was making her "look like Miss Jane Pittman."
This brings me to the show's crowning achievement and raison d'??tre, Miss Vanessa Williams, disgraced former Miss America turned Tony-Award-nominated star herself!
There is simply no better incarnation of pure camp than Williams - she had the biggest pop hit of 1992 with "Save the Best for Last," sang the Oscar-winning "Pocahontas" (1995) theme song "Colors of the Wind," played the Witch in Steven Sondheim's "Into the Woods," was in made-for-TV masterpieces "The Jacksons: An American Dream" and "A Diva's Christmas Carol" and now plays a fabulously cruel fashionista on a show where her former husband plays the bodyguard with whom she is having an affair.
If that oeuvre doesn't make you explode with glee, you simply won't get the show.
But don't let that deter you from watching the funniest show on television. Like a good drag queen, you may not understand every reference she makes, but you can still enjoy the sheer spectacle and the rebellious spirit - both of which "Ugly Betty" has in spades.
Billy DeGregorio is a senior majoring in English and Spanish with a minor in communications and media studies.
