Posted by Kathy Lyford

The "Ugly Betty" Q&A is ready! Silvio Horta has responded to your questions and the answers are below.

I sent him all the compliments that preceded the questions and they made him very happy. He received all of your questions and he chose the following ones to answer. (I requested that he answer at least one Gio question since so many of you seemed to be interested in that character.) In some cases, similar questions were combined.

You won't find a sweeter guy in Hollywood than Silvio Horta. He never has a bad word to say about anyone and he's very humble. His family and his culture are very important to him. He's very proud of his show and I'm sure he'd want to thank all of you for watching. (I love this picture of him from last year's Emmys with all his girls.)

And I would like to thank Silvio for his time because I know he has very little of it to spare. I'd also like to thank each of you for participating and waiting so patiently for the answers. And here we go…

Q. How closely are the characters in Ugly Betty based on the other Betty show around the world?
— James
A. "Ugly Betty" is based on the Colombian television show, "Yo Soy Betty La Fea," which roughly translates to "I am Betty the ugly one." Of course Betty's character resembles her Colombian counterpart, but in personality she is vastly different. This comes from cultural differences, my writing choices, America Ferrera's acting choices, and so on. The shape and premise of the series is the same, but the characters, their stories, their voice, etc. are different.

Q. Do you still use the green screen process since you've moved to New York and do you find filming in the actual city takes more time than in the studio with the special effects? — Lynn
A. We may occasionally use green screen effects in episodes, but we don't use them to simulate New York anymore. Filming exterior scenes in New York, for instance, is much easier and rewarding now.  The city is a pleasure to work in and with and our shots come out more beautifully than we could have ever faked in Los Angeles. Part of this is because when we had to use N.Y. in the background while filming in L.A., we still had to use actual background footage shot in N.Y., and filming the actors in front of a green screen instead of a real environment added a layer of artificialness that was difficult to overcome. Now that we can film the actors in the actual N.Y. environments in which the show is set, the payoff is exponentially satisfying.

Oct. 6 update:

The season 2 finale of "Ugly Betty" left viewers hanging on a cliff and our heroine with a big choice to make. Henry proposed, which would mean moving to Arizona. But Gio wants to take her on a Roman holiday and be "the guy." Meanwhile Daniel has a son, but no job. Wow. So many questions. (Savvy fans probably already know how one of those dilemmas turns out, but I'll never tell.)

Are you a fan? Anything you’re curious about? Want to know something about one of the stars? "Betty" showrunner Silvio Horta will answer your questions here. Just hit the comment button below and ask. Silvio's favorite participant will win a season 2 DVD set.

The show's now filming in New York, so Silvio's busy traveling back and forth and will answer via email. Check back here next week for the answers.

And, on Monday I will have the results of the Marc Cherry/"Desperate Housewives" Q&A!

In the meantime, stay up to date with "Ugly Betty" news on  SoapNet.com, which covers 42 shows including "Desperate Housewives," “90210,” “Gossip Girl,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Weeds” and more.

Visit SOAPnet.com for:

• Show Recaps
• News on the hottest primetime and daytime dramas
• A fall premiere calendar
• Video interviews with your favorite TV stars, clip shows and more

— Kathy Lyford

P.S.
Check back for future Q&A opportunites for "Friday Night Lights" and others.

Hey guys,

Thanks for being so patient. I heard from Silvio Horta today regarding the Q&A and he said he's been so buried in work the last week he's barely had time to breathe. He promises to get to the answers in the next couple of days. Stay tuned. Your patience will be rewarded.

— KL

The strike is claiming its earliest victims with sitcoms "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Back to You" (pictured below), "’Til Death," "Rules of Engagement" and "The Office" already shut down. And of course the latenight shows immediately went dark. For more details see the story from our TV gurus (and fellow Season Passers) Mike Schneider and Joe Adalian here.

After this morning's rally by showrunners, who convened outside ABC, there should be several more shows going dark as more folks at the helm of shows realize they can't, in good conscience, picket the companies as writers and then turn around and work for them as producers.

"Ugly Betty" exec producer-creator Silvio Horta explained the dilemma succinctly saying “The perfectionist in me wants to participate, the Norma Rae in me wants to support my union.”

For more reactions like this, see the story above and Variety's new strike blog, Scribe Vibe.

Buckle up folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

— Kathy Lyford

Thursday was a big night of big shows and a not-so-big debut for ABC's "Big Shots." (pictured left)

ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" returned to their familiar duel positions at 9 p.m., with "Grey's" leading the night in adults 18-49 while "CSI" had total-viewer tonnage. Both "Grey's" and "CSI" flexed their muscles by spiking from their 8 p.m. lead-ins.

"Grey's" (pictured below left) finished out with 20.5 million viewers and 8.7 rating/21 share in 18-49. "CSI" (pictured below right) brought in 24.9 million viewers and 8.0/19 in the key demo, per prelim Nielsens.

"Survivor: China" was soft, by the show's past standard, but still dominated in the 8 p.m. hour with 14.2 million viewers and 4.6/13 in 18-49. ABC's "Ugly Betty" (11 million, 3.8/11) was a solid No. 2 in the hour, posting its best figures since February.

At 10 p.m., "Big Shots" (inevitably) slid from its "Grey's" lead-in to open with 11.6 million viewers and 4.7/13 in 18-49. The return of CBS' "Without a Trace" (16.7 million, 4.8/13)  to its longtime home adjacent to "CSI" did wonders for that show, allowing it to squeak past the "Big Shots" preem by the slimmest of margins in 18-49.

Click here for the lowdown on the entire night from Variety's Rick Kissell.

--Cynthia Littleton

This season has many character trends. You'll see nerds (“Big Bang Theory,” “Chuck,” “Aliens in America,” “The IT Crowd”), slackers (“Reaper” and “Chuck,” again — which would make him a slacker-nerd, I guess), wealthy clans (“Dirty Sexy Money,” “Cane”) and hot women kicking ass, literally (“Bionic Woman,” “Sarah Connor Chronicles” and, um, “Chuck” again) and on the job (“Women’s Murder Club” and midseasoners “Lipstick Jungle” and “Cashmere Mafia”).

Perhaps most interesting is the influx of transgender characters this fall. There are three, all on ABC shows — one played by a supermodel and two played by transgender performers.

“Dirty Sexy Money,” which bows Wednesday, has a character named Carmelita, a transgender woman having an affair with Billy Baldwin’s character, a married politician. Carmelita is played by transwoman Candis Cayne (pictured at left with Baldwin), who’s slated to appear in at least five episodes of the soapy drama. In this interview, Cayne explains that her voice was digitally lowered in post-production. Some sites have objected that this character is a homewrecker but there’s no shortage of those on TV, across the spectrum of sexual identity.

The net’s “Big Shots” goes the less subtle route, making its transgender character a prostitute (and using a far less charming phrase that won’t be repeated here). Transgender actress Jazzmun plays a working girl named Dontrelle whose encounter with Dylan McDermott’s character leaves him with some explaining to do. Jazzmun (pictured at right with McDermott) is scheduled to appear in one episode beyond the pilot, which bows Thursday. The actress is a veteran of episodic television having appeared in episodes of “CSI” and “CSI: NY,” “Desperate Housewives,” “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” “Gilmore Girls,” “The Shield,” ”The Closer,” “Nip/Tuck” and others.

And of course Thursday, “Ugly Betty” is back for its second season with model-turned-actress Rebecca Romijn (left) back as as series regular, playing transsexual publishing executive Alexis Meade, who was introduced last season. She’s the most fully fleshed out of the three transgender characters — just a regular gal working in the cutthroat business of a top fashion magazine while she struggles with her new identity and seeks acceptance from her family and the world at large.

I should mention that daytime’s “All My Children” — also on ABC — had a transsexual storyline last year that was dropped rather abruptly. It was a valiant effort, not entirely well executed. Michael Logan of TV Guide wrote: “AMC is risking big viewer turnoff with this landmark story — not because Zarf is a transgender but because she's an annoying, self-obsessed bore.” And he was pretty much spot on with that assessment.

Remember the days, before the reality TV boom, when “Will and Grace” was groundbreaking for having a gay character and Ellen DeGeneres’ show was cancelled not long after her coming-out episode? Now there are so many gays portrayed on TV that it’s practically passe. For a pretty comprehensive list, visit AfterElton.com.

Bravo to ABC for continuing to push boundaries.

(A special thanks to my new friend Christine Daniels for her guidance on this post.)

— Kathy Lyford