"I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob." - Larry the Cucumber This show mattered! It had 16 MILLION viewers on opening and the writing, acting, heart of this show are still felt among its fans, worldwide, twelve years later! The late Silvio Horta poured his heart and soul into this show's characters, the unlikely pairings, and friendships still echo today. It was a breakthrough in lovingly developing Justin (based on Horta) sharing the first teen gay kiss, as well as the transgender character of Alexis Meade(though the casting has objectively not aged well). Wilhelmina Slater was the show's beautiful "villain", played by Vanessa Williams to perfection, showing us an older black woman in a high-powered position when that was even more of a rarity. It shared the Suarez family, a widowed illegal immigrant, his two daughters and grandson. America Ferrera made UGLY fashionable,and her kindness changed the "beautiful people" who were ugly on the inside where it counts. Betty fell (a lot) and every time she picked herself back up, she inspired us to do the same. This is now probably one of my favorite shows of all time. After watching this you will learn the true meaning of families and friends and beauty.