ABC shows at least a little bit of love to Ugly Betty

When asked today about whether ABC still has faith in Ugly Betty, the network's president Steve McPherson gave a qualified show of support. It's still a show they believe in, he says, but they have to find the right time slot for it.

When Eastwick was cancelled this fall, viewers clamored for Betty to be rescued from a deadly ABC Friday time slot, and moved to Wednesdays at 10. ABC acquiesced -- but ratings have still not been good. McPherson theorizes that that's partly because by the time the move happened, some of the Wednesday comedies leading in to Betty were in repeats, and so didn't provide their strongest levels of support.

McPherson said that he does hope that Wednesday, with Betty at 10, will eventually have good flow in the ratings. And he does, he added, think that light drama/comedy is an opportunity that could really work at 10 o'clock. So although he didn't quite come out and reassure us that Betty would survive into the fall of 2010, it's at least a show of support and patience.