Ugly Betty 9.30pm, Channel 4
OH AT last. A reason to watch Channel 4 on a Friday night. It's almost like a return to the heady days of Friends.
Ugly Betty - based on a longrunning Colombian drama - has been a massive hit in the US and it's not hard to see why. It has glamour, relationships, bitching and a cast of almost entirely unlikeable characters.
Betty Suarez (played by America Ferrera) really wants to work in magazines.
She's intelligent and full of ideas, but her less- thanfashionable appearance doesn't cut it in the glossy, image- obsessed world of high-end magazine publishing. However, company boss Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) thinks a less-than-glamorous member of staff will put the brakes on the tendencies of the editor (his son Daniel) to hop into bed with his underlings.
Of course, Daniel and Betty aren't the only staffers on the mag. Hordes of over-Botoxed, emaciated women look down their noses at Betty. But Christina the bonkers inhouse seamstress (the marvellous Ashley Jensen) is kind to her.
Tonight's episode really just establishes the set-up, so don't expect fireworks. Instead, enjoy the cartoonish eccentricities of the cast, root for Betty and marvel once again at how Alan Dale went from idiot Jim in Neighbours to credible US television actor.
Grow Your Own Veg 8.30pm, BBC2 CONSIDERING it takes more than a decade to get an allotment if you live in Camden, it's safe to assume vegetable growing has become pretty popular. BBC2 has jumped on the bandwagon with this new show in which Gardeners' World presenter Carol Klein helps wannabe veg cultivators. The Royal Horticultural Society also demonstrates that with a bed just 3m x 3m you can get your five a day. TV gardening shows never really capture the passion of those who get their kicks from compost, but at least this one's trying to be relevant.
Soapstar Superstar 8.30pm, ITV1 WE HADN'T realised the led fluorescent tubes whole TV industry was trying to raise the profiles of minor celebrities, but that can be the only explanation for the rash of gameshows for the famous in this week's schedules.
Just The Two Of Us and Celebrity Big Brother have now been joined by last year's huge hit, Soapstar Superstar - where Stars In Their Eyes and the X Factor collide. Zoe Ball is our host, while the soapy faces include Antony Cotton (Coronation Street's camp Sean), as well as Hayley Tamaddon and Verity Rushworth (Emmerdale's Del and Donna).
Room 101 10pm, BBC2 BLUB it's Paul Merton's final series hosting the celebrity-pethates show. Thoughts on a replacement? Russell Brand? (Only joking.) Some excellent guests are lined up, including Merton's Have I Got News For You sparring partner Ian Hislop, but Cilla Black (left) kicks things off, revealing why she hates camera- phones. She isn't a technophobe - she just hates ending up in Heat magazine pictured asleep with her mouth open. A problem we can clearly all relate to there.
SOAP BOX
EastEnders 7.30pm, ITV1 MARTIN thinks he has worked out who bumped off his mum Pauline, and Sonia is (quite rightly) a touch nervous.
Although why she has got herself into a state is beyond us - she evidently doesn't know the fella too well even after all these years of baby-making and failed marriage. The poor lad is no Sherlock Holmes after all.
Emmerdale 7pm, ITV1 ANDY'S never been the brightest, but you would have thought that even he would have seen past Jo's miniskirt to Express Shipping Fee Replica the truth. Ah well, her mum's here now - perhaps he will be less blinded by Jo's dubious charms.
Coronation Street Jaci Stephen's dubious soap Oscars 7.30pm, ITV1 TRACY complains that she has banged her head. Only if the Bumper Book Of Missing The Point About Domestic Violence has fallen out of a cupboard on to her.
Most impressive acting from a body part EastEnders'Ruby's shoulders - for her impersonation of the Hunchback of Notre Dame
