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Christopher Gorham Leaves "Betty," Takes Trip to "Harper's Island"

Buh-bye, Henry.

That's the word from ABC this morning as Ugly Betty co-star Christopher Gorham, who plays Betty Suarez's hapless romantic interest Henry, has signed on to star in CBS' midseason slasher drama Harper's Island.

Gorham will replace Ryan Merriman (Veritas: The Quest), who appeared in the original pilot presentation of Harper's Island. Gorham will play groom Henry Dunn, whose friends and family depart for a destination wedding on the bride and groom's island childhood home, only to be picked off one by one at the hands of a psychotic killer, long thought killed by the island's sheriff... who happens to be the father of wedding guest Abby (Elaine Cassidy), Henry's best friend whose mother was one of the killer's victims during their childhood. (A nice cheery series, no?)

Personally, I loathed the original pilot script and thought that the pilot presentation that CBS assembled (which was basically a chunk of scenes from the pilot script and then random scenes from the rest of the season) was absolutely amateurish and laughably bad. Producers brought in Jeffrey Bell (Angel) to tweak things and, at least, the recastings are a step in the right direction.

As for Gorham, his departure from Ugly Betty--which he joined during the series' first season--leaves no mystery to the resolution (for now anyway) of the love triangle between Henry, Betty, and Gio (Freddy Rodriguez).

But don't count on Betty having selected sandwich maker Gio either. Rodriguez, who is set to appear in several features, will only appear in one episode of Ugly Betty next season.

So who will be the main love interest for Ms. Suarez in the upcoming third season of Ugly Betty, set to launch on ABC this fall? Signs currently point to Val Emmich (Cashmere Mafia), who was cast last week in the dramedy as a recurring character and--you guessed it!--a romantic interest for our girl Betty.

I can't say that I'm sad by the way things have turned out. Ugly Betty got far too mired in the whole irritating Henry-Betty-Charlie-Gio storyline and I thought that Henry getting his ex-girlfriend Charlie pregnant wasn't the best route to take his character, especially when the producers injected a possible plotline in which the child wasn't Henry's after all... only to take that back in the end. As for Gio, I know some of you out there loved his relationship with Betty but I found it absolutely unbelievable that he would be interested in her and didn't think the writers did a very good job of keeping him in Betty's orbit once he lost his job at Mode.

What do you think? Are you happy to see both Henry and Gio go? Or are you upset that Betty won't end up with either of them? Discuss.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sadly, Betty's love life has been one of the least interesting things about the show. She and Henry were cute at first but now they just irritate me...as do she and Gio. Good riddance to them both!
Anonymous said…
Well, thanks for spoiling that.
Anonymous said…
Anon, if this is a surprise you clearly don't watch enough TV. It was clear who Betty was going to choose and I am happy that Henry won't be back as I was so tired of their stupid relationship. Remember that stupid Wicked tie-in episode?
Anonymous said…
You really think it's less plausible that a sandwich guy from Betty's neighborhood would fall for her than Guy No. 4? A guy in an indie-rock band no less!
The CineManiac said…
Honestly I still haven't watched the last two episodes from this past season. Partly because we were moving and one of them is on my computer and I just haven't got to sitting with the wife in front of the mac to watch TV, and partly because I just don't care.
Personally I love Gorham, but felt he was starting to be wasted on Betty. And I hated that he was the father, I think this season would have been loads better had he not been the father and we wouldn't have had to have been annoyed by his ex/baby momma.
But Kudos for Gorham for choosing to stay in LA with his wife (& I believe kid(s)) I commend him for that decision.
As for Harper's I have to admit the concept sounds intriguing to me, but I love the horror genre (as long as it's not Torture Porn, blech) and think this suspense/slasher series sounds quite fun!

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