Ugly Betty will be back in May
ABC also gives Lost, Grey's two-hour finales
By Rick Porter | March 16, 2009

The much-discussed sidelining of Ugly Betty on ABC in late March and April will end up being nothing more than an extended spring break for the show.

ABC says Betty will return Thursday, May 7 for its final episodes of the season after taking off the last week of March and all of April while Samantha Who? and new comedy In the Motherhood fill its 8 p.m. Thursday timeslot. ABC front-loaded this season and after this week will have aired 19 episodes, leaving only four left in Betty's season order.

Those four episodes will air over three weeks starting May 7, concluding with a two-hour finale on May 21. It's one of several two-hour finales ABC has in store for its series in May -- Lost (May 13), Grey's Anatomy (May 14), America's Funniest Home Videos (May 15), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Desperate Housewives (both May 17) will also get to go long for their season-enders. So will Scrubs, which has a one-hour finale on May 6.

As for Samantha Who? and In the Motherhood, the two comedies will end their seasons on Thursday, April 30 after a six-week tryout in the 8 p.m. Thursday slot.

Here's the rundown of ABC's spring finale dates (all times Eastern/Pacific):

Wednesday, April 1

10 p.m. Life on Mars

Wednesday, April 29

8:30 p.m. Better Off Ted

Thursday, April 30

8 p.m. In the Motherhood
8:30 p.m. Samantha Who?
10 p.m. Private Practice

Friday, May 1

8 p.m. Wife Swap
9 p.m. Supernanny

Tuesday, May 5

8:30 p.m. According to Jim

Wednesday, May 6

8 p.m. Scrubs (one hour)

Sunday, May 10

10 p.m. Brothers & Sisters

Monday, May 11

10 p.m. Castle

Tuesday, May 12

10 p.m. Cupid

Wednesday, May 13

9 p.m. Lost (two hours)

Thursday, May 14

9 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (two hours)

Friday, May 15

8 p.m. America's Funniest Home Videos (two hours)

Sunday, May 17

7 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (two hours)
9 p.m. Desperate Housewives (two hours)

Thursday, May 21

8 p.m. Ugly Betty (two hours)

I'm so glad Ugly Betty will be back in May! But I am confused b/c I thought ABC ordered 20 episodes of Samantha Who? and 13 episodes of In the Motherhood. So that means that we won't ever see the 5 other episodes of Samantha Who? I wonder if they are going to cancel it, I mean I think that would be stupid b/c it did really well after Dancing with the Stars, but I guess they already think it won't do well in Ugly Betty's spot.

Better of Ted has a REALLY short season. Unless that's when it is starting..

I'd just like to say thanks to ABC for giving Scrubs this proper finale season. I am so happy that we are going to get a real Scrubs finale. Many years passed with me thinking this would never happen.

And now I have a date for my LOST finale party. LOL.

I'm sooo glad the Lost finale and the American Idol finale aren't up against each other this season. Now, I won't have to choose between the two!