'Ugly Betty' is the New Kid on New York City Block

Sept. 24, 2008 — -- The fashion industry, they say, is a dog-eat-dog kind of place. And on this sunny Friday afternoon, America Ferrera is in blissful agreement.

A litter of 8-week-old Samoyed puppies has invaded the Queens set of ABC's "Ugly Betty," and no one's more ecstatic than the show's star.

Spotting one of the white furballs, Ferrera leaps off her chair, ditches her iced coffee and her BlackBerry, and rushes to pick up the pup she had staked out earlier and dubbed Buddha. Ferrera promptly asks a bystander to use her phone to snap her holding the dog, so she can send the picture to her boyfriend, Ryan Piers Williams.

"He's so sweet," she coos, snuggling against the dog as he nuzzles her face. "You did a good job," she praises, of the pup's role in a cover shoot for the fictional Mode magazine.

Cuddly canines aside, "Ugly Betty's" stars hope the show has more bite in its third season, which premieres Thursday (8 p.m. ET/PT). The show has moved to the East Coast, shooting on location in Manhattan and in its Queens-based studio, ending up where it should have been all along, says executive producer Silvio Horta.

"We shot the pilot here, and I always wanted to shoot the show in New York, but it was too expensive," he says. A tax rebate lowered the costs, and suddenly New York seemed not just doable, but a must-do.

"We felt like it was the best thing for the show," he says. "There's a reality to shooting here that you don't get in L.A. It seems to ground the show. It's big and zany, and being out in the city gives it a level of realness."

The move has given the series, which went from 11.3 million viewers during its inaugural season to 9.3 million last season, some much-needed juice, say those involved. Being in Gotham, Ferrera says, has given "Betty" "an incredible boost in energy and production values. It opens the show up. This week, we shot in Coney Island and we shot at the heliport in South Street Seaport. We shot in Queens and Brooklyn. The skyline and the energy — you can't think of a more beautiful city to photograph."