As the actual magazine industry contracts and the number of scripted television series plummets, it makes sense that the number of scripted television series about magazines -- fashion, sports, tabloids, whatever -- dwindles, too. With that sad realization in mind, it's time to prepare for tonight's emotional finale of Ugly Betty and the likely extinction of this narrow genre. In a tribute to all the onscreen assistants who've ever gotten coffee for their villainous editors and the comically overworked journalists who rushed to meet impossible deadlines, Movieline looks back at the magazine-set shows that paved the way for Betty Suarez's Mode magazine.
The Name of the Game (1968)
This NBC series (based on the television movie Fame is the Name of the Game) featured three employees of a large magazine publication played by Jeff Dillon, Glenn Howard and Dan Farrell. Susan St. James co-starred as an editorial assistant.
Number of Season: 3
Fictional Publications: People (before the actual People magazine) and Crime
Trivia: The series provided Steven Spielberg with his first directing gig in 1971 for an episode called "L.A. 2017."
Anything But Love (1989)
This quirky ABC sitcom starred Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis as co-workers at a Chicago magazine who try to contain their mutual attraction.
Number of Seasons: 4
Trivia: In addition to winning Jamie Lee Curtis a Golden Globe, the series was responsible for the most famous matzo-throwing scene in sitcom history.
The Naked Truth (1995)
After one season at ABC, NBC picked up this tabloid series starring Téa Leoni as a Pulitzer Prize-nominated photographer who starts working at a sleazy tabloid after a rocky divorce. Tim Curry and Holland Taylor's characters ran the magazine during the first season before a character played by George Wendt purchased the publication. Leoni's Flirting with Disaster costars Mary Tyler Moore and George Segal frequently guest-starred as the parents of her character.
Number of Seasons: 3
Fictional Publication: The Comet (Seasons 1 & 2), The National Inquisitor (Season 3)
Trivia: Chris Elliot co-starred during the show's third season as a National Inquistor employee who claims to be the illegitimate son of Bing Crosby.
Just Shoot Me! (1996)
This long-running NBC series from Modern Family creator Steven Levitan centered Maya Gallo (Laura San Giacomo), who reluctantly agrees to work for the magazine owned by her father (George Segal). The series also starred Enrico Colantoni as a photographer and Wendie Malick as a promiscuous ex-model, while supporting player David Spade eventually became one of the show's biggest stars.
Number of Seasons: 7
Fictional Publications: Blush
Trivia: Amy Sedaris guest-starred as a new girlfriend of David Spade's character who, he realized, is too eerily similar to himself.
Suddenly Susan (1996)
This NBC sitcom starred Brooke Shields as an employee of a San Francisco-based magazine who must learn to be herself after leaving her fiancé at the altar. Judd Nelson starred as Shields's boss while Kathy Griffin played her coworker.
Number of Seasons: 4
Fictional Publication: The Gate
Trivia: Costar David Strickland committed suicide just before the end of the show's third season, an event incorporated to the third season finale.
Dirt (2007)
This FX series featured Courteney Cox as the hard-hearted editor-in-chief of a gossip magazine whose freelance photographer best friend was also a functional schizophrenic.
Number of Seasons: 2
Fictional Publication: DirtNow
Trivia: After welcoming Paul Reubens and Vincent Gallo as guest stars, Courteney Cox persuaded her Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston to appear in the first season finale as the editor of a rival magazine. Oh yeah, and Cox and Aniston kiss.