ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the television genre that seems to be most dynamic in its crossing of borders, both formally and geographically. It draws intermittently on Martin Barbero and Sonia Munoz's typology. The chapter proposes a new approach adequate to the unusual case of Betty/Bea. In The Age of Television, her first monograph to be translated into English, Milly Buonanno proposes 'indigenization' as a model for the native reception and transformation of foreign cultural products which goes beyond the prejudices of cultural imperialism and dependency. Plot synopses from the first season of Yo soy Bea would not seem to confirm that it is a 'travelling fiction' in any literal sense. The travelling narrative became a life strategy, founded on that definitive ending and final metamorphosis that can be provided by the serial, long its climax is postponed. The Spanish Bea may thus be the ugly sister of the US Betty; lacking the latter's glamorous production values, sophisticated dialogue, and complex plotting.
