Maria, i Aschimi

Maria,i Aschimi
Genre	Dramedy
Created by	Fernando Gaitán
Starring	Aggeliki Daliani Anthimos Ananiadis Antigoni Glikofridi Tasos Kostis Ariel Konstantinidi Hristos Plainis Filitsa Kalogerakou Aspasia Tzitsikaki Prodromos Tosounidis Hristos Nomikos Georgia Kalergi Fwtis Spirou Matthildi Maggira
Country of origin	Greece
Language(s)	Greek
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	302
Production
Running time	60 min (approx. 42 min without commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	Mega Channel
Original run	1 January 2007 – 23 June 2008
Chronology
Related shows	Greek adaptation of Betty la Fea

Maria, i Aschimi (Μαρία, Η Άσχημη - Maria, The Ugly One) is the Greek adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Betty la Fea. The series ran from 2007 to 2008 on Mega Channel in Greece. The series starred Aggeliki Daliani in the title role of Maria and Anthimos Ananiadis as the boss who became the man of her dreams.

Series background

Mega Channel in Greece is airing its own version titled Maria, i Aschimi (Μαρία, Η Άσχημη - Maria, The Ugly One). Maria exudes intelligence, humor, and kindness, but what she is missing is conventional beauty. She considers her appearance to be an obstacle in her search for employment, despite her collection of degrees, which are displayed proudly by her parents, Kaiti and Irakles. Having no luck in her job search, Maria decides to try for a job for which she is overqualified, secretary to Alexis Mantas, the director of a noted fashion house called EcoModa. Alexis is the most coveted bachelor in Athens, but he has recently gotten engaged to Markella, who tries to get him to choose her best friend, Lilian, to be his secretary and to keep an eye on him. Lilian doesn't have Maria's natural intelligence or fine education, but she has a beautiful appearance, which makes her a better superficial fit at the fashion house.

This adaptation was originally supposed to start airing on November 1, 2006, but within two weeks of that date the show was removed from Mega Channel's schedule. Finally, it began on January 1, 2007 at 21:00 and although it was scheduled to move at 18:15 two weeks later, due to its high ratings (± 45% according to Agb Hellas and more than 2 million viewers) finally remained in the prime-time slot of the channel. On June 30 the series won the most Beloved Series during the 2008 TV ETHNOS Awards.

The theme song of the series "Poso S' Agapo" was written by acclaimed Greek music composer Stamatis Kraounakis.

The characters

• Maria Papasotiriou : The ugly girl
• Alexis Madas: the handsome president of Ecomoda
• Filipos Deligiannis: the opponent of Alexis Madas
• Lilian Patrikarea: the beautiful secretary of Alexis Madas
• Markella Stefaneli: Alexis's girlfriend and Maria's enemy
• Sergios Stefanelis: Markellas' brother
• Eleonora Stefaneli: Markelas' sister
• Dimitris Vretos: Alexi's best friend
• Nikolas Markakis: Maria's best friend
• Kristo: the Fashion designer of Ecomoda
• Kaiti Papasotiriou: Maria's mother
• Heracles Papasotiriou: Maria's Father
• Marhta Leventi: Maria's friens and worker of Ecomoda
• Sofia Kanaki: Maria's friens and worker of Ecomoda
• Sandra Danieilidi: Maria's friens and worker of Ecomoda
• Marianna Langeri: Maria's friens and worker of Ecomoda
• Christina Hatzaki: Maria's friens and worker of Ecomoda
• Loukia Harisiadou: Maria's friens and worker of Ecomoda
• Tzina Kasimati: the woman that helped Maria
• Argiro Markaki: Nikolas' mother
• Jerry Linardatos: Usher of Ecomoda