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The Czech Republic's "Ošklivka Katka" (Ugly Katka) premiered on March 3, 2008, and starred Kateřina Janečková as Kateřina Bertoldová and Lukáš Hejlík as Tomáš Meduna, her boss at KM Styl. The Prima network originally aired two episodes per week, on Monday and Wednesday nights, with a planned run of 168 episodes. Episodes were rerun on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, for those who missed the airings during the week. On June 6, 2008, Prima began airing three episodes per week—on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights at 8:00pm—in anticipation of a brief summer hiatus, which would take place from June 14 to August 25, to allow for football broadcasts to take Katka's time slot. When the series returned, it resumed its bi-weekly schedule, until October 27, 2008, when the network began airing it on Monday evenings only. The plot followed that of "Yo soy Betty, la fea" very closely. |
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Story Synopsis
Kateřina "Katka" Bertoldová arrives at KM Styl, one of the largest fashion houses in the Czech Republic, to interview for a position in the company's financial department. Ever since her graduation, she has suspected that her appearance has kept her from getting any of the jobs that she has applied for. She soon learns that the only position available at KM Styl is that of secretary to the new president, Tomáš Meduna, whose father Robert recently decided to retire and turn over the reins of the company to his only son. Katka is overqualified for the job, but her father is on the verge of bankruptcy and had may have to give up the little tinkering shop where he develops his own inventions, so she realizes that she has to take any job that she can get. Unfortunately, Katka overhears a conversation between Novotny, the company's personnel director, and Markvart, the CFO, who make nasty comments about how ugly she is.
Despite her certainty that she wouldn't get the job, Katka is hired for the secretarial position. However, Tomáš had to appease girlfriend Marcela, one of the company's major shareholders, by also hiring her friend Patricie, even though he knows that the only reason Marcela wants Patricie to be his secretary is so she can spy on him. In order to thwart Patricie's ability to report on his comings and goings, Tomáš puts his agenda in Katka's care. Patricie is enraged that the only responsibility she is given is to make coffee, so she and Marcela both direct their animosity at Katka. During her first few days, a number of mishaps cause Katka to be fired. But shortly after her departure, Tomáš sees some excellent financial analysis work that Katka had done, so he realizes that her abilities could make her useful to him.
Marek, KM Styl's business manager and Tomáš's best friend, teases Tomáš about Katka and warns him that he might accidentally fall in love with his ugly new secretary. While Tomáš and Marek are at lunch, Marcela and Patricie burst into Katka's dark little office and try to get Tomáš's agenda from her, but Katka refuses to give it to them. The next day, when Katka is on her way to work, she is struck by a car and her leg is injured. It turns out that Tomáš has not been officially confirmed as the company's new president, because his appointment has to be approved by the company's board of directors. Marcela's brother Daniel also happens to be vying for the company's top spot, so Daniel tries to pressure Marcela into giving him her vote at the upcoming board meeting, but she feels torn between voting for her brother and voting for her boyfriend. One of the deciding factors that will sway the votes of the major shareholders will be the report that each candidate is supposed to present at the meeting.
Tomáš tells Katka to come up with some financial figures for his report, so she stays up all night and works with her best friend, Mikuláš, who is better known as Miky. The next morning, Katka's father, František, is angry when he discovers that Miky had been in Katka's room all night. As Tomáš waits at the office for Katka to arrive with the report, he gets furious because he has two secretaries, yet neither one of them has arrived yet. František calls to speak to Katka while Tomáš is yelling at her, so František gets angry that Katka's boss would treat her with such disrespect. Daniel invites Katka to dinner so he can try to find out what Tomáš's plans are. When the day of the big board meeting arrives, Robert becomes disgusted by the way that Daniel and Tomáš keep sniping at each other, like two petulant children. Marcela and Patricie steal Katka's report and Marcela allows Patricie to present it at the meeting as her own work. Daniel questions the figures in the report, so he demands that Tomáš must come up with a more formal business plan.
Tomáš tasks both Katka and Patricie with developing a business plan. Patricie knows that there is no way she can come up with a business plan, so she asks Marek to help her. Katka's mother, Zuzana, discovers that Katka is only a secretary, and not working in the finance department. Daniel and Marcela's eccentric sister Kristyna, who also holds a large portion of company stock, arrives to lend her support to Daniel at the next board meeting. The next day, Patricie confides to Marcela that she didn't write a business plan because she ended up having sex with Marek instead. Marcela tries to warn Patricie that Marek will never settle down with one woman, but Patricie feels confident that she can change him. After Tomáš learns from Marek how Patricie spent the previous night, he comes to realize that his position at the company is now completely dependent upon Katka and her business plan, so he begins to treat her better than he had been. Daniel meets with Markvart to get him to analyse Tomáš's report to point out all of the errors. Katka falls asleep at her desk from sheer exhaustion and Daniel comes into her office and catches her dozing on the job.
Zuzana suspects that Katka has feelings for Tomáš, so she advises her daughter to get those thoughts out of her head because nothing good can come from such notions. Markvart tells Daniel that he can't find any errors in Katka's balance sheet, so Daniel begins to realize that Katka's abilities will ruin his chances of becoming president of the company. Péťa, the mailroom clerk, invites Helena, the receptionist, out to dinner and she accepts. Their plans are almost ruined when they try in vain to find someone who will come along as a blind date for a male friend of Helena, but Helena is finally able to successfully persuade Katka. They all go to a disco, but it quickly becomes evident that Katka and Helena's friend are not a match made in heaven. Marcela tries to persuade Daniel to get along with Patricie, but he is very arrogant and can't think of a single reason why he should have any social interaction with someone like Patricie. Zuzana complains to her friend Nataša about how overprotective František can be regarding Katka. Zuzana suspects, rightly so, that her husband will be frantic when he discovers that Katka has gone out to a disco.
The situation at Katka's father's shop is intensifying because Petržílek, the landlord, has decided to raise the rent. Katka is surprised when Tomáš invites her to have lunch with him and some important potential business associates. At first, Katka is awkward at the lunch, but she ends up impressing the clients and is instrumental in convincing them to do business with KM Styl. After lunch, Tomáš tells Katka that he is promoting her from secretary to personal assistant. Tomáš asks her not to tell anyone about her promotion until he makes it official, but he makes this request after she has already told her friends about it. When Katka and some of the other employees are in the ladies room, Patricie comes in and provokes a quarrel, so Táňa, an outspoken woman who is experiencing marital problems, blurts out the news of Katka's promotion. Petržílek's son, Vojtĕch, harasses Katka's parents, so František wonders if he should give up his shop and try to find a job.
Marcela is outraged when Patricie tells her about Katka's secret promotion. Marcela then instructs Novotny to reprimand Katka for supposedly treating Patricie with disrespect, but Tomáš intervenes and defends Katka. Daniel demands to see the company's balance sheets, so Tomáš and Marek try to convince Katka to falsify the figures. Markvart plots with Patricie to find a way to get their hands on the financial report that Katka is working on. Tomáš's parents, Robert and Jana, return from a trip to Australia and London. Marcela tries to poison Robert's mind against Katka, but Tomáš insists that Katka is probably the greatest asset that he has at his disposal. That night, Markvart tries to get access to the files on Katka's computer, but he can't circumvent her password. Katka works at home with Miky and he tells her that he would like for her to introduce him to Patricie, with whom he has been smitten ever since he saw her photograph. She tries to make him realize that Patricie would never be interested in him, because he is not wealthy, but her words do not discourage him.
Patricie and Markvart try to distract Katka right before the big meeting at which Tomáš is supposed to present his balance sheets to the board. When Katka gets back to her desk, she discovers that her computer isn't working. The company's computer technician, who is working with Daniel's minions, comes and takes Katka's computer away. The IT expert claims that the computer won't be fixed until the next day, and he complains that Katka treated him in an unprofessional manner. Robert then proposes to give Tomáš the benefit of the doubt and to grant him a four-month grace period to come up with a satisfactory balance sheet. Katka's friend Andula catches the computer technician printing out copies of Katka's files. Tomáš pressures the technician into fixing and returning Katka's computer within a matter of minutes. Tomáš is then able to present his financial report. Daniel is disappointed that Markvart can find no discrepancies or errors in the report, so Katka is then officially promoted to Tomáš's personal assistant. Katka is warned that the technician copied her files, so she tells Tomáš, who accuses the technician of sabotage and stealing. Tomáš and Marek discuss their suspicions that Patricie is also involved in the treachery.
Katka alerts Tomáš and Marek to a number of statistical irregularities that she had to disguise in her report. Hugo, the company's temperamental star designer, is determined to ensure that Tomáš will not put the quality of his next collection in danger by purchasing cheap fabrics for him to use. Tomáš encourages Marek to keep seeing Patricie, so he can try to find out what kind of information she is passing along to Daniel. Marek invites Patricie to dinner, but she turns him down because she has already accepted an invitation from Daniel. Marcela is annoyed when she learns that Tomáš has invited Katka to an important business soirée. Marek offers to give Helena a ride home from work and sparks fly between the two. Daniel pressures Patricie into continuing to help him by making her realize that nobody at the company will ever trust her again if they discover that she was involved in the sabotage of Katka's computer. Tomáš, Marek, and Katka go to the party, where Tomáš hopes to do some business networking in order to obtain some fine quality fabrics for a good price, but shortly after they arrive, Tomáš's attention is monopolized by Klaudia Skopalová, a beautiful representative from a company called Makrotextil.
Katka's parents go to visit Miky's mother, Marie. While there, František and Zuzana start to quarrel, so František leaves. Marie takes Zuzana into her confidence and implies that she is harboring a big secret about Miky's father. Katka runs into Petržílek on the street and he tells her that he has raised František's rent. Patricia is frantic because she doesn't have enough money to pay her bills, and her electricity has been turned off. Katka worries about parents, because František still can not find a job and Zuzana has learned that her shop will soon have to compete with an upscale luxury tobacconist. Miky asks Katka to see if she can find him a job at KM Styl. Tomáš and Marek acquire new fabrics that are of poor quality, just as Hugo, aka "Pipinka", had feared. Katka calls Michal Vaňek (Radek Valenta), a sales representative from Svĕta Látek (World of Substances), a fabric supply company that has been bidding for a contract with KM Styl. Michal invites Katka to lunch, during which he offers her a commission if she can convince Tomáš to sign a contract with his supply firm. Tomáš plans to go to Paris on a business trip and he decides that during his absence Katka will be his proxy. Katka feels honored by Tomáš's confidence in her, but many of the other people at KM Styl are mortified when they find out that Katka will be in charge, especially Marcela, Patricie, and Pipinka.
Katka decides to endorse Svĕta Látek's materials the next time she speaks to Tomáš, because the supplier is offering the best price. Patricie gets into a fight with Helena about Marek. Daniel tells Markvart to investigate Svĕta Látek. Markvart learns of Katka's commission and he informs Daniel that Katka has accepted a kickback. Tomáš decides to sign the contract with Svĕta Látek, so Patricie gives Daniel the news. Péťa is jealous when he realizes that Helena spent the night with Marek. Michal and his associate Alena Pokorná (Vanda Konečná) commemorate their new business association with KM Styl. Tomáš commends Katka for arranging the deal with Svĕta Látek, but she feels guilty for accepting the money that Michal offered her, because she knows that even though it is a legitimate commission, it could have the appearance of a bribe. Tomáš explains to Marek that he wants to form a new shell company that will assume KM Styl's debts. They decide that neither one of them can be the head of the company, so they realize that Katka is the only person they can trust. František learns about Katka's commission from Zuzana and he is upset that his daughter would accept a bribe.
After her conversation with her father, Katka decides to tell Tomáš all about the commission. Daniel has Markvart make an audio recording of Michal talking about Katka's bribe so he can play it for Tomáš to get Katka fired. Daniel is certain that Tomáš will be surprised and embarrassed, so he is shocked when he plays the recording and Tomáš doesn't react at all. Tomáš tells Daniel that Katka already told him all about the money, and he says that she had done nothing underhanded by accepting the commission because she earned it. Tomáš then chastises Daniel for scheming and for getting Markvart to spy for him. Even though Tomáš tells Katka that she deserves the commission, she insists that the money rightfully belongs to KM Styl, so Tomáš says that they should use the money to fund the new company, which they will call Grand Moda. Tomáš calls Ester Andĕlová, a savvy P.R. woman, to promote Hugo's new collection.
Miky tutors František to teach him some simple accounting. Marcela tells Tomáš's parents that she fears Katka's influence over Tomáš. Katka finally gets a much-needed salary increase and she is offered Markvart's office, but she rejects it because she wants to remain close to Tomáš. Helena expects that she will spend another night with Marek, but he leaves with Patricie instead. Katka offers Miky a job with "her" new company. Nataša gets a job at KM Styl as a cleaning woman. Miky has an encounter with the neighborhood's gang of thugs, which is headed by Roman. Miky wants to impress them, so he invites them to have drinks with him at a bar. František is hired by a friend to do bookkeeping. Katka invites her KM Styl friends to attend Hugo's runway show, but Marcela and Patricie feel that the secretaries, known collectively as the Ošklivky (the uglies), don't belong there. Hugo gets upset because the materials that Tomáš and Katka obtained are cheap, so he makes a melodramatic exit, leaving his assistant Inka alone backstage.
Pipinka petulantly announces that he is leaving the company, so Robert and the other important guests get nervous. Some potential buyers from Austria notice the poor quality of the fabrics, so Ester tries to do some damage control. Marcela tries to intervene on Hugo's behalf, but Tomáš refuses to apologize for supplying Hugo with bad material, so Hugo storms out. Tomáš starts to realize how harmful it would be to the company to lose Hugo, so he goes out to find him. Kristyna tells Tomáš that Hugo is probably in his favorite bar, so Tomáš goes there to try to mend the situation. Katka's friends talk her into joining them at a bar and they all end up getting drunk, except for level-headed Inka. Things get heated when Táňa sees her husband Emil at the bar with a pretty young woman. Hours pass by and František gets upset because Katka is out so late. Tomáš is displeased to find himself in a gay bar. He tries to apologize to Pipinka, but the only thing that will appease the designer is for Tomáš to agree to the terms of a bet. The bet will hinge upon the sales of the new collection: Hugo insists that the collection will be a flop (because of the fabrics, of course, not his designs), but Tomáš says that it will be a hit. Before Tomáš and Marek leave on their trip to Paris, Marek promises Helena that their relationship will continue after he returns from France.
Katka begins her short-term stint as the temporary boss of KM Styl and she immediately has a conflict with Pipinka, who wants to hire three expensive models. Miky invests some of Grand Moda's funds on the stock market and makes some impressive profits. Patricie is upset because she hasn't received her salary. When Inka learns of Patricie's bad financial situation, she insists that the Ošklivky should stop their little game and let Patricie have her paycheck. Tomáš comes back from Paris early, because of problems at the company, and he asks Katka to transfer half of Grand Moda's assets to KM Styl, for which he will sign a promissory note. Daniel meets with Patricie at the Bio bar and he treats her with his usual arrogance and he pressures her to have sex with him, even though she tries to explain to him that she is involved with Marek. Helena wants Patricie to know that she and Marek are having a fling, so she goes to Marek's office and starts to kiss him, knowing that Patricie is about to storm in. Helena thinks that she has won, but Marek realizes that she set him up, so he asks her to confess to Patricie. Marek tells Tomáš about his problem with Helena, so Tomáš asks Novotny to handle the situation. Novotny sees this as an opportunity to pressure Helena into going out to a bar with him. Her friends try to advise her not to go anywhere with Novotny, but Helena feels as if she doesn't have a choice. Hugo tells Tomáš that if he loses their bet he will give up his demand for expensive models, but if Tomáš loses he will have to go to Hugo's bar in drag, dressed as za Královnu noci (the Queen of the Night).
Tomáš brings Klaudia to his office for a tryst, but he forgets that Katka is still in her adjoining office. Earlier, he had told Katka that she was not to come out of her office under any circumstances until he gave her permission to do so. Novotny threatens Helena with termination if she doesn't tell him intimate details of her life and relationship with Marek. Sylva gives Novotny's cell phone number and home phone number to Péťa, so he can try to help Helena by calling Novotny's cell phone to interrupt their "date." Péťa also calls Novotny's wife Květa to anonymously inform her that her husband is cheating on her. The next morning, Tomáš returns to his office and sees that it wasn't cleaned up after his date with Klaudia. He then finds Katka sleeping in her office and realizes that he completely forgot about her, so he apologizes for his thoughtlessness. Novotny shows up with a black eye, which was given to him by his wife, and he vows to get revenge against Sylva and Péťa. Táňa then runs to find Tomáš to get him to intervene. Tomáš and Marek discover that the sales results for the new collection are disastrous, just as Hugo predicted. Tomáš then asks Katka to divert more funds from Grand Moda to KM Styl.
Hugo tells Tomáš that he has lost their bet, so it is time for Tomáš to fulfill his promise. Marie intervenes on Zuzana's behalf and speaks to old lady Petržílkova, who agrees to allow Zuzana to keep her shop, but only if she agrees to change her business strategy. Miky suggests that the shop could do quite well as an Internet café. Táňa is outraged to see that Halka, Emil's mistress, has come to KM Styl to audition for one of the openings for new models. The Ošklivky see that Patricie is enjoying the drama, so they try to get Táňa to calm down before Novotny gets involved. Hugo isn't impressed by Halka, but when he sees how upset her presence makes the Ošklivky he decides to hire her, just to stir the pot. Katka brings Tomáš a purchase contract which states that in the event that KM Styl defaults on repayment of its loans, it will be taken over by Grand Moda. Tomáš is hesitant to sign the contract because he is still hopeful that he and KM Styl will have a reversal of fortune. Zuzana tells František that Petržílek has allowed her to keep her lease, but she intends to convert the shop into an Internet café, and Marie will be a partner in the new venture. František is excited and says that he will look into acquiring some computers. Táňa is annoyed when she sees Halka flirting with Péťa.
Marcela notices that Tomáš has invited his parents to the upcoming runway show, but not Kristyna or Daniel. Daniel tells Katka that he wants to see the sales figures for the latest collection, but she refuses to divulge them without Tomáš's permission. Miky asks František to do some work for Grand Moda, but he asks him not to speak about it. František soon suspects that the company exists solely as part of a money laundering scheme. Sylva irritates Patricie by wearing the same dress that Patricie is wearing. Katka calculates the cost of the new collection and she realizes that the company can't afford the project. Tomáš considers resigning, but Marek tells him that he knows a Turkish trader who can obtain good materials for lower prices. It is their last hope, but Katka is skeptical. The businessman from Istanbul wants money in advance: forty million. Tomáš tells Katka that they will have to secure a loan to cover the purchase, but Katka believes that the banks will consider KM Styl to be an unreliable risk. Marek secretly flies to Istanbul to find out as much information about the supplier as possible. Zuzana, Marie, and Miky make preparations for their Zavináč Internet Café. Táňa and the other Ošklivky convince Péťa to take Halka out to lunch, so Emil will see that she is cheating on him.
Táňa takes Halka's paycheck and tells her that she can't have it until Emil pays the alimony and child support that he still owes her. Katka manages to secure a loan, so Tomáš buys her a bouquet of flowers in appreciation for how well she conducted the negotiations with the bank. Later, Marcela sees the flowers in Katka's office, so Tomáš sheepishly admits that he was the one who bought them. Hugo gleefully announces to Tomáš that the time has come for him to attend the drag party. Tomáš is made up to look like Marilyn Monroe in the famous skirt-blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch. When Tomáš gets to the bar, Hugo forces him to sing on stage. Tomáš tries to leave, but he discovers that his car is blocked in and he can't get it out. He goes back into the party to see if he can find anyone to move the obstructing cars, but his aggressive behavior causes conflict. František is disappointed to learn that Miky is in love with Patricie, because he had always thought that Miky and Katka would make a good pair. Marcela tries to entice model Mahulena Bocanová to be the face of the new collection, so she is upset that she can't find Tomáš, who is supposed to be present for the negotiations. Meanwhile, Tomáš wonders how he will get back to KM Styl to change back into his own clothes, especially since taxi drivers refuse to stop for him. He ends up calling the one person he knows he can trust, Katka, and she takes a cab to pick him up. Unfortunately, KM Style is locked up for the night and they can't get in, so Katka brings Tomáš to her house so he can borrow some of her father's clothes. Tomáš is desperate because he knows that Marcela, Patricie, Daniel, Kristyna, and Maulena are at his apartment waiting for him.
Katka sneaks Tomáš into her family's home, but they wake Zuzana, who meets Tomáš for the first time while he is in women's clothing. Katka tells her that there is no time to explain, but Tomáš needs to borrow some of František's clothes. Tomáš eventually arrives at his apartment and tries to avoid explaining where he was for so long, as well as why is wearing strange clothes, but he finally realizes that he has to tell Marcela about how he lost a bet with Hugo and he had to perform in a drag show at a gay bar. The next morning, Zuzana and František remind Katka about the Internet café's grand opening that evening, so Katka promises that she will not work late. Péťa returns from a run to the airport, where he had to pick up fabric samples that Marek sent from Istanbul. He brings the samples to the conference room, where various staff members go to examine them. Hugo is extremely pleased by what he sees, but he tells Marcela that he is concerned that the actual fabrics may not end up being of the same quality as the samples. Tomáš says that he will fly to Milan as soon as possible to sign the contract to make the fabric purchase official, so Marcela offers to go with him. But since he will actually be flying to Istanbul, not to Milan, Tomáš realizes that he has to find a way to convince Marcela that it is better for her to remain behind.
Before Tomáš leaves, he asks Péťa to retrieve his car from the bar's parking lot and store it in the company garage for him. When Péťa gets the car back to KM Styl, he is distracted by Halka, who is wearing a provocative outfit, so he accidentally crashes Tomáš's car. Tomáš calls Marcela from Istanbul and says that he has seen the fabrics and is very pleased with their quality. He promises to return home the next day. Péťa is terrified, so he asks Helena to help him. Bucala, the security guard, tells Péťa that the car is so expensive that even spare parts to repair it will probably bankrupt him, so the Ošklivky promise to help him. While Katka is outside assessing the car situation, Patricie takes the opportunity to snoop in Katka's office, but Katka returns and catches her in the act.
Péťa panics when Tomáš returns and goes down to the parking garage to get his car. Fortunately for Péťa, Tomáš doesn't notice the broken bumper. Miky witnesses Petržílek harassing Maria, so he gets into a fight with the landlord. By the time Katka gets to the Internet café's grand opening almost everyone has already left. František gets jealous when he sees Petržílek flirting with Zuzana. Tomáš discovers the damage to his car's bumper, but he just assumes that the damage must have happened in the bar parking lot the night that he dressed as Marilyn. Patricie pretends to feel ill, so the Ošklivky suspect that she is pregnant. Tomáš and Marek learn that their fabric shipment from Istanbul has been confiscated by customs agents. Pop star Martin Maxa comes to KM Styl to commission the manufacture of some costumes. Once again, Sylva humiliates Patricie by wearing a matching dress. Tomáš blames Marek for the customs fiasco because he feels that Marek didn't do enough investigating of the supplier. The two decide that Grand Moda will have to take over KM Styl. Tomáš breaks the news to Hugo and Marcela that they will not be getting the fabrics after all. He also lies and says that the money the company paid to the supplier will be refunded.
František goes to KM Styl to deliver some contracts to Katka and he meets Tomáš for the first time. Since Tomáš's car is being repaired, he is without transportation, so František offers him a ride. Katka is embarrassed, but Tomáš accepts the offer. Marek hears the Ošklivky gossiping about Patricie's suspected pregnancy and he panics. Zuzana and Marie are relieved when Vojtĕch comes to the Internet café and assures them that his father is no longer angry with them. While Marcela is confronting Patricie about the pregnancy rumors, Daniel calls and is shocked when he hears a part of their conversation. Marek and Tomáš realize that they have to obtain new fabrics as quickly as possible, because it will become even more difficult as soon as the news that KM Styl has been taken over by Grand Moda spreads throughout the industry.
Marek and Daniel separately experience tormenting dreams in which each is the father of Patricie's evil spawn. Daniel announces that he wants to convene a meeting of the company's board members. Patricie confesses to Marcela that Marek may not be the father of her baby, but she doesn't say who the other potential candidate may be. Tomáš tries to find out from Marcela who the father of Patricie's baby is. Daniel visits Patricie's apartment and offers to pay for her to move somewhere far away. Katka tells Miky about Patricie's pregnancy, but instead of ending his delusions regarding a possible future with her, the news makes him feel as if his chances with Patricie are better than ever, because now she will need someone like him to stand by her side and to help her to raise her child.
Patricie starts to take advantage of the pregnancy rumors by coming in late, knowing that Tomáš won't yell at her for fear that she will make trouble for Marek or for the company. Katka and Tomáš go to meet with representatives from Makrotextil to try to purchase a new supply of fabrics. Sylva asks the other Ošklivky if they think that she should undergo liposuction. The procedure would be expensive, but Sylva feels that it would be worth it, if only to see the look on Patricie's face when she sees Sylva's sudden weight loss for the first time. Klaudia agrees to allow KM Styl to pay for their fabrics in installments, instead of up front. When Klaudia comes to KM Styl to sign a contract, Marcela gets jealous when she observes the interaction between Klaudia and Tomáš. Two old men from Katka's neighborhood, deda Koráb and deda Šťáva (Grandpa Dream and Grandpa Juice), come to the Internet café to find a woman online for their friend, but they do not want to reveal who this friend is. Tomáš is nervous because he knows that the time has come when people will start to find out that KM Styl is now owned by Grand Moda.
Even though he wanted Patricie to have an abortion, Marek feels guilty about her pregnancy, so he gives her some money to help her pay her past-due bills. Katka and Miky meet with a lawyer to go over the details of Grand Moda's takeover of KM Styl. Marcela learns that one of the models in the new runway show is Tomáš's former lover Soňa, so she makes a scene. Táňa gets into another argument with Emil over the phone because he still hasn't paid her the alimony that he owes her. Inka advises Táňa to be nice to Emil, so he will begin to regret leaving her for Halka. The Ošklivky then joke about how funny it will be soon when Sylva continues to lose weight, while Patricie gets heavier because of her pregnancy. Marie and Zuzana hope that František's friend Jan can give them a discount on computers, so they will have enough money to buy a fancy new coffee machine.
Katka and Miky's attorney, Vyhlídal, wonders why the executives at KM Styl are allowing the company to be absorbed by Grand Moda when they only owe four and a half million, which is far less than KM Styl's total worth. Katka tries to assure Vyhlídal that Grand Moda is not making a hostile move. Her goal is not to seize KM Styl, but merely to get them to return the money that was borrowed from Grand Moda. Vyhlídal says that he will file the necessary papers with the court and then a forensic accountant will probably visit KM Styl to examine the books. After Sylva gets liposuction, she and her friends decide that she should probably start exercising, in order to keep from putting the weight back on. Táňa and Inka then bring Sylva to a morning fitness class at a nearby gym, where they see Patricie, who is working out quite vigorously, which causes them to wonder if she is really pregnant. Táňa goes to Novotny and convinces him to send Patricie to a doctor to get a medical examination for insurance purposes. Deda Šťáva's granddaughter Lucie, who came to Prague to live with him after she had an argument with her parents, begins hanging out at the Internet café.
Tomáš starts to panic because his parents are about to return from London and the Chamber of Commerce has posted a bulleting stating that KM Styl has been taken over by Grand Moda. He thinks that the time has come for him to admit defeat and turn the business over to Daniel. Patricie doesn't want to submit to having a blood sample drawn for her medical exam, but Marcela assures her that it will be best for her and the baby. Péťa wants Tomáš to convince Hugo to allow Halka to become a full-fledged runway model, instead of just an in-house test model, as she has been since Hugo hired her. Marcela has been spending a lot of time with Tomáš's parents, so Soňa decides to take advantage of the situation and she tries to seduce Tomáš again. Markvart that lately a lot of drinking, became acquainted with Lucy, granddaughter grandfather Juices. I'll be moving into a small conflict. Sylva's husband returns from a business trip and wants to see the new car that he had given her money to buy, so she has no choice but to admit that she used the money to get liposuction instead of buying the car.
Miky calls Katka to warn her that Rozsíval, one of the attorneys, will be bringing the forensic accountant to KM Styl to determine the company's net worth. Lucie returns to the café and Miky meets her for the first time. Daniel demands to see a report that shows how much money was lost when the last collection flopped, but when he gets the report he suspects that the figures have been falsified. Petržílek decides to rent an apartment to Vojtĕch's chemistry and physics teacher, Matĕj, and his girlfriend Eva. He gives them a cheap rent in the hope that Vojtĕch will benefit from the gesture. Katka tries frantically to keep Robert, Jana, and Daniel from seeing the men who are there to estimate the company's assets. Tomáš accidentally overhears a phone conversation that Katka has with Miky and he wonders who this Miky person could be, because Katka has never mentioned him, yet the guy is apparently involved in Grand Moda business matters. Tomáš begins to worry that Miky may be Katka's boyfriend. Marcela tries to coerce Tomáš into firing either Soňa or Katka, so he tries to convince Hugo to let Soňa go, but Hugo refuses. Marcela then warns Patricie to be on her best behavior, because if Tomáš is forced to fire either Soň or Katka, he may then insist that Marcela must allow him to fire Patricie. Eva and Matĕj move into their new apartment and they go down to the Internet café, where they meet Markvart, who has been hanging out there ever since he was fired from his job at KM Styl.
Patricie blackmails Daniel and demands that he must find her an apartment in Paris and give her money for living expenses. Daniel accepts her demands, as long as it will get her out of his life. Marek also promises to give her money, but he refuses to marry her. Unfortunately for Patricie, the Ošklivky discover that her blood test proves that she is not pregnant. The fashion show in which the new fabrics will make their big debut begins and Táňa is outraged to see that Halka has been allowed to strut down the runway, but her anger quickly turns to glee when she sees that Halka makes a terrible runway model. Halka is a total disgrace, so Hugo fires her. Patricie finds out that the Ošklivky have seen the results of her pregnancy test, so she realizes that she must come clean. Markvart gets drunk at the Internet café and says that he is going to the KM Styl runway show, so Miky follows him in order to prevent him from causing any trouble for Katka. Miky arrives at the venue, but the security guard won't let him in, so he asks the guard to find Katka. Miky hands the guard his business card, which identifies him as the CFO of Grand Moda, and he claims that he is also Katka's fiance. Tomáš happens to be standing next to Katka when the guard delivers Miky's message, so Tomáš becomes terrified that Miky may encourage Katka not to ever return ownership of the company to him, as originally planned.
The morning after the show, Tomáš and Marcela arrive the office and find that almost none of the employees have shown up. Andula and Mariana try to cover the phones at the reception desk. Tomáš tells Marek about Katka's fiance, Miky, and they decide to ask her about him. Katka assures them both that Miky is just a friend. The Ošklivky all go out to lunch together and Sylva uses Tarot cards to read Katka's future. Sylva says that she can see the man Katka loves, and she says the this man will also love her. Sylva says she also sees a lot of money in Katka's future. After lunch, Táňa casually mentions the things that Sylva said about Katka's future to Tomáš, so he is convinced that this mystery man is Miky. Markvart buys two flower bouquets and he leaves one with Zuzana as a gesture of apology for Katka, and he gives the other one to Lucie. Katka decides that maybe she should allow her office friends believe that Miky is her boyfriend, so they won't suspect that she has feelings for Tomáš. Lucie later encounters Markvart and his son Jirkou. Tomáš and Marek decide that they must figure out a strategy to lure Katka away from Miky.
Patricie gets upset when she thinks about losing Marek, so dramatically throws herself into the Vltava river, but Matĕj sees her and pulls her to safety. Later, Marcela suspects that Patricie only did this to draw attention. Tomáš worries that there isn't enough money to cover the payroll for the company's employees. Marek insists that the only way to control Katka is for Tomáš to seduce her. Marek gives a lot of whiskey to Tomáš to get him drunk, so he will have the nerve to profess his romantic feelings for Katka. Matĕj catches Vojtĕch smoking a cigarette at school with his friends. Lucie brings Dr. Prokop to Markvart's apartment to care for Markvart's son Jirkou, who has a middle ear infection. Lucie's kindness pleases Markvart. Táňa gets in an argument with Halka and Halka's mobile phone falls to the ground and breaks, so Halka tries to get Táňa fired by saying that she broke it on purpose. Marcela tells Táňa that she has to reimburse Halka for the cost of the phone.
Marek tries to convince Tomáš to remain sober the next time he goes out on a date with Katka. Vojtĕch tries to gain influence with Roman and his friends, so he makes a big deal about how his father is a big important property owner. Tomáš and Katka go out for their date and they meet up with Marek and Zuzana Belohorcová for dinner. Marek offers his apartment to Tomáš so he can bring Katka there to consummate their relationship, but Tomáš refuses to take the ruse so far. Later, when they are alone, Tomáš tells Katka that he is starting to have feelings for her, and he tells her that he can't live without her. Katka finds this hard to believe, but she loves Tomáš so much that she desperately wants for it to be true. Hugo seems to be behaving more petulantly than usual, so Marcela and Patricie determine that he either needs to find a boyfriend, or he has to see a psychiatrist. Tomáš's mother comes to visit him at the office to ask him why she and Robert haven't received their usual check, so Tomáš asks Katka to get the money from Grand Moda and send the payment to his parents. Patricie makes sarcastic comments when Katka offers to treat the Ošklivky to lunch, so Sylva spitefully tells Patricie that Katka has a rich boyfriend. Patricie is shocked by the mere thought of Katka being able to attract a rich man, so she tells Hugo and Marcela about what Sylva said, and Tomáš hears every word of it.
To everyone's relief, the new collection sells well. Marek tells a reluctant Tomáš to leave a love letter on Katka's desk. Petržílka makes it clear to Matĕj that if he wants to continue being charged a very low rent for his apartment he will have to give special treatment to Vojtĕch at school. Tomáš brings Katka to a party that is being hosted by Color Inn, one of KM Styl's suppliers. Tomáš's plans to seduce Katka are almost disrupted when Marcela suddenly appears, but he is able to talk her into leaving the party.
Tomáš and Katka eventually leave the party and he brings her to a hotel, where he confesses his love for her. Katka still finds it difficult to believe that Tomáš could have real feelings for her, but she decides to just accept that he is being sincere and she gets caught up in the moment. The next morning, at the office, Katka doesn't know how to behave around Tomáš or Marcela. The Ošklivky hear Marcela raging about Tomáš being out with another woman the night before, but Marcela doesn't know that the woman is Katka. The secretaries then begin gossiping about how Tomáš has a new mistress.
Patricie complains about Helena's frequent lateness in the mornings, but Patricie didn't expect that her complaint would lead to Helena being fired. The conflict between Marcela and Tomáš quickly reaches its boiling point. Nobody at the office can find Katka, so Marek implies to Tomáš that Katka may be with Miky, conspiring to keep both Grand Moda and KM Styl. Tomáš sends Táňa to the Bertolds' home to see if Katka is there. Marek starts to suspect that Tomáš actually is developing real feelings for Katka, but Tomáš vehemently denies this. Daniel comes to the firm to get his regular payment, which is late. By now, Marcela is now completely on Daniel's side, so she calls for an immediate convening of the company's governing board to discuss the current management, or mismanagement, of the company. Patricie is reassigned to the reception desk, because of Helena's dismissal, but she doesn't like the new job one bit. Katka finally returns home and surprises everyone by saying that she wants to leave KM Styl.
Marcela wakes up with a hangover after a night of binging and she tells Patricie that her relationship with Tomáš has definitely ended. Miky tells Katka that if she leaves the company it could be construed that she has committed a fraud and may destroy her reputation because of the Grand Moda situation. Daniel threatens Tomáš with an audit, so he can finally have Tomáš removed from the presidential chair. Tomáš goes to Katka's house to tell her that he and Marcela have broken up. Katka believes that she was the cause of their break-up, so she feels guilty and doesn't know how she can face Marcela again. Markvart and Lucie finally admit that their friendship has evolved into a serious relationship. Táňa goes to court with Emil to get the money he owes her. Marcela tells Tomáš that he has to break the news to his parents that their forthcoming fairytale wedding won't be happening.
Tomáš wonders how he can deal with Marcela, to keep her from siding with Daniel at the board meeting, and he also tries to think of a way to convince Katka that he really loves her. Rozsíval tries to convince Miky to tell the board that Katka is the true owner of KM Styl, but Miky can't summon the nerve to do it. Rozsíval then takes matters into his own hands and informs Daniel, who can't believe his ears. Katka can't carry the burden of her situation anymore, so she calls Robert Meduna to tell him about how hard Tomáš has struggled to save KM Styl from ruin. Robert decides that he may have to take the reins of his company back into his own hands. When Tomáš is told, he goes to his office to pack his things, and on his way out he goes to punch Marek in the face for talking him into his current situation. Robert then convenes a meeting of the board to tell them the shocking news that the owner of KM Styl is Kateřina Bertoldová. Marek is the only one present who isn't floored by this announcement. Katka then proceeds to outline the various intrigues that she, Tomáš, and Marek were involved in.
In his misery, Tomáš gets drunk and tries to pick a fight with every man he sees. He gets beaten up pretty badly and has to go to the hospital. Later, while is recovering in his apartment, he has to experience uncomfortable confrontations from two visitors: first Marek, then Daniel. Katka prepares for another board meeting, at which she plans to return the company to Robert and then go away to start her life over somewhere else. The evening before the fateful meeting, Katka has dinner with Ester, who offers Katka a job with her PR agency. Ester then tells Katka that if she is really serious about starting her life over she should do something nice for herself. Finally, the board meeting begins and Robert announces a surprising solution to the company's complex situation. He tells the stunned board members that, because of the way she was able to help KM Styl to rebound from its financial troubles, he wants Kateřina Bertoldová to be the company's new president. Katka walks into the board room and everyone is shocked to see that she has had a makeover and is now beautiful. |
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Trivia
- The show's theme song, "Jaký to je" (What it is), was sung by 14-year-old Polish, Czech-born pop singer Ewa Farná.
- "Ošklivka Katka" replaced a program called "Hádej, kdo jsem!" (Guess Who I Am!), so the first episode of "Ošklivka Katka" was cleverly entitled "To jsem já" (It's Me).
- Kateřina Janečková was cast in the show's starring role a mere three days before filming began.
- Katka's parents were shopkeepers in a village outside of Prague called Žižkova.
- Ester's last name, Andĕlová, means "angel," which is appropriate because Ester's counterpart in "Yo soy Betty, la fea" was named Catalina Ángel, and also because the character is considered to be a sort of guardian angel or fairy godmother.
- Veronika Senciová, who played Eva, was the real-life wife of Lukáš Hejlík (Tomáš). The couple got a divorce not long after the final episode of "Ošklivka Katka" aired. Hejlík claimed that the break-up was precipitated by his long commute from the couple's home in Brno to Prague during filming of "Ošklivka Katka".
- Although the series started out with pretty good ratings, viewership eventually declined and the cost of production could no longer be justified, so the show was canceled after 73 of the projected 168 episodes had been produced. The final episode aired on April 20, 2009, just thirteen months after the premiere, making this the second adaptation of "Yo soy Betty, la fea" (after Croatia's "Ne Daj se, Nina") not to complete its full story arc.
At the time of cancellation they were at the point in the story when Katka was not only about to resign from her position at KM Styl, she was also planning to leave Prague with her new boss, P.R. woman Ester Andĕlová. The producers and writers knew that the series was canceled, so they accelerated the story a little. They eliminated the part of the story where Katka would have found a letter from Marek to Tomáš containing a list of instructions regarding his seduction of Katka.
In the final episode, the writers cobbled together little bits of closure, particularly for fans who were hoping to see the dramatic physical transformation that Katka eventually would have had at the end of the story if they had been able to play out the plot to its intended conclusion. In the last ten minutes of the final episode, Ester had convinced Katka to cheer herself up by getting a makeover. Unfortunately, cramming this scene into the last few minutes—just for the sake of presenting the "new Katka" to the audience—made the ending seem rushed and disjointed. |
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