‘Why Pay For ‘Ugly Betty’ When We Can Pass Off ‘Homely Jenny’ For Half The Price?’ Asks ABC Studios EVP

In a leaked internal memo that Deadline Hollywood Daily’s Nikki Finke has designated in her characteristically restrained style as a “bombshell” (let’s just say it’s about as close to a legitimate bombshell as Tara Reid ), ABC Studios executive vice president Howard Davine listed the procedure for developers to obtain foreign formats rights. He suggests in the opening paragraph that in light of the “complexities of negotiating” these sorts of deals, what might ultimately serve the studio best is to just borrow the basic “underlying premise.”

The memo excerpted after the jump:

Say, for example, there’s a wildly popular Chilean telepasiónovela about a transgendered whore with massive breast implants who passes for a legitimate suburban housewife; by merely tweaking it just enough (maybe by making the implants less massive, and changing the “whore” part to “Wal-Mart greeter”), what you’ve now created is a viable Denise Richards vehicle, and minus all those costly licensing fees paid out to Chileans, who’ll probably never notice anyway! Now you can call that whatever you like, but we just call it dollars and sense.

• Bombshell ABC Studios Memo Is Blatant Blueprint To Rip Off Foreign TV Series [Deadline Hollywood Daily]