"Betty, a Feia" is actually a Brazilian TV series that originally aired in 2006, not in 1999. It was based on the Colombian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty, la Fea," which itself was inspired by the book "La Fea Más Bella del Reino" by Colombian writer Fernando Gaitán. The Brazilian version was produced by Rede Globo, one of the largest Portuguese-language television networks in the world.