During production of season 2, the ideas for both a musical episode and a recurring guest role for
Lindsay Lohan came up. Both ideas were put on hold due to the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and in the end, only Lindsay Lohan's storyline came to fruition, with Lohan making a brief uncredited cameo appearance in the season two finale "
Jump", before reprising the role in season 3. Shooting of the episodes moved from Los Angeles to on-location shooting in
New York City, where the show was set. The last time the show was shot in New York was in the
pilot episode. In addition, the season had more physical elements, especially for Betty. In an interview about the new direction the series would be taking, Silvio Horta told
E!'s
Kristin Dos Santos at an ABC press meeting for its show runners: “This season is going to be about growing up. We aren't going to be doing anymore child-like storylines. It is going to be about moving Betty forward." He then added more details to MediaWeek about the changes: "On
Ugly Betty I think we started to veer a little too much into the romantic storyline, where it started to really become the show. And it started to just get away from what I originally wanted to do and where we originally started, which was about a girl making it in the city and her work life. So we're trying to refocus that back. But there's always temptation and you want to explore it. You want to have the opportunity to explore it. And the second you start getting too involved in it, it's like any plot line. You go in; it's very hard to get out and it takes a little longer." He later revealed that the audience would see a more evolving Betty: "Betty will solve a crime. Inject
Botox. Get attacked by an animal. Throw a Wilhelmina mannequin down a flight of stairs. And that's just the first three episodes." ==Casting changes==