Becki Newton, left, and Michael Urie steal every scene in which they appear in "Ugly Betty," starring America Ferrera, right. The ABC sitcom wraps up its first season at 8 p.m. Thursday.

By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Their parts aren't expansive.

They don't generally do the heavy lifting in plots.

But the best of TV's "scene stealers" live up to the nickname, perhaps none more than two currently coaxing the spotlight their way: Becki Newton and Michael Urie, supporting players on ABC's "Ugly Betty," which wraps its first season at 8 p.m. Thursday.

	Donkey, Puss are ingratiating 'Shrek-mates' Film sidekicks steal scenes with abandon, and animated films are no exceptions. The three "Shrek" films may all carry the name of a lovable green ogre, but it's his sidekicks who have emerged as the big crowd-pleasers. Eddie Murphy's chatterbox Donkey and Antonio Banderas' dashing Puss in Boots grab the focus of every scene they are in, and it's usually a toss-up as to which one gets bigger laughs or undivided attention when they share the screen. Donkey has the leg up, having been in the first film in the Dreamworks' animated franchise that offers "Shrek the Third" on Friday. Puss first opened wide his soulful eyes and won hearts in "Shrek 2." Lines that sealed the steal: Donkey, making himself comfortable in the ogre's home, oblivious to the big guy's annoyance, declares, " Hey, I got an idea! I could stay with you! We could stay up late, swap manly stories, and in the morning, I'm making waffles!" The cute cat introduces himself with one of the most memorable pauses in all of family filmdom: "I am Puss ... in Boots." -- Sharon Eberson, Post-Gazette entertainment editor

Newton and Urie play scheming assistants at fashion magazine Mode who often clash with heroic underdog Betty Suarez (America Ferrera).

Newton's Amanda is the magazine's receptionist, who looks down on the less fashionable Betty.

"I was just thinking about you," Amanda said in a recent episode while doodling a picture of Betty, depicting her with a massive unibrow. After Betty departs, Amanda remarks, "They're even bigger than I remember," doodling with renewed ferociousness.

Urie's Marc is the assistant to Mode creative director Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams). He's a toady who's eager to be supportive of every Wilhelmina attempt to wrench control of the magazine from editor Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius).

"We should hit it with a bat and see if candy falls out," Marc said of Betty when she began working at Mode and dressed in traditional Mexican garb.

Amanda and Marc are best friends who live to torment Betty. In real life, Newton and Urie have bonded since meeting on the "Betty" pilot.

"I generally don't go two feet without her," Urie said at an ABC party on a Sunday in January while standing about 10 feet from where Newton was sitting. "I've probably talked to her four times today. We're, like, totally besties."

Friendship aside, that's where most fictional and real-life similarities end. Newton's sly, kitten-with-her-claws-ready looks are as much a put-on as Amanda's less-than-bright persona. A Guilford, Conn., native, Newton graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in European history.

"I thought I'd put that to use by acting," she joked.

Prior to her casting in "Ugly Betty," Newton said she generally played "wholesome nice people," adding, with an intentionally Amanda-esque flourish, "Whatever."

Urie, who was initially a recurring guest star until he was upped to series regular status in episode No. 14, has a degree in acting from the Juilliard School of Drama. The Dallas native has extensive theater credits in Shakespearean roles, including parts in "Othello," "Titus Andronicus" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Now he's playing the comic foil on "Betty."

"What's likable about him is he loses all the time," Urie said. "When you play the villain in a comedy, you have to get foiled every week. Every week I end up with steam coming out of my head: 'Oh my God, Betty got me again!' We're constantly slamming Betty, but we always get ours."

Urie said sometimes his "Betty" scenes are small, but he doesn't care if they're showcases or a cameo because they always seem to make an impression.

"Becki and I, we're no fools. We're definitely trying to steal every scene we can, but you can't steal anything if there's not something there already, and that's America and Eric and Vanessa, the beacons of the show. If they weren't so great and perfect, we wouldn't have anything to steal from them."

Among the show's staff, Veronica Becker and Sarah Kucserka have become the go-to writers for punching up dialogue for Marc and Amanda.

"Even walking through with one line, crossing through a scene, you know you can give Marc or Amanda something and that will be the line that gets quoted in Entertainment Weekly," Kucserka said.

Becker said she appreciates the characters' interest in pop and celebrity culture, which gives the writers an avenue to make current, watercooler jokes, something Betty and her love interest, Henry (Christopher Gorham), would not do.

"I like writing Amanda because she's kind of like the anti-Betty," Becker said. "She gets to be a young girl in the city and looking for totally different things than Betty is. It's fun to have that antithesis happening."

Both writers credit the actors for inspiring them in writing the characters.

"The way they act is so expressive and they have such brilliant comic timing," Becker said. "We never would have written rhyming jokes if Michael Urie didn't bring that theatricalness to the table."

Marc and Amanda may not get the most air time, but their venomous Betty-barbs are a necessary ingredient in the show's success.

"I'll always have a soft spot for the Betty and Henry romantic scenes," Becker said, "but you have to balance out the sweet with the salty. Marc and Amanda are great counterpoints."

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Scene stealers through TV history

We can't list them all, but here are just a few of the tube's most memorable scene stealers:
Barney Fife (Don Knotts): It was called "The Andy Griffith Show," but Griffith was smart enough to step out of the way, play the straight man and allow Knotts to get laughs as TV's most hapless, nervous lawman.
Fonzie (Henry Winkler): Originally a supporting character, the Fonz didn't just steal scenes, he stole the whole show. While "Happy Days" star Ron Howard was generous with the spotlight, he balked when the network wanted to change the title to "Fonzie's Happy Days" in season two.
J.J. Evans (Jimmie Walker): Whenever J.J. appeared to spout his catchphrase ("Dy-no-mite!") there certainly appeared to be "Good Times," except among other cast members, who felt the character was a poor role model for young African-American viewers.
Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce): Fussier and more prim than even the uptight title character on "Frasier," Niles offered a mix of sweet innocence and droll snobbery that charmed viewers for years.
Frank Barone (Peter Boyle): Whether it was a simple but well-timed "Holy crap!" or a put-down of wife Marie (Doris Roberts), Frank was a man of few words, but the words he did speak had maximum comic effect.
Karen and Jack (Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes): The forerunners to "Ugly Betty's" Amanda and Mark, the outrageous antics of this belly-bumping pair often stole the spotlight from the title characters on "Will & Grace."
Kenneth the page (Jack McBrayer): The ever-optimistic innocent is content to be an NBC page with no real ambitions on "30 Rock" even though network executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) declares, "In five years we'll all be either working for him or dead by his hand."