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Beauty and the Beast (1987 TV series)

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This article is about the American drama series. For the Australian panel show, see Beauty and the Beast (talk show).
Beauty and the Beast
Pictured: Linda Hamilton (Catherine), Ron Perlman (Vincent)
Created byRon Koslow
StarringLinda Hamilton
Ron Perlman
Roy Dotrice
Jay Acovone[1]
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes56
Production
Running timeapprox. 48 minutes (per episode)
Original release
NetworkCBS[2]
ReleaseAugust 25, 1987 (1987-08-25) –
August 4, 1990 (1990-08-04)
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis
ReleaseLee Holdridge</ref> and Don Davis

Beauty and the Beast is an American drama series which first aired on CBS in 1987. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent (Ron Perlman), a mythic, noble man-beast, and his Catherine (Linda Hamilton), a savvy assistant District attorney in New York; and a secret Utopian community of social outcasts living in a subterranean sanctuary. Through an empathic bond, Vincent senses Catherine's emotions, and becomes her guardian.[3] The series follows the developing relationship between the characters and the division between New York and the hidden world beneath it. In a twist from the original tale, however, this "beast" does not transform into society's idea of beauty after gaining the love of Catherine. Rather, Vincent's inner beauty is allowed to remain the focus of who he is, and it is Catherine's life which transforms from her relationship to Vincent. Vincent's makeup was devised by veteran Hollywood makeup artist Rick Baker.

In the third season, after the death of the character Catherine, Jo Anderson became the new female lead, playing Diana Bennet, a police woman investigating Catherine's murder.[4]

As the title indicates, the premise of the series is inspired by the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast"; in particular, there is some connection to the Jean Cocteau French film of 1946, La Belle et la Bête.

In 2004[citation needed] and 2007, Beauty and the Beast was ranked #14 and #17 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.[5]

Series synopsis

Season 1

When Catherine Chandler is abducted, beaten and slashed and left to die in Central Park, she is rescued and cared for by Vincent, who has taken her to his Father (Roy Dotrice), to their hidden community of people dwelling in tunnels below the city of New York. Ten days later, she returns to the surface with the promise of keeping Vincent's secret and the challenge to go on after her terrible attack. After completing her recovery, her life begins a serious transition: she takes self-defense lessons, leaves her comfortable job at her father's law firm and joins the Manhattan District Attorney's office as an Assistant District attorney. During the course of the first season, the production team fashioned a blend of romance and crime drama which used both Catherine's position as an ADA and her will to help Vincent and his world to place her in moments of physical danger which would bring the idealized romantic figure of Vincent to the surface world as her guardian angel.

Season 2

During its second season, the series shifted its focus slightly to add more character development, as the central characters spent considerable time exploring their relationship and with the inhabitants of the Tunnel World, where Catherine had now finally been accepted as a friend and "Helper" (someone who assists the Tunnel community with what they need to survive and by keeping their secret). More people from the world Above turned up for emotional support and healing in the World Below's welcomingly secure environment. Near the end of the season, however, in an effort to boost faltering ratings, the action orientation returned as a result of the misleadings of the recurrent villain Paracelsus (Tony Jay). In a cliffhanger final episode, Catherine is seen walking down a tunnel into a chamber, where Vincent is suffering from a violent madness.

Season 3

When the series returned for its abbreviated third season late in 1989, Linda Hamilton had announced her decision to leave the series. It was a decision that, along with the network's desire to attract more male viewers, would have serious repercussions for the show's continued survival. In the resolution to the previous season's cliffhanger, Catherine rescued Vincent from his inner demons but was kidnapped by "Gabriel" (played by Stephen McHattie[6]), the ruthless head of a huge criminal empire she had been investigating, which was trying to corrupt the D.A.'s office. She was killed, but not before giving birth to Vincent's son, who was held hostage by the evil Gabriel. Catherine's boss and close friend Joe Maxwell (played by Jay Acovone) hired Diana Bennett (Jo Anderson), a criminal profiler with the police department, to track down Catherine's killer. Quite naturally, her investigation ultimately led her to the now darkly obsessed and grieving Vincent.

Although still popular with its dedicated fans, the darker, more resolutely violent aspects of the reworked concept, coupled with the fatal loss of the all-important central relationship between Catherine and Vincent, led to further declining ratings and ultimately cancellation.[7]

List of episodes

Season 1

  • 1. Once Upon a Time in the City of New York
  • 2. Terrible Savior
  • 3. Siege
  • 4. No Way Down
  • 5. Masques
  • 6. The Beast Within
  • 7. Nor Iron Bars a Cage
  • 8. Song of Orpheus
  • 9. Dark Spirit
  • 10. A Children's Story
  • 11. An Impossible Silence
  • 12. Shades of Gray
  • 13. China Moon
  • 14. The Alchemist
  • 15. Temptation
  • 16. Promises of Someday
  • 17. Down to a Sunless Sea
  • 18. Fever
  • 19. Everything is Everything
  • 20. To Reign in Hell
  • 21. Ozymandias
  • 22. A Happy Life

Season 2

  • 23 (2x1) Chamber Music
  • 24 (2x2) Remember Love
  • 25 (2x3) Ashes, Ashes
  • 26 (2x4) Dead of Winter
  • 27 (2x5) God Bless the Child
  • 28 (2x6) Sticks and Stones
  • 29 (2x7) A Fair and Perfect Knight
  • 30 (2x8) Labyrinths
  • 31 (2x9) Brothers
  • 32 (2x10) A Gentle Rain
  • 33 (2x11) The Outsiders
  • 34 (2x12) Orphans
  • 35 (2x13) Arabesque
  • 36 (2x14) When the Bluebird Sings
  • 37 (2x15) The Watcher
  • 38 (2x16) A Distant Shore
  • 39 (2x17) Trial
  • 40 (2x18) A Kingdom by the Sea
  • 41 (2x19) The Hollow Men
  • 42 (2x20) What Rough Beast
  • 43 (2x21) Ceremony of Innocence
  • 44 (2x22) The Rest is Silence

Season 3

  • 45 (3x1) Though Lovers be Lost, Part 1
  • 46 (3x2) Though Lovers be Lost, Part 2
  • 47 (3x3) Walk Slowly
  • 48 (3x4) Nevermore
  • 49 (3x5) Snow
  • 50 (3x6) Beggar's Comet
  • 51 (3x7) A Time to Heal
  • 52 (3x8) In the Forests of the Night
  • 53 (3x9) Chimes at Midnight
  • 54 (3x10) Invictus
  • 55 (3x11) The Reckoning
  • 56 (3x12) Legacies

Nielsen Ratings

  • 1987-88: #49 (13.31 rating)
  • 1988-89: #65 (10.38 rating)
  • 1989-90: #93 (8.82 rating)

Note: Ratings data from TVTango.com

Cast

The "World Above"

  • Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) - a corporate attorney in her father's law firm who, after being abducted, beat and her face slashed then rescued and tended to by Vincent, changes her life completely and becomes an investigator for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
  • Joe Maxwell (Jay Acovone[1]) - a Deputy District Attorney for the Borough of Manhattan, and Catherine's immediate superior in the office.
  • Elliot Burch (Edward Albert[9]) - A self-made millionaire and New York building developer, who is in love with Catherine.
  • Charles Chandler (John McMartin) (Seasons 1 and 2) - Catherine's father.
  • Edie (Ren Woods[10]) (Season 1) - Works in the computer division of the DA's office.
  • Gabriel (Stephen McHattie) (Season 3) - A highly-influential crime boss and the biggest drug trafficker on the East Coast, responsible for Catherine's death and the kidnapping of her baby.

The "World Below"

  • Vincent (Ron Perlman) - a man of extremely large build, with the facial characteristics of a lion (fanged teeth, a flattened nose and a cleft upper lip) and fingers tipped with claw-like nails. He wears a cloak and hood to hide his appearance from strangers while walking the city streets at night. His parentage is unknown: He was found as a baby near Saint Vincent's Hospital and brought to Father by Anna, wife of Paracelsus.
  • Father (Roy Dotrice) - Loved and respected as the patriarch of the Tunnel world, Jacob Wells is a physician who left the world Above after having been unjustly blacklisted, fired from his job and having his license to practice medicine stripped from him. He found sanctuary in an early Tunnel community, and became its leader.
  • Mouse (David Greenleee) - A young and possibly autistic tunnel dweller, infamous for stealing from the World Above, who loves tinkering with machinery and has invented several "gizmos" to help his fellow tunnel dwellers. He is the owner of a raccoon named Arthur.
  • Mary (Ellen Geer) - The Tunnels' midwife. She is motherly and generous.
  • Pascal (Armin Shimerman) - The shy and gentle "pipe master", supervisor of the tunnels' communication system.
  • Winslow (James Avery) - One very influential member of the underground community, a blacksmith by trade.
  • Paracelsus (Tony Jay) - John Pater was a scientist and former friend of Father's who helped organize the Tunnel World, but when he eventually desired power for himself, the community was forced to exile him. Father describes him as a "philosopher, scientist, magician", like the real Paracelsus, the name Pater eventually takes for himself (after the 15th-century alchemist). He is a recurring antagonist in the series.

Novelizations

Avon Books published three books novelizing various episodes from the series.

DVD releases

CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released all three seasons of Beauty and the Beast on DVD in Region 1. They also released Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series, a 16-disc boxset featuring all 56 episodes of the series.

Shock Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Region 4.

DVD Name Ep # Region 1 Region 4 Region 2
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete First Season 22 February 13, 2007 April 20, 2009 May 30, 2011
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Second Season 22 July 10, 2007 September 10, 2009 June 27, 2011
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Third Season 12 February 5, 2008 February 10, 2010 July 25, 2011
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series 56 September 30, 2008 April 14, 2010

A blu-ray release in Region B has been announced for March 2011.[11]

Fandom

An active fan community (self-titled "Helpers" and/or "the tunnel community") arose during the show's run, helping organize a petition drive to assure that there would be a third season.[12] They have published the usual fanzines, fan fiction and collections of filk music[13] inspired by the show, and hold various fan conventions around the world. Right now much of their activity takes place in different Yahoo Groups and websites.

References

  1. ^ a b Jay Acovone at IMDb
  2. ^ Gerard, Jeremy (November 24, 1988). "The Success of 'Beauty and the Beast'". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  3. ^ O'Connor, John J. (September 25, 1987). "TV Weekend; 'Beauty and the Beast,' on CBS". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  4. ^ O'Connor, John J. (December 20, 1989). "Television; Beast Tries to Survive Loss Of the Other Half of the Title". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  5. ^ TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever - Today's News: Our Take TV Guide: June 29, 2007
  6. ^ Stephen McHattie at IMDb
  7. ^ Gerard, Jeremy (June 1, 1989). "Fans of 'Beauty'". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  8. ^ Terri Hanauer at IMDb
  9. ^ Edward Albert at IMDb
  10. ^ Ren Woods at IMDb
  11. ^ http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/18402106/Beauty-And-The-Beast-Season-1/Product.html
  12. ^ Carlson, Timothy. "Beauty and the Beast, the Show That Wouldn't Die... And the Fans Who Wouldn't Let It." TV Guide January 13, 1990, pp. 2-6
  13. ^ Gonna Howl Tonight #6 ToC
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Fan Sites

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