Beauty and the Beast (TV series)
405405
226124520
2008-07-16T22:40:41Z
71.187.227.104
{{for|other uses|Beauty and the Beast (disambiguation)}}
{{infobox television |
| show_name = Beauty and the Beast
| image = [[Image:Hamilton-perlman-BandB.jpg]]
| caption = Pictured: [[Linda Hamilton]] (Catherine), [[Ron Perlman]] (Vincent)
| format = Drama, romance
| runtime = approx. 48 minutes (per episode)
| creator = Ron Koslow
| starring = [[Linda Hamilton]]<br>[[Ron Perlman]]<br>[[Roy Dotrice]]<br>[[Jay Acovone]]<ref>{{imdb name|0010264|Jay Acovone}}</ref>
| executive producers = Ron Koslow, [[Paul Junger Witt|Paul Junger Witt,]] [[Tony Thomas (producer)|Tony Thomas]] and Stephen Kurzfield.
| writers include = Alex Ganza, [[Howard Gordon|Howard Gordon,]] David Pekinpah, and [[George R. R. Martin]].
| music by = </ref>http://www.leeholdridge.com|Lee Holdridge</ref> and [[Don Davis (composer)|Don Davis]]
| country = {{USA}}
| network = [[CBS]]
| first_aired = [[September 25]], [[1987]]
| last_aired = [[August 4]], [[1990]]
| num_seasons = 3
| num_episodes = 56
| imdb_id = 0092319
| tv_com_id = 297
|}}
'''''Beauty and the Beast''''' is an [[United States|American]] [[television 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 city|New York]]; and a secret Utopian community of social outcasts living in a wondrous world beneath the city, a sanctuary where Vincent is protected and loved. Through an empathic bond connecting Vincent and Catherine, he is able to sense her emotions, and comes to be her protector as well as the man she loves beyond all measure. The series follows the developing relationship between these two and nicely fleshes out the underground world of labyrinth tunnels, mystical waterfalls, and people who have come together to form a loving and nurturing family. 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 former life the one transformed by their love of each other.
Vincent's makeup was devised by veteran [[Hollywood]] makeup artist [[Rick Baker]].
In the third season, after the death of Catherine, [[Jo Anderson]]<ref>{{imdb name|0026910|Jo Anderson}}</ref> became the new female lead, playing Diana Bennet, a police woman investigating Catherine's murder.
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]] [[France|French]] film of 1946, ''[[Beauty and the Beast (1946 film)|La Belle et la Bête]]''.
==Series Synopsis==
===Season 1===
When Catherine Chandler is 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|District attorney.]]
During the course of the first season, the production team fashioned an almost hypnotically compelling 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 [[Nielsen Ratings|ratings]], the action orientation returned as a result of the misleadings of the recurrent [[villain]] Paracelsus ([[Tony Jay]]). (''See also:'' [[Personality development|Personality]]). In a [[cliff hanger]] 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. 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 an exciting resolution to the previous season's cliff-hanger, Catherine rescued Vincent from his inner demons but was kidnapped by Gabriel (played by [[Stephen McHattie]]<ref>{{imdb name|0570385|Stephen McHattie}}</ref>), 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 Acavone]]) 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 astonishingly popular with its dedicated fans (mostly women), 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 cancellation.
==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. Chamber Music
*24. Remember Love
*25. Ashes, Ashes
*26. Dead of Winter
*27. God Bless the Child
*28. Sticks and Stones
*29. A Fair and Perfect Knight
*30. Labyrinths
*31. Brothers
*32. A Gentle Rain
*33. The Outsiders
*34. Orphans
*35. Arabesque
*36. When the Bluebird Sings
*37. The Watcher
*38. A Distant Shore
*39. Trial
*40. A Kingdom by the Sea
*41. The Hollow Men
*42. What Rough Beast
*43. Ceremony of Innocence
*44. The Rest is Silence
===Season 3===
*45. Though Lovers be Lost, Part 1
*46. Though Lovers be Lost, Part 2
*47. Walk Slowly
*48. Nevermore
*49. Snow
*50. Beggar's Comet
*51. A Time to Heal
*52. In the Forests of the Night
*53. Chimes at Midnight
*54. Invictus
*55. The Reckoning
*56. Legacies
==Cast==
===The "World Above"===
*'''Catherine Chandler''' ([[Linda Hamilton]])
*'''Joe Maxwell''' ([[Jay Acovone]]<ref>{{imdb name|0010264|Jay Acovone}}</ref>) - a Deputy District Attorney for the Borough of Manhattan, and Catherine's immediate superior in the office.
*'''Jenny Aronson''' ([[Terri Hanauer]]<ref>{{imdb name|0359289|Terri Hanauer}}</ref>) - Friend of Catherine's.
*'''Elliot Burch''' ([[Edward Albert]]<ref>{{imdb name|0001902|Edward Albert}}</ref>) - A self-made millionaire and New York building developer, who is in love with Catherine.
*'''Charles Chandler''' ([[John McMartin]]) - Catherine's father.
*'''Edie''' ([[Ren Woods]]<ref>{{imdb name|0940758|Ren Woods}}</ref>) (Season 1) - Works in the computer division of the DA's office.
*'''Diana Bennett''' ([[Jo Anderson]]) (Season 3) - Diana is a [[Offender profiling|criminal profiler]] with the "210 Division" of the [[New York City Police Department|New York Police Department]], which investigates unusual cases beyond the scope of the normal police, called to investigate Catherine's murder.
*'''Gabriel''' ([[Stephen McHattie]]) (Season 3) - A highly-influential [[crime boss]] and the biggest drug trafficker on the East Coast, responssible for Catherine's death.
===The "World Below"===
*'''Vincent''' ([[Ron Perlman]])
- Vincent's true nature is not explicitly stated in the story. Physically, he is a man of extremely large build; however, he differs from human norms in that he possesses the facial characteristics of a [[lion]], as well as fanged teeth. His fingers are tipped with claws that can leave deep wounds when he attacks. When angered, Vincent emits a feline growl, and when fully roused emits loud roars. He often wears a large cloak about his shoulders, so as not to attract attention while walking the city streets. He is also seen to wear (at more festive or formal occasions) a costume somewhat similar to an 18th century gentleman's formal dress. His parentage is initially unknown; as child, Father tells him that he was found abandoned as a baby in the garbage behind Saint Vincent's Hospital and brought to Father, who drew his name from the location. In later episodes, the adult Vincent learns that Paracelsus performed evil experiments on Paracelsus' wife, experiments which created Vincent and a very unnatural birth, which caused the death of Vincent's mother. Nursed to health by Father and the early Tunnel community, he was raised with the other children of the Tunnels. He has twice suffered from attacks of madness or some other mental aggravation, which resulted in his withdrawing into his more animal nature: once as an adolescent, and the second some two to 2-1/2 years after meeting Catherine.
*'''Father''' ([[Roy Dotrice]])- Jacob Wells was an English-born physician who worked for the United States government during 1950s. When he spoke out against certain activities, he was [[blacklist]]ed , fired from his job and saw his license to practice medicine stripped from him. Unable to find new work and abandoned by his wife, he wandered alone and homeless until his finding sanctuary in the Tunnel community. Following the power struggle between John Pater and Wells, Pater was ejected beyond the "boundaries" and Wells declared their titular leader. Today, Father, as he became known, is loved and respected as the patriarch of the Tunnel world.
*'''Mouse''' ([[David Greenlee]]) - A child taken in by the World Below. Painfully shy following some traumatic incident, he is completely withdrawn and was unable to even speak. He is something of a genius, able to scavenge (or steal), dismantle and reassemble (usually), just about anything, as well as create functional equipment out of what others would consider hopeless junk.
*'''Mary''' ([[Ellen Geer]]) - An older woman who acts almost as a second in command; in a way, a mother to Jacob's "Father". It is revealed she is in love with him, but thought it was "selfish to have him all to [her]self." She apparently has medical training, as she is shown delivering a baby and tending to the ill several times in the series.
*'''Pascal''' ([[Armin Shimerman]]) - A member of Vincents inner circle of friends. Pascal listens to people talking through the pipes in the underground. Pascal is soft spoken and offers words of wisdom to friends.
*'''Winslow''' ([[James Avery]]) - One of the most influential members of the underground community, he is also very hot tempered as well and sometimes allows his anger to overcome his good judgment. In Shades Of Grey, when Father and Vincent are trapped in a collapsed cave, Winslow leads what he thinks is a rescue effort and refuses to hear other ideas. In To Reign In Hell, when Katherine is kidnapped, Winslow and Pascal join Vincent in trying to find her. However, when Paracelsus' minion, a giant, attacks Vincent, and when trying to save him, Winslow is killed. Vincent and Pascal hold a small memorial for their fallen comrade.
*'''Paracelsus''' ([[Tony Jay]]) - John Pater was a scientist and former friend of Father's who helped organize the Tunnel World, but desired power for himself. Father describes him as a "philosopher, scientist, magician" and says that much of what the tunnel-dwellers have created below, they owe to Pater.[http://www.tv.com/beauty-and-the-beast/the-alchemist/episode/9399/summary.html <sup>1</sup>] After his exile beyond the boundaries (see above) and an accident (caused during a confrontation with Vincent) that horribly scarred his face with burns, he took the name [[Paracelsus]] (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.
*''Beauty and the Beast'' by [[Barbara Hambly]] - October 1989 ISBN 0-380-75795-8, a novelization and expanding of the pilot episode
*''Masques'' by Ru Emerson - September 1990 ISBN 0-380-76194-7, a novelization of the episodes [[Arabesque]], [[Masques]] and [[The Watcher]]
*''Song of Orpheus'' by [[Barbara Hambly]] - November 1990 ISBN 0-380-75798-2, a novelization of the episodes [[Fever]], "Song of Orpheus" and [[Shades of Grey]]
*[[WaRP Graphics]] also published two graphic novels based on the series.
==DVD Releases==
On [[February 13]], [[2007]] [[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]/[[CBS Home Entertainment|CBS DVD]] released the first season of ''Beauty and the Beast'' on DVD in Region 1. Season 2 was released on [[July 10]], [[2007]] and the third and final season was released on [[February 5]] [[2008]] [http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Beauty-Beast-Season-3-Box-Art/8406]
{| class="wikitable"
! DVD Name !! Ep # !! Release Date
|-
|Beauty and the Beast: The Complete First Season || 22 || [[February 13]], [[2007]]
|-
| Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Second Season || 22 || [[July 10]], [[2007]]
|-
| Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Third Season || 12 || [[February 5]] [[2008]]
|}
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Beauty and the Beast (TV)}}
===Sites of Authority===
*{{imdb title|id=0092319|title=Beauty and the Beast}}
*{{Tv.com show|id=297|title=Beauty and the Beast}}
===Fan Sites===
*[http://www.classicalliance.net/ Classic Alliance of Beauty and the Beast]
*[http://www.beautyandthebeast-tv.com/winterfest/greathall/ Winterfest Online]
*[http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=TunnelRing;action=list Beauty and the Beast Tunnel Ring]
*[http://www.batbland.com/con08/ A Life Without Limits II - Beauty and the Beast 2008 convention]
*[http://batb2007.podshow.com/ "Beauty and the Beast: 20 Years of Remembering" - An online documentary]
[[Category:1987 television series debuts]]
[[Category:1990 television series endings]]
[[Category:1980s American television series]]
[[Category:CBS network shows]]
[[Category:Fantasy television series]]
[[Category:Television series by CBS Paramount Television]]
[[fr:La Belle et la Bête (série télévisée)]]
[[it:La bella e la bestia (serie televisiva)]]
[[sv:Skönheten och odjuret (TV-serie)]]
[[zh:侠胆雄狮]]