Beauty and the Beast (1987 TV series)


Beauty and the Beast is an American fantasy-drama television series which first aired on CBS from September 25, 1987 to August 4, 1990. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent, a mythic, noble man-beast, and Catherine, a savvy Assistant District Attorney in New York, and a secret utopian community of social outcasts living in a subterranean sanctuary. Through an empathetic bond, Vincent senses Catherine's emotions, and becomes her guardian.

Premise

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 that transforms from her relationship to Vincent.
In the third season after the death of the character Catherine, Jo Anderson became the new female lead playing Diana Bennett, a criminal profiler investigating Catherine's murder.

Production

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's 1946 French film, La Belle et la Bête.
George R. R. Martin, who would later write the A Song of Ice and Fire book series which were later adapted into the acclaimed television series Game of Thrones, was a writer and producer on the show.
In 2004 and 2007, Beauty and the Beast was ranked #14 and #17, respectively, on TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever.

Series synopsis

Season 1

Catherine Chandler is abducted, beaten, slashed and left to die in Central Park because she was inadvertently mistaken for somebody else. She is rescued and cared for by Vincent who has taken her to Father, head of a hidden community of people dwelling in tunnels below the city of New York. Ten days later, Catherine 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. Her first action involves her asking Carol Stabler about those men who attacked her, where she states that they were part of an illegal escort service run by Martin Belmont. When Catherine is attacked by Martin Belmont's men, she is saved by Vincent, who mauls the men.
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 that 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 relationships with the inhabitants of the Tunnel World, where Catherine had finally been accepted as a friend and "Helper". More people from the World Above turned up for emotional support and healing in the secure environment of the World Below.
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. 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 as she was pregnant at the time. 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 a man named Gabriel, 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 hired Diana Bennett, 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.

Characters

Main cast

Nielsen ratings

Note: Ratings data from TVTango.com

Novelizations

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 box set featuring all 56 episodes of the series.
On 11 November 2014, CBS Home Entertainment released a repackaged version of the complete series set which featured a lower price but did not include the bonus disc that was part of the original complete series set.
Fabulous Films has released the entire series on DVD in region 2.
Shock Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in region 4.
DVD NameEp #Region 1Region 2Region 4
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete First Season2213 February 200730 May 201120 April 2009
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Second Season2210 July 200727 June 201110 September 2009
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Third Season125 February 200825 July 201110 February 2010
Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series5630 September 200825 July 201114 April 2010

A Blu-ray release in region 2 was announced for March 2011, but was canceled.

Fandom

An active fan community arose during the show's run, helping organize a petition drive to assure that there would be a third season. They have published fanzines, fan fiction and collections of filk music inspired by the show, and as of 2013 continue to hold various fan conventions around the world.

Reboot

, which owns the rights to the series, developed a reboot for the series. It was executive produced by Ron Koslow, the creator of the original, along with the earlier show's producers, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The reboot has been described as a "modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist." In the United States, it aired on The CW.
The television series starred New Zealand actor Jay Ryan as Vincent and Canadian actress Kristin Kreuk as Catherine. The pilot was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in March 2012.