Synopsis of TV Show

Beauty and the Beast combined fairy-tale-styled fantastic elements with a genuine sense of the romantic. Created by Ron Koslow, the show was set in New York City and focused on Assistant D.A. Catherine Chandler. After being brutally beaten and left for dead by a group thugs one night, she was rescued by Vincent, a man-beast with the body of a human and the face of a lion.

Vincent took her down a huge subterranean city that existed beneath New York to heal her wounds and nurse her back to health. During this time, Catherine met Father, the hermetic genius and leader of the underground city, who had raised Vincent and his underlings, Kipper and Mouse. Catherine eventually returned to the surface world, but not before falling in love with Vincent.

As the show developed, so did Catherine and Vincent’s emotional bond. Vincent developed a psychic link with Catherine, allowing him to feel her emotions and thus be able to know when she was in danger. This came in handy because her work for boss, Deputy D.A. Joe Maxwell, seemed to put her in constant danger. Catherine also spent a good deal of time in the subterranean city, where she had been accepted as an honorary member of their clan.

Beauty and the Beast developed an instant cult following but never gained the large ratings necessary to make it a hit. Linda Hamilton (Catherine) chose to leave the show after the second season, necessitating a major change in the show’s plotting. At the beginning of the third season, Catherine was murdered by Gabriel, a wealthy criminal she had been investigating for the D.A.’s office. Catherine gave birth to Vincent’s son before she died, and the child was imprisoned by Gabriel. Joe Maxwell hired Diana Bennett, a top investigator, to find Catherine’s killer. Diana’s search led her to Vincent, who teamed up with her to rescue his son and bring Gabriel to justice.

The radical changes in plotting did not boost the show’s ratings, and it was subsequently canceled in August of 1990. Although it never caught on with a mass audience, Beauty and the Beast was a noble experiment that is still treasured today by fans of the fantastic for its emphasis on the poetic.

Release History of Prime Time Show

9/25/87 - 8/25/89 CBS
12/12/89 - 1/24/90 CBS
6/9/90 - 8/4/90 CBS

TV Sub Categories

drama
sci-fi/fantasy

Television Network

CBS

Television Studio

Republic

TV Cast

Catherine Chandler (1987-89) Linda Hamilton
Vincent Ron Perlman
Father (Jacob Wells) Roy Dotrice
Deputy District Attorney Joe Maxwell Jay Acovone
Edie (1987-88) Ren Woods
Kipper (pilot only) Jason Allen
Kipper (1987-88) Cory Danziger
Mouse (1988-90) David Greenlee
Mary (1988-90) David Greenlee
Zach (1988-89) Zachary Rosencrantz
William (1988-90) Ritch Brinkley
Diana Bennett (1989-90) Jo Anderson
Gabriel (1989-90) Stephen McHattie
Elliot Burch (1987-90) Edward Albert
Mark (1989-90) Lewis Smith

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