From My Shelves – Beauty and the Beast

From My Shelves is a series of occasional posts that look at items from my personal collection to which I have a special attachment.

Beauty and the Beast (TV show, 1987-1990)  Before there was the Disney movie that everyone thinks of when they hear the name, there was a short-lived television series that put a more adult/romantic spin on this well-known tale.  The original story is from 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve as “La Belle et la Bête”.  It has been made into a movie at least 11 times, and has appeared on television at least 8 times, has been an opera, and a stage play.

What makes this one special is a combination of storytelling choices, style, and cast.  Linda Hamilton plays the beauty, in this case, New York Assistant District Attorney Catherine Chandler.  She is rescued after being beaten by a strange man who brings her into the secret utopian society hidden beneath the city.  Her rescuer eventually reveals himself to be a strange but beautiful lion/man named Vincent (played by Ron Perlman).  Once she is healed she is returned to the surface, promising that she will keep the secret of Vincent and his community.  As the series progresses, Catherine is struck by the nobility and inner beauty of Vincent, who would be treated as a freak in her world.

The show is a blend of romance and crime drama.  The world above is very familiar, while the one below is one of fantasy.  It wasn’t like anything up to that time.  Things like “Grimm” and “”Once Upon A Time” are the most like it today.  Intended to appeal to fans of fantasy, romance, and crime shows, it succeeds more in the first two categories.  It was something new and different and both I and my wife were fans.

Hamilton had just been made a “name” with her role in “The Terminator” three years before.  Perlman was not particularly well known.  This role would put him in the heartthrob role for his vastly expanded fan base.  It also seemed to typecast him as “the actor under the prosthetics”.  One of the writers of the series was George R.R. Martin of “Game of Thrones” fame.

The series did pretty well for two seasons, then Hamilton wanted out to have a baby.  The network started messing with the concepts and the third season saw the quality of the episodes and the ratings tank.

“Beauty and the Beast” shows its age (and budget) a bit these days.  It’s also generally written off a “chick TV”, which is a mistake.  Good writing and good acting combined with some different storytelling choices to make this some interesting watching.  The complete series is available on DVD.