The Beast

Aw man, I'm so sad it was canceled - I remember it being well done and challenging and just plain entertaining. It WOULD be so wonderful if it were on DVD...I miss it, and that's several years later. Frank Langella and Naveen Andrews made this show more weighty and exotic and, yes, sexy! And Peter Reigert...just a fabulous talent I've loved since Local Hero. Darnit, the stupid fate of so many really worthy shows...it happens far too often, doesn't it? Truly, I have no idea what the heck a decent show's gotta do to get a chance these days!

By far, I most remember the last two episodes, a two-part "series" set in a fictional pseudo-Middle Eastern country, I believe.

I think I saw every show of this short lived series and I thought it was great--and had absolutely NO chance on network TV which is being devoured by reality and game shows. It had a great cast with good depth of characters and had it been given half a chance (or had been on non network TV) I think it would have found it's audience. There is little to no chance for a drama series on the networks these days...ER would have been cancelled in three airings in todays television climate. This show was DUMPED into mid summer Wednesday nights where building a new audience is difficult at best...and it was the kind of show you had to keep up with. I really liked Frank Langella's character facing his mortality, Elizabeth Mitchell and Naveen Andrews were both outstanding. There was some developement of each character==but it also seemed like they were showing episodes out of order, or skipping some, another bad plan by desperate TV executives that are under orders to make a quick buck and the hell with a quality show. I think it a horrible shame that there aren't more shows like this--The Street was another outstanding show that died quickly on the network

The plot was an independently owned news network that practiced "gonzo" journalism. Cameras were always on and showed everything going on in the newsrooms, as was the webcast. The plots were interesting, as were the characters, and the film had great texture. I didn't want to like it, from the trailers, but from the first show, was immersed completely. Also featured Peter Regert ... one of our favorites!

*The Beast* never had a chance on network television. Set the viewer down inside the studio of a cutting-edge CNN-like television station, and let us see how its inhabitants live and work by following them around with a handheld camera everywhere but to the restroom. Give us current news, like the brush-wars in small countries no one can find on a map, and have a couple of our reporters detained for interrogation. Add a killer with possible connections to the TV station. Show us how the tech people work behind the scenes. Throw in a - horrors! - interracial love story, and your show is destined to be axed after a handful of episodes. The scripting was brilliant, the acting crisp, the production values edgy, the characters fully-realized and appealing, warts and all. The weekly dilemma between what constitutes good reporting and when it's necessary to sacrifice reportorial objectivity to save people's lives was thought-provoking, the kind of thing you carry away from the hour and ruminate on the next day, and the next. A TV show that asks viewers to *think*? Didn't you guys realize that would doom you to failure?

This show premiered on ABC shortly, then was canceled due to the fact that it could not find an audience. When I watched this show for the first time, I was trying to figure out what was going on, I skipped an episode, then when I watched again I was still stumped. If they ever decide to revive this series, I wouldn't recommend you watch it except for making fun of the character that looks like, and acts like Sean Connery, but isn't him.