The Beast

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.

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!

It's a shame this excellent show never got the viewers or number of episodes that it deserved. Amid the many lawyer, cop, and medical dramas this show, about a news station that reported stories and angles that other stations wouldn't report, was a refreshing change. The title, "The Beast", refers to the news station where the show is set. The station reports on news stories different from those the established stations run, and when the news gets slows they live broadcast from the cameras set up throughout the station. While the series was only allowed to run six episodes (the second which was not shown on TV), it quickly established interesting and compelling characters and plot lines. Perhaps part of the reason the show didn't get the numbers it needed to stay on the air was due to it's serial nature, where if you missed an episode or two it made difficult to follow some of continuing story lines. "The Beast" is an interesting and engaging show that I highly recommend.

*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?

One of the best shows to air in ages and they ax it! Go figure... It would have been a hit for sure given even a slight chance. Realty TV seems to be "in", yet could you get more real than this? Superb cast & writing!