User reviews

Corporate lawyer Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) works for her father's big law firm. She's mistakenly kidnapped and brutally slashed in the face. She's dumped in the park left for dead. Vincent (Ron Perlman) rescues her and treats her in the underground world. His 'father' Jacob Wells (Roy Dotrice) objects. She returns to the above world and joins the NYDA office. She becomes a trusted helper to the residents of the underground world and feels connected to Vincent. Joe Maxwell (Jay Acovone) is a deputy D.A.

It's a new take on the old classic. Hamilton is a compelling heroine. She has enough femininity to be romantic but also enough power to fight. The show is a bit restricted in its structure. The central relationship has one mode and cannot be changed easily. I like in particular the Gothic nature of the show. It is melodramatic at times and the romanticism gets heavy. The balance between romanticism and action is not always easy. By the second season, the balance is off. Hamilton leaves after two seasons and the show loses its raison d'être.

Can't tell you exactly why this series caught the imaginations of so many; it probably differs for each person. But this was a winner of a show in a style I've not seen since. It was fantasy, true enough, but it addressed many contemporary issues with a skill seldom seen in TV. The love story was believable, the acting was outstanding, and the minor characters were generally engaging. This was a show for romantics, and for those who believe in the power of love--not just between lovers, but between family and friends, and those whose love spills over into actions. Good fought evil in the grimy real world as well as in fantastic battles against shadowy adversaries. And for those of us who like to pretend that the unknown really is just around the corner--this was our show. Requiescat in pace.

This series was part of a pack of shows which was on in earnest during the late 1980s - Friday the 13th the Series, War of the Worlds, Werewolf, and Freddy's Nightmares to just name a few. The acting and camera style is literally identical across all of these series and the coloring of the film often portrays everything as drab and dark. It is a very good series but is often grouped into "one of those shows" which premiered in 1987 and then was cancelled by the time of the early 90s. A lot of the same actors, the same themes, and ironically most of them wound up also playing roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation with the more series players, like Hamilton and Perlman going on to roles in major films.

I was most certainly not the in the demographic this show was aimed at and I am less so now. Yet, I watched it in first run and I am now watching it on DVD. I was captivated the first time and I am again.

I am now a 58 year old married male. Maybe it was understandable to have loved the series at the end of the eighties, but now? In the eighties I was newly married and so it was excusable for me to be entranced by a fantasy romance. However, after 24 years of marriage the romance of a new marriage is long over and the work of a marriage ongoing. So, it would seem unlikely that I could be drawn in by television romance once again. No other show has done that over the years.

For me that is the magic of this series. I really don't need to analyze plot lines, sets, lighting or direction. It is simply a beautiful story. Both then and now and it still can touch my heart.

Believe it or not when I was a kid I never heard of the Fairy Tale "Beauty and the Beast" until I ran into this show. There have been so many adaptations of this classic tale throughout the years which is part of why it's so timeless. Believe it or not this is probably my favorite version since it was the first for me and still the best. It's one of my favorite TV shows of all time and live action fantasy TV shows which there are unfortunately very few of. The show is sort of a Neil Gaiman like fantasy tale since like with the author it's a fantasy that's set in modern times, which is great because it gave it an accessible feel and I don't feel modern time in the fantasy genre is tackled very much, usually most fantasy is set in either the past, an alien planet or future.

The music is great most are orchastratic tunes, I really love that theme song which I think is just beautiful, it has a romantic, haunting, and somber tone to it.

I really love the underground world that is constructed, it's uncannily similar to the world in Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere". I really love the vastness of that world, wondering what on the next turn or beyond that tunnel. It just strangely beautiful it looks like a place where anything is possible and has a great amount of mystery and depth. And from what it has and certain customs it's also one that looks kinda post medieval; it's one step in the past but also one step in our reality. I also like that there is a strong sense of community in that underground world that unfortunately the world above has yet to achieve. There is also a conflicting but indivisible dynamic between both the up and down worlds, it kinda reflects Catherine and Vincent's relationship how despite difference both worlds need each other to exist.

However what really made the show of course was the relationship between both Catherine and Vincent. The chemistry between them is just beautiful because even though it's platonic but it always gradually develops. Their interaction is just sweet, you really feel like their bonding and there are sparks flying. Whenever their in physical distance together it doesn't feel strange at all but right.

Linda Hamilton one of my favorite actresses, this is one of my favorite roles from her. The Catherine character is just beautiful inside and out. I love that she's a strong, independent, highly intellect woman. She can hold her own against danger so she's not some stereotypical damsel in distress.

Vincent played by one of my favorite actors Ron Peralman, this believe it or not is my favorite role from him. The make up work by one of my favorite make up artists Rick Baker is great. Vincent looks like he could be one of the humanoid cats in the cartoon show "Thundercats", or a mutant from the "X-Men" movies, he's practically a humanoid lion. I thought that was a great design choice because despite inhuman he's pleasant looking, I feel in a way it reflect his persona where he's a persona that isn't just strong physically but emotionally, as they says strong emotions are an untamed beast (no pun intended). You can say that the show is almost a bit of a superhero show also (I said a bit) since Vincent has became a protector of both the underground world and above ground. There is action, it's not exactly wall to wall but it's good all the same, whenever we see Vincent taking action I think it's cool, just seeing him beat the crap and go animalistic on scum that had it coming.

However what really makes his character you really like and feel pathos for. The feelings he has for Catherine are very human, which makes the show both touching and at times heart wrenching. At times you can sense he's in pain, longing and emotional acheing. Despite knowing and accepting he's an outsider you can tell he longs to be with Cathrine above ground, be like any other human being that walks the street just to be with her.

Catherine at times longs to be with him, as well as be part of the world underground despite her little understanding of it and at times still grounded in her own. In a way her going back and forth in the worlds is sort of reminiscent of the mythology of Persephone, whom grew to love Hades and his world but still loves her world.

And the show has a main villain Paracelcus played well by the late great Tony Jay, he's one of my favorite fictional villains. I remember when I was a kid this guy scared me, because he was so evil, sadistic, ruthless, had a whole scumbag army backing him up, wants to conquer both the underground and if possible above ground world. But also just wants to simply destroy everything that was innocent and beautiful just because he can. Heck that tone of his voice, I felt added to his menace, certain things he said and how he said them just gave me chills. To me Paracelcus and some of the scum from both above and below ground are the real beasts of the show. To me if you defile or take life for naught then your not truly human.

The show still retains the theme from the fairy tale, that what is inside a person is truly beautiful. But also I feel the other theme in both the show and fairy tale, is about the importance of connection and togetherness. To me part of what love is, is one always needing the other, their can never be true community if one is alone.

Just like the fairy tale, this show is timeless.

Rating: 4 stars

Dear Lord! I remember this as one of the most flawed premises for any TV show ever, and I'm including 'Home Boys In Outer Space' and 'Forever Night' and 'The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer!'

So Linda Hamilton stars as a horribly deformed... alright alright, she's not the beast in this version. She's a DA who's more like a Lois Lane or April O'Neil a reporter who's friends with a super hero.

She discovers there's an entire population living underground in NYC. No sxxx! They're the homeless! No, they're actually some type of medieval village population that's just living under NYC?

The ruler of this medieval underground kingdom is Ron Pearlman without make up. A horrible looking beast! It's role he was born to play.

The first question everyone asked about this show was, "So they're a kingdom of beasts? They're all beasts?" NO! Just Pearlman. "Why?" Oh, that's never explained! Or if it was people lost interest in the show before it was revealed. Much like the town of medieval people living happily under NYC it's never explained!

So Pearlman saves Hamilton's life and the two fall in love while solving crimes in their spare time. If this was their goal the beast shouldn't waste so much time trying to solve crimes. He could just fight crime more affectively by mauling the hundreds of thousands of muggers and drug dealers in NYC! They don't have to work to find criminals in NYC. They're everywhere!

For that matter, hasn't any homeless person ever realized, "While I've been living in the sewers there's an entire town of people living happily underground right next to me. Maybe I should move in with them."

This show if fun for a couple of, "WTF? This was an actual TV show? Someone wrote this? These actors are working with this script?" moments but gets dull after a few episodes.

Several reviewers credit this show for being "family oriented." All that means is it was made before TV got dirty. It also means their family has serious problems!

There's a reason why "Beauty and the Beast" still holds a place in its legions of fans' hearts after all these years: it's a tender, earnest, lovely little series that celebrates a love that goes beyond shallow expectations. This isn't "The O.C.", where it's only a matter of time before the bland, attractive leads jump in the sack. "Beauty and the Beast" chronicles the unique, powerful love between plucky assistant attorney Catherine (Linda Hamilton) and Vincent (spellbinding Ron Perlman), a courageous, compassionate man-beast. Because they live in two different worlds (she in the bustling world "Above", he in the secret utopia of "Below"), they cannot have a real life together, but, as Catherine assures us in the opening credits, they "will never, ever be apart". Today's jaded viewers might scoff at the fact that Catherine and Vincent never go further than hugs and hand-holding in their relationship, but you know what? Catherine and Vincent express more joy, passion, respect and love in their very first embrace in the pilot episode than all the bed-hopping in the six seasons of "Dawson's Creek". Hamilton is appealing as Catherine, making her strong and vulnerable at the same time. Perlman is unforgettable as Vincent. Unhindered by the prosthetic make-up on his face, he expresses layers of complex emotions with just his eyes. He brings warmth, integrity, and, yes, beauty to a role that even Perlman himself has said is "too good to be real". He deservedly won and Emmy and a Golden Globe. "Beauty and the Beast" is now on DVD for all to discover or re-discover the most innocent, sincere love story ever on TV.

I don't think there is any movie or series that made Linda look so beautifully stunning than in Beauty and the Beast. She was rendered simply beautiful and her acting was very reaching and touching. Ron Perlman was very masculine and ruggedly sexy under all that makeup. I am sure the two of them enjoyed themselves immensely because it translated through their performances to the viewer. I am only sorry that the series ended after only 3 seasons.

I found this show about 2 months ago while scrolling Amazon Prime and fell in love QUICK. I loved the emotions between Katherine and Vincent and was in awe at how they could love so deeply and yet not feel the need to jumo in bed together to show each other that love.. I have dragged more than one of my family memebers in to watch an episode that I just HAD to share. "Orphans" was my favorite as it touched on so many emotions I myself had when my father passed in 2009. I was not in love with Season 3 and just hold out hope that maybe there can be a new lease on the show. (Hey , I can dream, right ).I just can't get into and enjoy the re-make they did- it just was NOT my Katherine and Vincent. The show ended in what felt like was mid-season seeing as how most Seasons had 30 ish episodes and Season 3 barely hit the teens. I so rarely watch TV shows but will be gladly rewatching this one- many times I am sure.

I remember back when everyone raved about this show. I didn't get it then. Not my cup of tea, i found the episodes boring, whenever I'd catch the end of one. (Channel surfing, but never actually watched one until last week.) Well, I don't know what it is: it has great cinematography, awesome costumes (for the Beast & cohorts: the modern times clothes are dreadful, particularly Linda's!) and the music! The music is great but it's not enough to draw me in. I'm catching this at 5 AM on TV and this show puzzles me.

On one hand, I needed something new (to me) to watch. On the other, so far I find the stories still boring. It's like the show has great production values, I can see that, but the actors... are they even trying? Linda Hamilton phones in her part. Did she just despise Ron, the TDS-afflicted loon? (It was the politics, wasn't it?!) Linda is too typecast as the muscles-bound terminatorette. I just can't buy her as the 'damsel in distress'. It's just too weird! (Did she take THAT role to shed this image?)

Anyway, I want to like this show but it's hard. I like the colors. So, I read some spoilers: Linda is gone in S3. Couldn't they have hired that other actress right off the bat? I mean who cast her? Her clothes are too big, ugly, mismatched and ill-fitting. She's also not a good fit to be called a "Beauty"; sorry, but she's no Linda Evans in Great Valley or Lesley-Ann Warren in Mission Impossible. So what of it? Well, it's like they got everything right... except the actors and the stories. Ok, maybe the TDS-afflicted loon might be good, but it's all makeup and his mouth can't really move and I don't see facial expressions, so? Anyone could have played that part and done a better job. This seems to me like a 2nd rate Forever Knight, even if it started before. And what's with the whispering? Beast has to whisper most of his lines? Annoying acting choice!

I've seen 2.5 episodes so far. I hope Linda brings it. She seems disinterested. And why would the guy care about a woman whose face was all bloodied then bandaged? Makes no sense. OH!! Also the constant tapping on pipe is helluv' annoying! It's like: we get it! You want to simulate the Catacombs of Paris. But give it a rest, already. It's hurting mine ears. I mean, haven't you dispatched 17 sound telegrams today via pipes, already? So, give it a rest. Chill with the clinging and clanging already, alright!? The decor is good as well, so I guess this rises up to a 6/10. But the stories, but the acting, but the leads. Blech! I'm not understanding what there is to get into, but we'll see. Also my START TV is all blurry on my screen, so that adds to my aggravation. All in all, not a bad rating for a show that's gotten over 200 1-stars.

But really: does anyone have any good gossip about how much Linda hated Ron & vice versa? That might make a better TV show than what I'm watching at 5AM when this stuff airs. LMK!

The brilliance of this series was its romance and its excellent early stories. We could entirely believe that this could happen in New York -- except that any New Yorker would tell you that there are people far stranger than Vincent walking the streets. We were never told how he came to be as he is, but it almost didn't matter. I don't think it was any accident that he had such a feline appearance.

This series was so badly misunderstood and mishandled by its parent network that I am not surprised it lasted only two seasons. Season 3 wasn't even the same program in my book. CBS seemed terribly upset with the fact that its audience was almost entirely female. Was that why the body count of season 3 was higher than in a Bruce Willis movie?

The worst mistake CBS ever made was to let Linda Hamilton leave after two seasons. Had the network been intelligent enough, they could have talked her into a third season, ending it with the fairytale ending -- she kisses Vincent for real (something CBS was VERY afraid of, but the fans would have loved) and have him turn into a human prince. That would have given it the magical ending it deserved.

I watch this show when it first came out. I absolutely adored the fantasy, the literary history, the characters, the romance. The under ground tunnels of New York, coming from the north east side found that extremely interesting the strong woman in New York attorney also a socialite I found her character, extremely compassionate. The character Vincent is so well developed. His intellect, his compassion, I just adored and just fell in love with him just like Catherine. The feelings of romance and true love Without explicit sexual scenes reminded me of the movies from the 50s and 60s that I watched with my mom. This show is timeless. I still watch it 36 years later.

These show deserves a comeback and a continuation WITH Catherine ! One last time, Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman should act as Catherine and Vincent in front of the camera. They should give their common story THE end that truly matches their characters. And thus replace the emergency solution (Season 3)! I think that this is the wish of just too many people since the end of the series UNTIL TODAY !!

I found this show by accident one Friday night and became hooked immediately. Here was an intelligent, well-acted program for adults. It was not sexually explicit, nor gratuitously violent. It had something most TV shows do not have: Romance.

Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman were absolutely perfect together as the beautiful lawyer who lives above and Ron Perlman as the "hideous" beast whose curse is that he is ugly on the outside and who never gets a chance to reveal his inner beauty until he saves Catherine. Knowing how tormented he was because of his deformities was heart-breaking and yet he blossomed as he and Catherine found real love.

Normally, I would be pleased when an actress leaves a show to spend time with her son, as Miss Hamilton did. I'm all for women staying home to be with their children over spending time at a carer; at risk of being hopelessly old-fashioned, I believe women with children should stay home to care for them. However, in this case, it was one of her worst decisions because her marriage to the father of this child fizzled. She later had a child and then married James Cameron of "Titanic" fame, only to lose him to a star of that overblown ocean-going vehicle. She did have success with the Terminator movies but those were nothing but Schwarzenegger fests. Meanwhile B&B also suffered because they just couldn't find a woman to replace Catherine. Diana just didn't have it.

The fact that the show lasted 3 seasons (2 with Miss Hamilton) is a testament to its quality. Of course, we can't have quality on TV - there's not enough T&A, violence, or out and out stupidity (think Jessica Simpson here). But for the 3 years this show was on, it was a real Friday night Feast. And I do thank Mr. Perlman and Miss Hamilton for the years they gave us and I thank Mr. Perlman for the CD of music and poetry from the show. It's still heart-wrenchingly beautiful to listen to Vincent as he narrates works by Matthew Arnold, e.e. cummings and, of course, the King of all poetry, plays and prose, Mr. William Shakespeare.

It would be a miracle if CBS were to air a "reunion" movie but I think there will be a tropical heat wave in the South Pole before that happens. Too bad - it sure beats the stupidity of such shows as The Newlyweds, starring the aforementioned Jessica Simpson, or Reality TV, American Idol and the other slime that passes for decent television. Meanwhile, I'll be content with VHS copies of B&B or I'll wait patiently until the DVDs come out.

The beauty of this show is multidimensional. On the surface, yes, a love story between two people who fate brought together and their fight to hold onto a love that people wouldn't understand or accept. But there are so many deeper meanings to many of the episodes -- which probably played a large role in dooming the show. In order to understand these nuances you had to be willing to allow yourself to be pulled into the story, while also having a real grasp to the complexity behind the main characters. The stories, poetry and imagery used in the episodes told a story within a story; extended the story beyond the mere visual details and really gave you pause to think.

It also showed -- for those who took the time to really see -- that love isn't always about carnal desires. It showed that sometimes loving someone means that you have to give up everything. For anyone who has known what true, deep love means, they can relate to the heavy price love can exact. This wasn't a story about fly-by-night or whirlwind romance... It was about those quite moments in a loving relationship where people can just enjoy the quiet moments and be fulfilled... In many ways, it was the story of what love should be. The fact that real intimate moments between Catherine and Vincent were left to insinuation, implication, and imagination was no accident -- it was brilliant.

Unfortunately, the two main characters were so well linked with each other, that once L. Hamilton left the show there was no saving it. The way the story of Catherine and Vincent was told made it so the two characters were so completely linked that losing one would change the other so completely that the show would have to completely change around the remaining character in order for the show to survive. When Linda left, the whole premise of the show went with her because, as loyal followers of the story could attest to, Vincent could never love another. They did try to introduce another character like Catherine, but the chemistry and bond just never worked out. Plus, once father and son were reunited, it was the natural end point to the story...

This show still has a lot of followers because of the uniqueness of it. The depth of the story and complexity of those deeper meanings are so fascinating that you want to watch the episodes again and again... And you will usually come away with new tidbits, deeper understanding, things that really make you think and analyze things every time you watch some of the episodes.

I watched this series episode by episode when it first came out. I recently purchased all 3 seasons on DVD. I watched Season 1 and 2 within a week and loved every moment.

My days are again spent humming the haunting theme music as they were so many years ago. And then I started to watch Season 3, I say started because I remember feeling now as I felt then. What a disappointment the third season was. I made myself skim through it, suffice to say, the magic was gone.

Now I know why I never watched beyond the first episode of the third season.

I would highly recommend that everyone watches Seasons 1 and 2, there has never been a better series and for me, never will be.

I was newly divorced and in a place I thought I would never escape from: extreme depression. I was in a house I owned but was unemployed and semi-desperate. This show literally kept me off the cliff. Don't ask how. I don't know. I worked through that time, made local friends, and eventually found a well-paying job and met my second husband. But, most importantly, I found myself. To this day when I see Linda Hamilton in anything it brings back those years of struggle and redemption. Thanks Linda and Ron. You took me away from the real world long enough to heal and I will always think of you and remember.