Debuting on CBS in 1987, Beauty and the Beast quickly became a cult favorite, and for the next three years viewers tuned in week after week to see how the relationship between a human and a beast-man would play out.
After Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) is abducted, beaten and left for dead, she is taken by Vincent (Ron Perlman) to a secret underground community. For 10 days he cares for her, until Catherine returns to the surface with the promise to keep Vincent’s secret safe, thus securing him as her guardian. The secret? Vincent and his people are a race of mythical, noble, beast-men. How’s that for prime time drama?
While the show dealt with the obvious romantic challenges that plague all couples, Beauty and the Beast dug deeper. With a human falling in love with a beast-man, it could almost be seen as a take on racism of the day, putting aside our differences and seeing past outer beauty, to the inner strength that lay within. It’s an issue that is just as relevant now, as it was back in the 1980s. Undertones of alienation and hatred could be felt in some episodes, as well as ways in which to deal with them. While Vincent protected Catherine in a physical sense, she protected him in a mental one, when his anger about not being able to visit the world above stirred.
Beauty and the Beast didn’t just deal with relationships though. It had a good mix of action and drama, since Catherine was an Assistant District Attorney. By day she fought criminals in the courtroom and on the streets, leaving plenty of room for Vincent to come to her aid, thus solidifying him as a romantic interest in her life.
After the first season though, with ratings dropping, the producers felt it was time for the show to take on a more darker atmosphere, especially towards the end. They added more villains, and certainly a more sinister tone to the show, all in an effort to keep people hooked. The final episode of the season saw Catherine going down a tunnel to help a Vincent plagued by madness, and she didn’t even have a bag of treats with her.
Alas, all good things must come to an end though, and at the beginning of season three, Linda Hamilton announced that she would be leaving the show. Her character was kidnapped and killed, leaving Diana Bennet (Jo Anderson) to take her place. The show was never the same and ratings plummeted without the chemistry between the two main characters. It was cancelled shortly thereafter.
While Beauty and the Beast may have only lasted for three seasons, it’s one of those shows that when you ask people if they remember it, they almost always say yes. It started a career for Ron Perlman, who went on to do voice over work in Hollywood before landing the roll of Hellboy. Linda Hamilton was already a household name at the time for her role in Terminator. She went on to do Terminator 2, and has since appeared in small rolls and voice over work. If not for those two actors though, the show probably wouldn’t have even lasted one season. Their chemistry on screen was magnificent, so much so that you really believed that it was real.
For making us see that love in all aspects of our lives is possible, and for helping us to perhaps see the good in everyone, Beauty and the Beast definitely deserves the cult following it has received.
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