| Beauty & the Beast | |
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| Also known as | Beauty and the Beast |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Beauty and the Beast by Ron Koslow |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Mark Isham |
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| Country of origin | United States Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 70(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
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| Running time | 40–42 minutes |
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| Original release | |
| Network | The CW |
| Release | October 11, 2012 (2012-10-11) – September 15, 2016 (2016-09-15) |
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Beauty & the Beast is ascience fictionpolice procedural television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, very loosely inspired bythe 1987 CBS series of the same name. Developed by Sherri Cooper-Landsman and Jennifer Levin, the show premiered onThe CW on October 11, 2012, and ended its four season-run on September 15, 2016.[1]Kristin Kreuk andJay Ryan star in the title roles alongsideAustin Basis,Nina Lisandrello,Nicole Gale Anderson,Sendhil Ramamurthy,Max Brown,Brian J. White,Amber Skye Noyes, and Michael Roark.
Catherine Chandler witnessed her mother's murder and was almost killed herself until someone—or something—saved her. After nine years, now working as a detective for the NYPD, a case leads her to Vincent Keller, an ex-soldier believed to have been killed in action during military service, who is actually alive. As Catherine comes to know him, she finds out more about her mother's murder and about who—and what—Vincent really is.
"What's beauty and what's beast? There are both of those things in all of us."
The CW officially began developing the series in September 2011. The project was described as "a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist," unlike the original series which was a romantic drama with mystery and suspense elements. The show is the first project thatMark Pedowitz developed when he joined the network.[3]
The network ordered a pilot of the series in January 2012.[4] The pilot of the show was filmed inToronto, Canada from March 22 to April 2, 2012.[5] It was picked up by The CW on May 11, 2012, and was scheduled to premiere during the2012–13 television season.[6] Filming of the first season continued in Toronto from July 27 and production on the thirteenth episode was completed on December 21, 2012.[7] On November 9, 2012, a full season was ordered.[8] On April 26, 2013,Beauty & the Beast was renewed for a second season.[9] Filming ofBeauty & the Beast was split betweenNew York City, NY and Toronto from the second season. On May 8, 2014,Beauty & the Beast was renewed for a third season.[10] Filming on season three commenced on August 29, 2014,[11] and ended on February 12, 2015.[12] On February 13, 2015, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season, before the third season began airing.[13] On October 13, 2015, it was announced that the upcoming fourth season would be its last.[14] Filming of the fourth and final season began on May 29, 2015 and ended on November 17, 2015.[15] The final season premiered on June 2, 2016, before concluding on September 15, 2016.[16]
Casting announcements began in February 2012, whenKristin Kreuk was first cast in the lead role of Catherine Chandler.[17] Austin Basis was then cast in the role of J.T. Forbes, Vincent's best friend.[18]Nina Lisandrello andNicole Gale Anderson were then added to the cast, with Lisandrello landing the role of Tess Vargas, Catherine's partner and best friend. Anderson signed on to the recurring role of Heather Chandler, Catherine's younger sister.[19]Jay Ryan joined the series in the second lead role, Vincent Keller (the character was originally called Vincent Koslow, though in the original series, Vincent had no last name).[20]Max Brown signed on for the role of Dr. Evan Marks, a medical examiner who has feelings for Catherine.[21]Brian White was the last actor to sign onto the series. White joined in the role of Joe Bishop, Catherine and Tess' commanding officer at the NYPD, who becomes romantically involved with Tess. White's character of Joe Bishop was not included in the second season of the series; the story line was that Bishop lost his job because he focused too much attention on finding the killer of his brother instead of performing his duties.[22]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 22 | October 11, 2012 (2012-10-11) | May 16, 2013 (2013-05-16) | |
| 2 | 22 | October 7, 2013 (2013-10-07) | July 7, 2014 (2014-07-07) | |
| 3 | 13 | June 11, 2015 (2015-06-11) | September 10, 2015 (2015-09-10) | |
| 4 | 13 | June 2, 2016 (2016-06-02) | September 15, 2016 (2016-09-15) | |
Beauty & the Beast has received mixed reviews from critics. Thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reported a 19% and 83% critics' approval ratings for seasons one and two respectively, and overall ratings of 51% and 76% from critics and audiences respectively. The website's consensus limited to the first season reads, "A thoroughly middling romantic fantasy series,Beauty and the Beast suffers from a silly premise, mediocre writing, and bland characterization."[23] The series has a 34 out of 100weighted average score onMetacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews from 20 critics.[24] Kyle Anderson ofEntertainment Weekly gave the pilot ofBeauty & the Beast a C− grade, stating that it lacks the same charm that the 1980s drama had, and that 'The Beast' is more of aHulk rather than an actual beast.[25]David Wiegand of theSan Francisco Chronicle called the series an "overheated, badly written, wretchedly acted and unconvincing drama, which makes mincemeat out of the traditionalbeauty and the beast fairy tale."[26] Mary McNamara of theLos Angeles Times also made similar observations but praised Nina Lisandrello who still remains as the only cast member in the show to ever receive a positive review. About Lisandrello, McNamara wrote "the only point of light is provided by Catherine's partner, Tess, who, as played with great common-sense appeal by Nina Lisandrello, clearly deserves to be on a better show."[27] More mixed but slightly favorable reviews were provided by David Hinckley of theNew York Daily News, who said the series was "such a natural it's downright devilish"[28] and Neil Genzlinger ofThe New York Times, who stated the "girl-power themes will probably play well to the network's core audience."[29]
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | No. of episodes | Premiered | Ended | TV season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Premiere viewers (in millions) | Date | Finale viewers (in millions) | ||||||
| 1 | Thursday 9 p.m. | 22 | October 11, 2012 (2012-10-11) | 2.78[30] | May 16, 2013 (2013-05-16) | 1.26[31] | 2012–2013 | #138 | 1.78[32] |
| 2 | Monday 9 p.m. | 22 | October 7, 2013 (2013-10-07) | 0.86[33] | July 7, 2014 (2014-07-07) | 0.76[34] | 2013–2014 | #171 | 1.24[35] |
| 3 | Thursday 8 p.m. | 13 | June 11, 2015 (2015-06-11) | 0.88[36] | September 10, 2015 (2015-09-10) | 0.76[37] | 2014–2015 | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | Thursday 9 p.m. | 13 | June 2, 2016 (2016-06-02) | 0.83[38] | September 15, 2016 (2016-09-15) | 0.70[39] | 2015–2016 | N/A | N/A |
The show has been honored with acknowledgements from thePeople's Choice Awards,Teen Choice Awards andSaturn Awards as well as theLeo Awards,Canadian Screen Awards, theAmerican Society of Cinematographers, theCanadian Society of Cinematographers and theDirectors Guild of Canada.
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipients |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Nominated | E! Golden Remote Award | New Fall Show You're Most Excited For | Beauty & the Beast |
| 2013 | Won | People's Choice Award | Favorite New TV Drama | Beauty & the Beast |
| Nominated | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Show: Fantasy/Sci-Fi | Beauty & the Beast | |
| Nominated | Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi | Kristin Kreuk | ||
| Nominated | Saturn Award | Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television | Beauty & the Beast | |
| 2014 | Won | People's Choice Award | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show | Beauty & the Beast |
| Won | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | Kristin Kreuk | ||
| Nominated | ASC Award | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in One-Hour Episodic Television Series | David Greene ("Tough Love") | |
| Nominated | Leo Award | Best Direction in a Dramatic Series | Steven A. Adelson ("Any Means Possible") | |
| Nominated | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Kristin Kreuk | |
| Nominated | DGC Craft Award | Direction - Television Series | Rick Roseenthal ("Partners in Crime") | |
| 2015 | Won | People's Choice Award | Favorite Network Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show | Beauty & the Beast |
| Won | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | Kristin Kreuk | ||
| Nominated | CSC Award | Best Cinematography in a TV Series | David A. Makin | |
| Nominated | Canadian Screen Award | Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Fiction Program or Series | Cheryl Dorsey, Peter Emmink, Doug McCullough ("Déjà Vu") | |
| Nominated | DGC Craft Award | Production Design - TV Series | Doug McCullough ("Déjà Vu") | |
| 2016 | Won | People's Choice Award | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show | Beauty & the Beast |
| Nominated | Canadian Screen Award | Best Visual Effects | Robert Vandenhoek | |
| Nominated | Achievement in Visual Effects | Jeff Skochko | ||
| 2017 | Nominated | Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award | TV series Cinematography | David A. Makin ("Monsieur et Madame Bête") |
TVGN aired the first four episodes of the second season of the show back to back from May 11, 2014. This was the firstsyndication style broadcast of the show in the United States. The first four seasons have also been released to stream onNetflix in some regions[40] and made available to purchase oniTunes. In 2019Start TV began airing the show in the 5 a.m.ET/PT slot.[41]
A series of tie-in novels, written byNancy Holder, have been published throughTitan Books.
| Book | Title | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vendetta | November 25, 2014 |
| 2 | Some Gave All | March 31, 2015 |
| 3 | Fire at Sea | May 31, 2016 |
| Name | Release dates | Ep # | Additional information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
| The First Season | October 1, 2013 | March 10, 2014 | April 23, 2014 | 22 |
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| The Second Season | May 19, 2015 | March 9, 2015 | December 3, 2015 | 22 |
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| The Third Season | May 10, 2016 | March 14, 2016 | June 2, 2016 | 13 |
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| The Fourth Season | December 6, 2016 | March 13, 2017 | May 7, 2017 | 13 |
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| The Complete Series | May 30, 2017[42] | 70 |
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