Review: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ The Complete Series
In 1987, television was evolving. Thanks to [[[Hill Street Blues]]], the way dramatic stories were presented became more complex, the storytelling more diverse and the stories more compressed. The subject matter was also starting to broaden, moving beyond cops, lawyers and doctors. It was just before the SF wave kicked off with [[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]] but that didn’t stop CBS from trying something a little different.
On a Friday night, September 25, 1987, audiences were treated to a different look at the classic [[[Beauty and the Beast]]] tale. The series starred Ron Perlman as Vincent, the beast, a mutant of some sort, who comes to the rescue of Linda Hamilton’s Catherine, a rich girl turned assistant district attorney. Their connection became the stuff of fairy tale and from that pilot episode, their fates became inextricable.
It had all the lush romance of a Harlequin book and the action to keep spouses by their side. The series had its ups and downs, making a star out of Hamilton who left the series after just two seasons, derailing the eternal romance. Jo Anderson was brought in for the third season but that, coupled with CBS’s insistence on increased action for the males, hurt and the series came to an end in January 1990 (although the final two were run that summer). Its 56 episodes remain a testament to the creative vision of creator Ron Koslow and fantasist George R.R. Martin who wound up penning 13 of the episodes.
Paramount Home Video has released a 16-disc box set of the complete series and it shows its age. Beauty and the Beast has the look and feel of the 1980s without fully embracing the changing storytelling in television. The storytelling is slow, almost plodding at times, and each week they seemed to focus on some new social ill without really offering long-term solutions. The threats were fairly standard stuff for the most part, intertwined with the poetry between the characters. Complete with lush music, long, lingering gazes into character’s eyes, it was truly a romance novel brought to the screen.
Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro says that his love for big burley creatures goes back to the days of Swamp Thing and the creations of Jack Kirby. How does he translate this to film and what was it like acting "with" these creatures? Hellboy stars Ron Perlman and Selma Blair relate their experiences, plus:
or 
When it comes to comic book movies this summer, most of the attention has been focused on Iron Man and The Dark Knight. What about the man with the big red fist?
Yahoo Movies
Universal Pictures has added two 
