Beauty & the Beast (2012 TV series)

Beauty & the Beast is a science fiction police procedural television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, very loosely inspired by the 1987 CBS series of the same name. Developed by Sherri Cooper-Landsman and Jennifer Levin, the show premiered on The CW on October 11, 2012, and ended its four season-run on September 15, 2016.[1] Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan star in the title roles alongside Austin Basis, Nina Lisandrello, Nicole Gale Anderson, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Max Brown, Brian J. White, Amber Skye Noyes, and Michael Roark.

Beauty & the Beast
Also known asBeauty and the Beast
Genre
Based onBeauty and the Beast
by Ron Koslow
Developed by
  • Sherri Cooper-Landsman
  • Jennifer Levin
Starring
Theme music composerMark Isham
Composers
  • Jim Guttridge
  • Sean Hosein
  • Claude Foisy
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes70 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Michael Maschio
  • Thom Pretak
  • Roger Grant
  • Kevin Lafferty
  • Mairzee Almas
Production locations
Cinematography
  • D. Gregor Hagey
  • David A. Makin
  • David Greene
  • Bruce Chun
  • Theo van de Sande
Editors
  • Padraic McKinley
  • Jim Towne
  • Juan Garcia
  • Monty DeGraff
  • Terrell Clegg
  • Robert Ivison
  • Sunny Hodge
  • John Peter Bernardo
  • Fred Peterson
  • Stan Salfas
  • Aaron Rottinghaus
Running time40–42 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkThe CW
ReleaseOctober 11, 2012 (2012-10-11) –
September 15, 2016 (2016-09-15)
Related

Plot

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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.

Cast and characters

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Development

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Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper-Landsman promoting the show at Comic-Con

"What's beauty and what's beast? There are both of those things in all of us."

Sherri Cooper-Landsman, executive producer[2]

Conception

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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 that Mark Pedowitz developed when he joined the network.[3]

Production

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The network ordered a pilot of the series in January 2012.[4] The pilot of the show was filmed in Toronto, 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 the 2012–13 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 of Beauty & the Beast was split between New 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

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Casting announcements began in February 2012, when Kristin 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 and Nicole 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]

Episodes

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SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
122October 11, 2012 (2012-10-11)May 16, 2013 (2013-05-16)
222October 7, 2013 (2013-10-07)July 7, 2014 (2014-07-07)
313June 11, 2015 (2015-06-11)September 10, 2015 (2015-09-10)
413June 2, 2016 (2016-06-02)September 15, 2016 (2016-09-15)

Reception

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Beauty & the Beast has received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten 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 100 weighted average score on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews from 20 critics.[24] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly gave the pilot of Beauty & the Beast a C− grade, stating that it lacks the same charm that the 1980s drama had, and that 'The Beast' is more of a Hulk rather than an actual beast.[25] David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle called the series an "overheated, badly written, wretchedly acted and unconvincing drama, which makes mincemeat out of the traditional beauty and the beast fairy tale."[26] Mary McNamara of the Los 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 the New York Daily News, who said the series was "such a natural it's downright devilish"[28] and Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times, who stated the "girl-power themes will probably play well to the network's core audience."[29]

Ratings

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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

Awards and nominations

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The show has been honored with acknowledgements from the People's Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards and Saturn Awards as well as the Leo Awards, Canadian Screen Awards, the American Society of Cinematographers, the Canadian Society of Cinematographers and the Directors Guild of Canada.

Accolades for Beauty & the Beast
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")

Broadcast

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TVGN aired the first four episodes of the second season of the show back to back from May 11, 2014. This was the first syndication style broadcast of the show in the United States. The first four seasons have also been released to stream on Netflix in some regions[40] and made available to purchase on iTunes. In 2019 Start TV began airing the show in the 5 a.m. ET/PT slot.[41]

Tie-ins

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Novels

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A series of tie-in novels, written by Nancy Holder, have been published through Titan Books.

Book Title Release date
1 Vendetta November 25, 2014
2 Some Gave All March 31, 2015
3 Fire at Sea May 31, 2016

DVD releases

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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
  • Features
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Gag Reel
    • Season in Review: The Beginning
    • Dressing the Beauty
    • Creating the Beast
    • Commentary on "Pilot"
The Second Season May 19, 2015 March 9, 2015 December 3, 2015 22
  • Features
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Gag Reel
    • Season in Review: The Beast is Back
    • From Script to Screen: Creating an Episode
    • Set Tour: The Gentleman's Club
The Third Season May 10, 2016 March 14, 2016 June 2, 2016 13
  • Features
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Gag Reel
    • Season In Review: The Beast Strikes Again
    • A Day In The Life Of The Writers' Room
The Fourth Season December 6, 2016 March 13, 2017 May 7, 2017 13
  • Features
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Gag Reel
    • Season In Review: Farewell to the Beast
    • Closing a Chapter – A Fond Farewell
The Complete Series May 30, 2017[42] 70
  • Features
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Gag Reel

References

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  2. ^ Byrne, Craig (July 29, 2012). "Interview: Sherri Cooper & Jennifer Levin Talk About The CW's Beauty And The Beast". KSite TV.
  3. ^ "The CW Developing its Own 'Beauty and the Beast'". The Hollywood Reporter. September 15, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  4. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2012-01-18). "The CW Gives Pilot Orders To 'Arrow', 'The Carrie Diaries' & 'Beauty And The Beast'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  5. ^ Gamei, Tariq (March 22, 2012). "CW pilots — Filming dates (Spoilers)". SpoilerTV.com. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
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  7. ^ "Productions currently filming in Toronto" (PDF). Toronto Film and Television Office. October 19, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
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  9. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (April 26, 2013). "'Hart of Dixie' & 'Beauty and the Beast' Renewed by The CW + 'The Originals' Ordered to Series". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  10. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 8, 2014). "Beauty and the Beast, The 100 and Hart of Dixie Renewed by The CW". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "Day One of 301 in the can. This is the script!". Twitter. August 29, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
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  24. ^ "Beauty and the Beast (2012)". Metacritic. October 11, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
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  27. ^ McNamara, Mary (October 11, 2012). "Review: This 'Beauty and the Beast' isn't such a beaut". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
  28. ^ Hinckley, David (October 11, 2012). "TV Review: 'Beauty and the Beast'". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  29. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (October 9, 2012). "Castaways Gain New Leases on Lives of Promise". The New York Times. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
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  34. ^ Bibel, Sara (July 9, 2014). "Monday Final Ratings: 'MasterChef' Adjusted Up; '24: Live Another Day' &'American Ninja Warrior' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  35. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  40. ^ O'Neil, Lorena (December 15, 2014). "Here Are the Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in January". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  41. ^ "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - EVERY DAY AT 5 AM PACIFIC/EASTERN". starttv.com. Start TV LLC. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  42. ^ Lambert, David (27 March 2017). "'Beauty and the Beast' - Studio Confirms 'The Complete Series' DVD Set; Provides Package Art; Available in stores from CBS/Paramount at the end of May". TVShowsOnDVD. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017.
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