"Beauty and the Beast"

1987-1990

-created by ron koslow

Perhaps you missed this entirely during its first run...and then the Disney version came out, forever tainting this series with guilt-by-association saccharine lameness (not that the two productions were connected in any way other than source material). If so, that's a shame. I wanted to dislike this series, but couldn't. The quality of the acting, production values, and yes, even the writing(!) is too conspicuous to be denied.

Set in modern Manhattan, the series creates a hidden world-under-the-city, where outcasts and idealists live free from the cultural sicknesses above. A noble, gentle lion man (ron perlman - HELLBOY, STAR TREK: NEMESIS), whose origins are never explained, protects the world below while becoming romantically embroiled with catherine (linda hamilton - TERMINATOR, RESIDENT ALIEN), a crusading district attorney from above.

The makeup and sets are so well done that you never question the reality of this world. The writing occasionally startles you with gritty darkness and nuanced complexity, perhaps due in large part to primary contributor george r.r. martin (GAME OF THRONES, HOUSE OF THE DRAGON). Martin is the real deal, in case that was in doubt.

The supporting cast is top-notch, particularly roy dotrice (AMADEUS, HELLBOY 2), jay acovone (STARGATE: SG1, CROCODILE DUNDEE IN LOS ANGELES), edward albert (BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE, POWER RANGERS TIME FORCE), tony jay (TIME BANDITS, TWIN PEAKS), armin shimerman (STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, BOSTON LEGAL), and jo anderson (JFK, SISTERS), who had the deeply thankless job of replacing linda in the final season, when catherine was killed off because linda was having a baby. But even the final season is far from awful.