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A second Beauty and the Beast project is entering the fray this development season, this time based on the cult 1980s series starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman, our sister site TVLine reports. CBS has the rights to the original series, and a Beauty and the Beast reboot was the first new project new CW president Mark Pedowitz and CBS TV Studios president David Stapf discussed after Pedowitz took the reins of the network in late spring. Described as modern day romantic love story with a procedural twist, the new Beauty and the Beast will be written by Jennifer Levin (Without A Trace) and Sherri Cooper (Brothers and Sisters), who will executive produce with the creator of the original series Ron Koslow, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas’ Witt/Thomas Prods., which co-produced the 1980s series, and Bill Haber. The other Beauty and the Beast drama project in development for next season, which is set at ABC, is a re-imagening of the the public domain French classic fairy tale.
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Dear Hollywood please stop raping the 80′s.
I know they had bad clothes and the music was 50/50 but movies & TV were alright and don’t need to be revisited to freakin’ soon.
On the other hand maybe all this loot & plundering means Gremlins 3 might finally see the light of day.
The original 1980′s tv show was actually pretty well written. The only way this new tv show will make it is all dependent on really good writing and background music (similar to the 1980′s version). But no, this ain’t gonna happen, so whatever, I don’t care anymore.
Ron Perlman did a great job acting in it as well as everyone else in the show.
I AGREE!!!!
I so enjoyed that show. Hope if this new one does come out it will do the old Beauty and the Beast justice cause I sure would hate to be disappointed
Who is this generation of automatons that cannot create an original idea? Is it really that hopeless?
Seriously, Mark pedowitz needs to stop listening to the Ostroffers at the CW and start developing ideas on his own for new shows that could make this network successful, INSTEAD of the laughing stock that it is now. Idea here si to come up with fresh ideas..not retreaded junk from the 1980s. Come on Mark! Get with the program!
I hate to be blunt – but CW has not had a hit since it was WB.
Dawsons Creek, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls and (hard to say without tearing up…) Felicity were amazing shows that really captured an audience.
CW needs to stop trying so hard to be “cool” and perhaps focus on programming that might actually attract an audience. Having ratings on par with MTV is nothing to be proud of…
The WB should never have merged with UPN. They had a solid branding with high production value and appeal across many demographic groups. They truly felt like they were trying to be a real television network, and not an overgrown syndication package like CW and UPN seem(ed), and MyNetworkTV is. Yeah, they got a few good shows out of the deal (especially “Veronica Mars”) but they lost much more than they gained.
The CW should look back at The WB for how to program, brand, and promote a network. Programs like “H8R” and retreads of much loved 80′s series are *not* how to do it.
“Having ratings on par with MTV is nothing to be proud of…” Jersey Shore gets 8 million viewers. The CW would kill for that.
It’s called The Vampire Diaries…maybe you know it.is that little show that sweeps all the awards,has amazing ratings for a cw show and everyone calls it a BIG HIT!!!
“…has amazing ratings for a cw show…”
it’s at about 3 million, right? being a hit for the CW does not make it a hit when compared to other networks.
hello! Buffy and Angel! Those were the best. And the WB would have been nothing without Buffy.
The 80′s show was on cable last year. This will be a hard show to recreate and a so called up scale reboot will take serious time. SINCE THE PRODUCTION VALUES/LOOK OF THE 80′S SHOW IS BETTER THAN MOST SHOWS TODAY.
The only way this show could get justice is if they gave it the big screen treatment. I was hoping for a movie.
KNIGHT RIDER AND V FAILED because the producers underestimated the previous shows. The original V had way more action and set pieces than the reboot. The car from the original Knight Rider crashed through a private jet, jumped over a truck, crashed through a brick wall and etc etc. When the pilot for the “NEW” car only reflected bullets and that was IT. The reboot was a joke. STUPIDDDDDDD!
Beauty and The Beast will be even a harder remake since it not only had motion picture production quality, but it also had well written romantic dialogue. I think I saw several websites quoting Vincent’s poetic words form the original show.
Let the creators of the original series have creative control since they were on a motion picture level while making Beauty and the Beast. Don’t lower the production quality.
IF THE ABC DOES NOT LEARN FROM THE REBOOTS OF V AND KNIGHT RIDER THAN THEY ARE DUMB AND SHOULD BE BANNED FROM TV. Seriously it’s getting old when people are to conceded to watch the original pilots and entire original series to learn what they have to live up to. Do your homework.
BTW, Stan Winston created the original Beast makeup. That’s how high the quality of every part of the original shows production was.
Without a Trace and Brothers and Sisters are great shows. But, they are not even on the same level as the original show that had motion picture production quality and scripts. Each episode was like a movie. Again, give the original show creators creative input and HUGE creative input. Just because you are younger producers and writers doesn’t mean squat. Steven Spielberg succeeded in the the 80′s and he’s still succeeding better than all the younger film makers today.
D-Bag egos are what made the other reboots second rate versions of the originals from the 80′s.
Yeah, there’s not much to say except this is a really, really bad idea.
Now all we need is Dynasty, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest and Charles In Charge.
HEY DO NOT FORGET ABOUT DALLAS. I STILL LOVE TO HATE JR
If I’m not mistaken that show aired on CBS back in the 80′s and it had very high production values. How are they going to do this on a CW budget?
This development team has gotta go… As bad as MTV, only more expensive.
Not only was the show a very original, adventurous and romantic take on the classic story — with a great cast, visuals, music, the works — but it was written and produced by George R.R. Martin — uh, “Game of Thrones” anyone…? So, he’s obviously still at the top of his game… and the new show will be “tweened” up — oh, but the procedural element is supposed to make it work better? It already had a TIMELESS quality to it…
Isn’t it strange that just about all of these remakes/updates of shows from the 80s fail, yet networks continue to make them as if they’re “sure-things” because they’re already brands? It’s odd. I understand the initial thought process here (“no risk!”) but these AREN’T working. So why are they still remaking? Sure, it’s working out well for films, but that hasn’t been the case for television. It’s just odd they’re continuing to do it.
Way to go Mark! I am so excited!
Rebooting, reimagining, or remaking older content is equally a sign of laziness and cheapness as it is of the absence of creativity.
You cannot simply ride the coat-tails of an old title and expect success. Ask the producers and broadcasters of such duds as the remakes of Knight Rider, Bionic Woman, and even V (while slow, it had its moments). Successful remakes are possible – In the 1980s, UPN relaunched Star Trek as a successful syndicated “next generation” of the original. In the 2000s, Syfy (still hate the name) remade Battlestar Galactica. While not as cheesy as the original, the new BSG got bogged down in religious and philosophical discussions the average space opera doesn’t have. It ended a marginally successful run with a final episode that wrapped up the series.
The key, I think, is to set the audience numbers “bar” low by doing your reboot on cable or on a “non”-network. ST:TNG and BSG could post respectable numbers in comparison to the other programs on their “networks”. The expectations are much higher on the Big 4.
We will probably never see the end of non-creative plagiarism. We can endure the decision of cheap and clueless suits, knowing that these programs are usually short-lived.
But really, guys and girls, let’s see something ORIGINAL every so often. Hour-long scripted dramas do NOT have to be only police or medical procedurals either.
Umm, the production values and scale of the 80′s show is STILL bigger than most shows today!
It was supported by a major network back then. The CW can’t afford to do a remake that will be nothing short of a second rate laughable version.
Also, the original was very well written to standards better than most movies on the big screen.
Does anyone else think this is more of a protection of a property than a legitimate desire by the CW to put this show on the air?
The rights that CBS has to a TV version of Beauty and the Beast will amount to practically nothing if ABC can reboot it for free from the public domain. 10, 20 years down the line, if anyone is going to do a re-reboot of a Beauty and the Beast TV show, if they’re going to pay anyone for the rights it woud most likely be ABC because they made the most recent version, making the rights CBS holds worth nothing.
By throwing another Beauty and the Beast project in development, my guess is CW is simply trying to derail the ABC show and protect the rights they’ve had for 20 years. If the ABC show doesn’t go to series because of this, I’m guessing CW wouldn’t care either way if their own version gets made next season or not, the mission was already accomplished.
Just a thought.
Good luck finding an actor under 21 who can convincingly recite poetry to his unrequited lady love. Oh wait, you’re going to dump the poetry that made this show stand out? Why not! ‘Cause kids today have no attention span, so we gotta give ‘em what they want.
The original show wasn’t perfect, but if the reboot looks like The Secret Circle, good luck.
I miss CW’s Melrose Place
Funny, it was the procedural element which contributed a lot to killing the original show. And I agree completely: Shakespeare and Wordsworth, Beethoven, Schubert and the fantastic Lee Holdridge scores on CW? It’s so not happening!
BTW, Martin was only one of the writers (only a few episodes), and the producer was Ron Koslow. Catherine was not an unrequited love, quite on the contrary; except they didn’t jump in bed the first night they met, they actually built a relationship… how do you do this in today’s tv, especially the CW kind?
I am a HUGE fan of the 80′s show – it captured our hearts and imaginations because of its intelligence and charm, romance and exquisite acting. I’m dubious that it can be remade in a form worthy of being the original’s successor, but I’ll give it a try. Please don’t let us down, CW!
I’m a devoted fan of the original…but if the CW already has plans to do it, I just hope it’s well written, cast w/adults (not teens) & well acted -I will reserve judgement until I see it -I want to think positively
Argh. The original had a lot of good writing, some really good acting, and the fascinating, very well-executed world of “Below.” The crime drama stuff with Vincent Saves The Day was mostly just trite, ratings-boosting plot device that had the bad habit of getting in the way of real stories and character development. So while it’s entirely *possible* that a remake could be worthwhile, having seen Vampire Diaries, as well as what Syfy did to Being Human, my faith in both the CW and modern American remakes is pretty weak. If, *if* the CW and the writers can see their way to not dumbing down the original, and in fact doing more with it, it might have a chance.
Personally I think all you bashers need to give them a chance. Die-hard fans like myself would love to see what happens, even if it’s not ‘original’ or perfect. I admit I;m dubious as to whether they can reach the heights the original did, but when you really love a story – be it from a book, movie, show, whatever – you’ll grab all that you can. It doesn’t have to be original or perfect or as wonderful and amazing as the original story. It just has to be believable and true to the original.
Personally, I’m already dying to watch the show.
I personally can’t wait to see the new remake of Beauty and the Beast. I may not have been born in the 80’s and I can understand that it can be tiring that Hollywood keeps remaking stuff. But I really LOVE the series and I really want to see it continue but that’s just me. I also kind of hope they don’t redo the third season I didn’t like it at all, cause they killed Catherine… but that’s just me.
From the pilot script I’ve read this reboot is definitely not like the original -It should not have been promoted as such -While it is a beauty & beast type themed show, they shouldn’t have named the main characters Catherine & Vincent -I had high hopes for a B&B remake, but I wanted it to be more like the original with all the romance & fantasy -I see none of that in this reboot, especially with the character of Vincent, who was once a unique, mysterious being with a gentle soul -Now he’ll be a genetically altered hairy human super soldier? -I honestly thought the script was a joke & not authentic -I am truly disappointed that it was true