Series One and Series Two

I've watched them all now and love it. I love Jay Ryan, he plays a great Vincent.  Kristin Kreuk, is feisty and pretty, the other characters are also pretty good. Nina Lisndrello who plays Tess, Austin Basis as TJ and Senhil Ramamurthy who plays Gabe. 

 

Senhil Ramamurthy

 I still miss the tunnels and the stories that went with the originally series, but, I think you have to look at this as something different and you will enjoy it more.

Austin Basis

Nina Lisndrello with Kreuk

Saturn Returns - episode 5

Jay Ryan makes a good angry beast. I realised as I watched him in the previous episode as his bare and he grows fangs. His eyes change colour and his face takes on a different shape. He leaps from place to place with ease. There are no photographs as yet of him that I can grab that show the full effect.

This opened with Vincent lying on the bed, restless. He really was easy on the eye. Somehow you knew he was thinking of Catherine. Then it switched to Catherine on her bed.

 

 

As the went on I thought again how good on the eye both characters are, particularly Vincent. Jay Ryan is very good at playing moody.

 

I quite enjoyed all Catherines friends and work colleagues and for the first time, I began to feel something special between them both.

 

 

Catherine invited Vincent to dinner. As he approached he was looking at buying some flowers when suddenly he held his head and was in pain, just like he had done earlier, but it passed.  The next thing he woke up on a roof top. I was disappointed when it finished and wanted to see the next episode. It was something that was going to keep them apart, but what could it be.

Proceed with Caution, the 2nd episode - Jan 2013

I must say that I was a little disappointed with the second episode after such a promising start.

Catherine's fighting leaves no room for Vincent to help her. She is more than capable and just a little unbelievable as she always comes out unscathed. It doesn't leave much room the hero to come dashing in anymore. Vincent did show up, eventually, just in time to stop her from being strangled. I'm all right, she said, what was she superwoman?

There wasn't a much of a promise of the magic of love to come. They stared into each other's eyes at the end, but it came too late.

I shall keep watching and keep hoping something more likens it to the original Catherine and Vincent where their dominated the programme. She carried around a secret and we knew that Vincent was always close. They also had shared interests, the pleasure of reading or listening to music brought them always closer together. People do still do that, but not on the television it seems.

I'm still mising the tunnels below Manhatten and the secret knowledge of something that no one else knows exisits. They were special as they weaved mystery and magic into the story when ever Catherine ventured there.

The Brand New Beauty and the Beast

I've been waiting to see this new take on Beauty and the Beast and after watching the pilot episode, I wasn't disappointed.

Jay Ryan plays Vincent and  Kristin Kreuk plays Catherine Chandler. I expected a lot of changes as they brought the original storyset in the 1980s up to date and for some reason I didn't expect them to keep the same names, but they have and I am glad about that.

Vincent, was a doctor and when his two brothers were killed in 9/11 he joined the military. There he was given drugs that enhanced his strength and changed his senses. He didn't realise at the time that he and other soldiers were being experimented on. But things went wrong and the soldiers turned and had to be killed. Somehow Vincent escaped.

This explains his extaronary powers and his appearance isn't lion like, as the original Vincent was.  He isn't lion like as the original Vincent on then right was.  Instead they have opted for someone who looks faily normal, except for the scar and I think when he is 'in character; the new Vincnent's eyes change and it looks much more menacing.

Jay Ryan has a great face, high cheek bones and haunting eyes. We saw him change once in the pilot and it reminded me a little of the Incedible Hulk.


Catherine, no longer an attorney and instead a detective who drinks beer from the bottle and fights baddies, much more a modern women. She's tough, but pretty with a petite frame. Her boss, just like in the earlier version is called Joe. I quite enjoyed the way it remained faithful to the original at times.

The only sad thing is that I loved the idea of the underground world, full of different characters with their own stories. Instead the modern day Vincent lives with a nerdy friend in a building that looks derelict. Together they are trying to find an antedote to Vincent's condition.

I wondered if they could possbily bring back that special relationship the original Catherine and Vincent had together. Their love caught the imagination of so many people, and even today you can web sites dedicated to a love that would never die.

When the final credits rolled I saw two names that made my pulse quicken - Ron Koslow, the original writer of Beauty and the Beast and Paul Junger Witt the original producer both now exectutive producers for this new series. So maybe, just maybe, some of the original magic will be there after all. We just have to wait and see. I hope so.

Beauty and the Beast 2012

I was a bit sceptical on hearing that they are bringing out an updated version. How could they replace Vincent?  But they have and you can get details here on the Internet Movie Database. It hard to tell much about it as the details aren't fully filled in yet and it is being released in America in the Autumn 2012.

Then I watched the trailer on you tube and thought it looked really exciting.  It was the story which we all loved, and of course the characters too. The 1989 version is for die hard fans only now as it is very dated and a little cheesy, but at the time it was cutting edge drama.

    They have changed Catherine to a cop instead of an attorney. I remember an interview where Linda Hamilton said that she wanted to be more adverterous in the role and she wanted to ride on top of trains too and get into fight. They wouldn't let her, women at that time were still damsels in distress and only dashing handsome men could do the fighting on their behalf.   

    Thank goodness times have changed. This new Catherine gets to do all of that by the look of the trailer. I sure the old Catherine would approve!

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

We all know the classic story of Beauty and the Beast and the wonderful Walt Disney film. This isn't it. This is about the 1980's television series created by Ron Koslow and starring Ron Pearlman and Linda Hamilton.

I don't think the series has dated particularly well, but the concept and the characters have held strong over the years. This is a classic love story, the story of Vincent, the beast, and Catherine, the beauty. Their love is for romantics everywhere.

If you are not familiar with this story, I recommend a trip to the Internet Movie database to find out more about Beauty and the Beast.

Catherine is an assistant district attorney and her world is 'above' and Vincent's world is 'below' in the secret tunnels under New York.

Because there are many great sites out there, I wanted to do something different. If you look at the index on the right, you will see stories about Vincent and Catherine, which will lead you on to the Jacob and Jemma stories.

In the series, Vincent and Catherine did have a baby called Jacob and, building on that I moved the story forward twenty years and as Vincent had Catherine, I gave Jacob Jemma.

Because this is based on the secret tunnels, there are a couple of secret stories for you to find as you read.

Labour of Love - Ode to Vincent

Because I loved this story for so long and because I loved the character that Ron Pearlman created I wanted to do something special.

Apart from writing, my other passion is cross stitch and what better way for me to cross stitch something very special.

It took me four years and 10,000 strands of cotton to produce this picture of Vincent.