BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Comic Con Panel & Photos

One of the new CW shows for the fall is Beauty and the Beast, a reboot of an 80s show of the same name starring Linda Hamilton. We were treated to the entire pilot, which focuses on Kreuk’s character witnessing her mother being shot to death and barely escaping death herself. She is saved by some kind of animal. Years later, she’s grown up and become a cop and is lead to her savior, a genetically modified, but of course handsome, doctor, when she investigates some cases where other women are saved by…something.

The doctor has some [easyazon-link asin=”B001LM1456″]Hulk[/easyazon-link]-esque rage issues and needless to say, you don’t want to get him mad. His tendency to save damsels in distress, however, is definitely a redeeming quality. The panel consisted of Kristin Kreuk (Catherine Chandler) and Jay Ryan (Vincent Keller), the leads, as well as Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper, the creators. Two producers, Brian Peterson and Kelly Sanders, both of Smallville fame, were also present. The panel was moderated by Dalton Ross, from Entertainment Weekly.

Kreuk was amazed by the size of the crowd (Ballroom 20 holds ~5000 people and it was full to capacity). Lots of discussions of cupcakes followed, as, apparently, the show creators “wooed [Kruek] with cupcakes” to sign on to the show. This fact was apparently news to Ryan who definitely didn’t get any cupcakes (“I’m still waiting”, he said). Kreuk and Ryan shared some entertaining looks between themselves when Levin explained her goals for the first season. (“News to me!”, laughed Ryan). Creators Levin and Cooper stressed that the show is about forbidden love, but it’s also about two young female detectives taking on the world.

Most of the questions were from Ross, but a few audience questions were allowed. Some of my favorite quotes from the panel were Ryan’s response to an audience question about the physicality of the role, saying “I use every muscle in my body…(laughter)… not *every* muscle…” when they film the scenes when he turns into the beast. A young audience member then asked Kreuk how old she was when she started acting. “I was 17 when I started working for money… (laughing)….acting”.

All in all, it was an entertaining panel, and made me crave cupcakes. Will this reboot achieve the status of the previous one? Tune into the CW on October 11 to find out!

Photo Credit: Sarah Girdzius for NiceGirlsTV.com