If “Beauty and the Beast” isn’t the worst new show of the fall (and it probably is, and Fienberg definitely thinks it is), it’s certainly the silliest. It’s the kind of show that justifies every horrible stereotype and joke about Hollywood executives. Of course the CW would do a version of “Beauty and the Beast” (specifically, remaking the ’80s Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton CBS series) in which the “beast” is an incredible hunk who just happens to have a scar on his face. The CW’s target demo doesn’t want to watch ugly people. Duh.
The producers have tried to spin it as Jay Ryan being beastly in less superficial ways: He has a temper! He’s damaged from his time in the military and this weird experiment! Lana Lang just can’t resist him, even though he’s bad for her! But it’s all just goofy, Ryan is wooden, Kristin Kreuk is hilariously miscast as a tough New York cop, and after about five minutes of laughing at the absurdity of it all, I found “Beauty and the Beast” committing the worst TV sin of all: it was boring.
For those of you who watched tonight, what did you think? One and done, or time to set the DVR season pass?