Beauty and the Beast
1987 · 3 seasons · 56 episodes · Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Crime, Drama
Created by Ron Koslow
Savvy Assistant District Attorney Catherine Chandler is saved by a noble, beast-like man named Vincent, who lives in a secret, utopian community beneath New York City. They share a psychic bond, and he protects her from above.
Why it's worth watching
Beauty and the Beast is a timeless tale of redemption, love, and sacrifice that resonates with both children and adults. Its moral lessons on kindness, forgiveness, and the power of transformation make it a deeply edifying watch.
What it praises
The film praises virtues such as self-sacrifice, true love, and the transformative power of goodness over evil. It holds up the idea that appearances can be deceiving and that inner beauty is far more valuable than outward appearance.
For discernment
Not the Disney fairy tale — this is the 1980s romantic-fantasy series in which an assistant DA is bonded to Vincent, a lion-like man living in a hidden underground community beneath New York, and the appeal is a sincere, chaste devotion between them plus a genuinely gentle vision of the 'Tunnel' world as a place of belonging for outcasts. Two things a discerning viewer should weigh. First, the couple shares a 'psychic bond' — a mystical soul-link that lets them sense each other across the city — which is presented as beautiful but is a spiritualized connection outside any Christian frame. Second, Vincent is a killer: he dispatches many villains with his claws (bloody but not gory), and the series grows notably darker and more violent from late season two onward. There is also mild profanity, including irreverent uses of God's name, and social drinking. The tender, self-sacrificial love is real and largely clean; the mystical bond and the beast-hero's lethal vigilante violence are what to hold up to the light.
- SpiritualThe central romance is built on a mystical 'psychic bond' letting the two sense each other across distances, framed as beautiful but outside any Christian understanding.
- ViolenceVincent kills numerous villains with his claws (bloody claw-mark aftermath), with hand-to-hand fights and weapons; the series darkens and grows more violent from late season two.
- LanguageMild profanity including irreverent uses of 'OMG' / God's name.
- SubstancesCharacters are shown drinking alcohol.
Cast
Ron Perlman
Vincent
Roy Dotrice
Jacob 'Father' Wells
Jay Acovone
Joe Maxwell
Linda Hamilton
Catherine Chandler
Ren Woods
Edie
David Greenlee
Mouse
Ellen Geer
Mary
Armin Shimerman
Pascal
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