Leitch, Christopher

Beauty and the Beast - The Second Season

The Beauty and the Beast TV show was a fantasy series about a man-beast (Vincent) and his love for a beautiful assistant district attorney (Catherine Chandler). Vincent lived in an underground world beneath New York City where his gruesome looks were less important to his peers than were his caring and benevolent personality. Together Vincent and Catherine had many adventures both above and below ground level and their love for each other continued to grow.Runtime: 1044 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097360382242 Manufacturer No: 038224

Though set in the late-1980s, Beauty and the Beast plays like something from another era. There's no irony, cynicism, or hip quips to break the spell of the fantasy (though a little humor would've been nice). Catherine (Linda Hamilton) loves the beastly, if beneficent Vincent (Ron Perlman) with all her heart--and vice versa. Together, they're TV's most soft-hearted crime fighters. To the show's credit, however, they aren't infallible, and there are a few problems they're unable to solve, whether the issue is drug addiction ("Chamber Music"), infectious disease ("Ashes, Ashes" with Highlander's Adrian Paul), or murder ("The Hollow Men").

In retrospect, it's clear that Beauty and the Beast was a reaction to the "greed is good" era. Vincent and his cave-dwelling compatriots represent a more compassionate alternative to "topsider" corruption. Yet all is not harmonious below either. Seriously injured the previous year, Paracelsus (Tony Jay) becomes a Phantom of the Opera-type figure, who aims to destroy Vincent's candle-lit utopia. In addition, a less civilized group of outcasts arrives in "The Outsiders." Fortunately, Vincent has Father (Roy Dotrice), Mary (Ellen Geer), Mouse (David Greenlee), and Pascal (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Armin Shimerman) on his side.

Unfortunately, they won't be able to prevent the tragedy that occurs in "The Rest Is Silence." Suffice to say, the season finale sets the scene for a new direction (more is revealed in the third-season opener). Consequently, Beauty and the Beast was canceled the following year, but still managed to rack up 18 Emmy nominations (winning six), spawning a soundtrack, and even inspiring some Saturday Night Live spoofing--a sure sign it had struck a chord. While the first season was devoid of extras, Perlman and Hamilton introduce six key episodes on this set. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beauty and the Beast - The Complete First Season

The Beauty and the Beast TV show was a fantasy series about a man-beast (Vincent) and his love for a beautiful assistant district attorney (Catherine Chandler). Vincent lived in an underground world beneath New York City where his gruesome looks were less important to his peers than were his caring and benevolent personality. Together Vincent and Catherine had many adventures both above and below ground level and their love for each other continued to grow.System Requirements:Run Time: 1066 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097360382044 Manufacturer No: 038204

"Once upon a time... in the city of New York." So begins this unique fantasy-crime series. Catherine (Emmy nominee Linda Hamilton, The Terminator) is an assistant DA who's attacked one night by strangers. When she wakes up, her face is covered in bandages. Someone named Vincent (Golden Globe winner Ron Perlman) has been taking care of her in his home beneath the subway. When she removes the dressing, she finds that he's a man-beast, but fear turns to trust when she becomes convinced he has her best interests at heart. As she states in the introduction, "We have a bond stronger than friendship or love." As the season unfolds, Vincent frequently comes to Catherine's assistance. As an empath, he knows instinctively when she's in trouble. When he needs help, Vincent turns to Father (Roy Dotrice), the doctor who raised him after he was abandoned at the hospital after he was born. His origins are unknown. Together, Catherine and Vincent are like the detectives of Remington Steele, except no one knows she's part of a team, since they're only able to meet in secret. Vincent's underground companions, however, get to know Catherine well. Just as Vincent comes to her aid as needed, she does the same for his community.

Although Beauty and the Beast has little in common with the Jean Cocteau film or Disney animated picture, the appeal is similar. Cynics may find these do-gooders sentimental, especially when Catherine utters lines like, "And although we cannot be together, we will never, ever be apart." But romantics made the CBS drama successful--at least until Hamilton left in the second year--and launched the Emmy-nominated Perlman into cult favorites like The City of Lost Children. Oscar winner Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) also deserves credit for his convincing make-up effects. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Beauty and The Beast

The Soundtrack

More `80s TV Series

More TV Series on DVD for the First Time

Teen Wolf & Teen Wolf Too

Teen WolfWhat's a high school kid got to do to be popular? Just let down his hair and howl! Starring Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future) Teen Wolf is an outrageous comedy about a shy teenager with more than a changing voice to contend with... he's a budding young werewolf! And when his new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.Teen Wolf TooMeet a college freshman who s having trouble fitting into his "genes" - family ones that is - when he finds out his uncle and cousin are werewolves... and so is he! Now the clean cut science student is the star of the boxing team with a hair raising right hook and an animal attraction to his curvy coeds. Starring Jason Bateman (Necessary Roughness) this four fang film is sure to bring out the party animal in everyone!System Requirements:Starring: Jason Bateman Michael J. Fox John Astin Kim Darby James Hampton Mark Holton Jerry Levine Scott Paulin Paul Sand Jay Tarses Directed By: Rod Daniel Christopher Leitch Total Running Time: 186 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 027616878175 Manufacturer No: 1003676

Teen Wolf is a flip-flop of the horrorific I Was a Teenage Werewolf story: this time, lycanthropy makes the afflicted high-schooler a big man on campus. An otherwise routine teen comedy, this one works because of the customary bounce of Michael J. Fox, in one of his first leading roles (it was shot before Back to the Future but released in that blockbuster's wake, and cashed in nicely). Although his werewolf makeup makes him look more like Bigfoot than Lon Chaney, Jr., Fox manages to convey his peppy personality even under all that hair. Teen Wolf Too, however, is not even bearable. Here Fox is replaced by Jason Bateman, who finds that his wolfish inclination helps him become the big dog on the college boxing team. The sole bright spot is veteran actor Paul Sand as the boxing coach. The rest is howlingly unfunny. - -Robert Horton

She Fought Alone (True Stories Collection TV Movie)

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (Fastlane, Beverly Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell) and Brian Austin Green star in this disturbing true-to-life story directed by My Life and Times' Christopher Leitch. Thiessen stars as Caitlin Rose, a teenager who joins the coolest group in high school, boosting her popularity and giving her a chance to get closer to Ethan (Green). But Caitlin's happiness is destroyed when she is raped by star football player Jace, Ethan's best friend. When she reports the crime, Jace vehemently denies what happened. Suspected of lying, Caitlin becomes an outcast. With no one else to turn to, Caitlin takes a chance and confides in Ethan. Will he turn against her too or help her prove the truth? The crime shattered her life. But what followed was even worse.

The Flash - The Complete Series

When police scientist Barry Allen is struck by lightning and doused with chemicals he discovers that he has become the fastest man alive able to move at nearly the speed of sound. The complete 1990-1991 tv series is contained in this 6 DVD box set.System Requirements:Running Time: 1088 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: PG UPC: 012569716513 Manufacturer No: 71651

One of the more exciting and atmospheric TV adaptations of a popular comic book series, The Flash benefited from terrific special effects, but lasted only a single year on its network in 1990. The series stuck to the Scarlet Speedster's origins: police scientist Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) is struck by lightning during an experiment, and chemicals splashed on him during the accident give him the ability to move at incredible speeds (note: hardcore comic fans know that this is the origin for the '60s version of the Flash, not his WWII-era identity). The series partnered him with an attractive fellow scientist (Amanda Pays) who assists Barry in his crime-fighting pursuits. Where the show deviated from its source material was its choice of combatants for the Flash--episodes focused on decidedly human villains, like corrupt officials ("Watching the Detectives") and mobsters (Michael Nader played ex-cop turned hood Nicholas Pike in two episodes, including the pilot), and didn't pull in the comic's excellent "rogues' gallery" until the end of the season, when the Trickster (Mark Hamill, who appears in two episodes), Captain Cold (Michael Champion), Mirror Master (David Cassidy!), and a sort-of Reverse-Flash (in the episode "Twin Streaks") made appearances. Sadly, these appearances were too little, too late for the series, which struggled with a high per-episode price tag and a fluctuating time slot (as well as frequent breaking coverage of the Gulf War). But for the Flash faithful, the six-disc set compiles its entire 21-episode run, including the 90-minute pilot. Unfortunately, no extras are included. --Paul Gaita

A Christmas Visitor

Cab to Canada

Courage Mountain: Heidi's New Adventure

You'd never guess it from the title, but Courage Mountain is a sequel to children's classic, Heidi. In this handsome production, filmed in Europe and set during World War I, a teenaged Heidi (Juliette Caton) leaves Switzerland to attend school in Italy. Things go wrong from the start. The other girls make fun of her country ways, then the school is seized by the army. Due to a misunderstanding, Heidi and several classmates are separated from their beloved headmistress (Leslie Caron) and sent to an Oliver Twist-like orphanage. Fortunately, they're able to escape. Using her mountaineering skills, Heidi leads them on an expedition across the Alps to her grandfather's house. Charlie Sheen, who plays her sweetheart Peter, acquits himself nicely as a soldier who assists the girls, but his American accent sounds out of place. Odd casting aside, this family adventure is faithful to the spirit of the original story. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

In the bitter chill of winter, over snow-covered mountains and against all odds, one fearless young girl will risk everything to guide her friends to safety. Fifteen-year-old Heidi (Caton) leaves her beloved grandfather (Jan Rubes), her childhood sweetheart (Sheen) and her cherished Swiss mountains to attend an Italian boarding school run by a kind headmistress (Caron). But when World War I breaks out, Heidi and her classmates are torn from their serene surroundings. Fearing for their lives, they escape on foot through the countryside...and embark on a daring trek across the treacherous, frozen Alps towards the safety of Heidi's girlhood home.

The Hitchhiker, Volume 1 (HBO TV Series)

Page Fletcher is "The Hitchhiker," walking a lonely road where terror awaits around every curve. Walk with him, and you'll find yourself in some very dark places...places you wouldn't want to visit alone. That's why he's there. That's why he's always there. He won't hold your hand - but he'll make sure the only ones who get hurt are those who deserve to.

Three Blind Mice