The Lower Tunnels

When I first told my search engine to look for "Beauty and the Beast" I quite frankly expected to come up with 5,000 hits on Disney and maybe one obscure reference to the television show. Imagine my shock when I found the Beauty and the Beast Tunnel Ring; and through that CABB and the Conventions. I was truly heartened. Alright, I was absolutely overjoyed; other people who share my love and continuing support for this wonderful universe.

I don't have all the things to offer that some of the other people who have fan pages do. I don't draw or paint. I write but I'm not very prolific. The small things I have done and will do in the future will be enclosed in the menus on the side.

I just love the world explored by this show and I wanted to be a small part of it in some way.

It all started for me...

When the promos came on for the series back in 1987 I had a sense of wary anticipation about it. It sounded wonderful but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I was in my dorm room the night of September 25th watching the 17" black and white TV I had sitting on a chair by the window so I could stick the antenna outside. (Channel 4 was out of St. Louis.) I made my then boyfriend, now husband, watch with me; so we ordered in pizza and snuggled up under the blankets on the mattresses on the floor. I was, needless to say, pleasantly surprised.
I must admit, I was first drawn to the show by Vincent. The makeup was breathtaking and Ron Perlman's voice gave me goosebumps. The thing that made me watch again, however, was the fact that they didn't try to explain how Vincent came to be the way he is. The very fact that they left it a mystery and didn't focus on it was so fresh and refreshing it gave me hope that the rest of the series would follow suit. So I watched again and again. I watched both seasons to the final cliffhanger and was absolutely devastated to learn that they wouldn't conclude it. When I heard they would be bringing it back again later I was overjoyed for about two seconds; until I heard Catherine dies and they go on without her. I never watched any of the episodes in the third season. I still haven't. I didn't even know there was another woman in Vincent's life until I read some story descriptions and introductions on the Tunnel Ring. I'm glad to know that I'm not alone in my feelings of, if not betrayal then at least displeasure with the third season.
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My feelings on the third season as a concept...

From a purely practical standpoint, if they had a real opportunity to restart the show, they should have recast. I apologize to those who are dyed in the wool Linda Hamilton fans, but if she didn't want to come back and everyone else did, the most important consideration should have been the continuity of the story line.
From a not very practical standpoint, my belief system tells me that True Love only happens once and there can be no Beauty and the Beast without the Beauty. The option of leaving it "dead" so to speak would have been preferable. I think the option they chose was the worse of the three available.
It must be stated here that I'm not a particular fan of any of the actors in the show. I have seen all of them in other projects and I have enjoyed quite a lot of it. I think it was a talented cast. However, I am more of a fan of the story, characters and the world it took place in than any of the actors themselves.
I read the teaser of the script someone wrote for submission (I assume) for the movie project currently being considered. I think this person is at least heading in the right direction. (I didn't want to pay the $25.00 to read the entire thing so I can't endorse it as the ideal script.) I do feel that any movie project that gets off the ground should ignore the third season. My apologies to those third season fans out there.
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The Fandom: This is strictly my opinion...

In my opinion, (and I hope I don't offend too many people too badly), "Beauty and the Beast" wasn't the most well written series on occasion. It was, at times, a bit trite and predictable. But the concept; the universe Ron Koslow created for it was truly amazing and beautiful. It seems to me that the show inspires as much loyalty from it's fan base as it obviously does for much the same reason Star Trek does. (I am also a Trekker.) This universe has the same basic qualities as Gene Roddenberry's, only in microcosm. There is a sense of hope and community and a positive view of the soul of humanity that is sadly lacking in the majority of the dreck coming out of Hollywood these days. It has, for some reason, become "cool" to be dark and morbid. Cynicism and pessimism seem to dominate entertainment today in a way that I can't even remember seeing very often 20 years ago. Quite frankly, I think life is too short to spend it being angry, depressed or apathetic. We are only here a short time. It makes more sense to me that we spend that time in more positive pursuits; helping each other to enjoy the world and have "A Happy Life".
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As I said earlier, I don't have the gifts and talents that others in the fandom do. I write occasionally and I do these computer graphics. I will post some of the things I finish in this section in the future so if you want to take a look, you can. I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't take any graphics that aren't posted in this section and please don't take any of the stories that end up here, either. They're not much, but they're mine. :-D

If you're looking for really well written "Beauty and the Beast" fan fiction there is quite a lot of it. There is one particular story which I just love and almost made me cry. It's called "Love Has Come of Age" by Lynette Combs and it's wonderful. You should, however, be 18 or older to read it. It's not smutty, it's actually extraordinarily beautiful, but it is a bit graphic.

Thank you for stopping by the Lower Tunnels. I hope to update once a month more or less. I may start a picture gallery if I can find enough I really like and I am definitely hoping to add some MIDI's at a later date. Check back if you like, I'll probably be here. :-D