The CW's Epic 'Beauty and the Beast' Fail: Where's the Beast?

The CW unveiled its new fall schedule this week, including a fresh reboot of the classic fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” starring “Smallville’s” Kristin Kreuk as Catherine, the titular Beauty. But based on the promo photo you see here, it looks like some CW executives need to go back and read the original story again. Where, exactly, is the Beast?

That handsome guy in the photo is young New Zealand actor Jay Ryan (“Terra Nova”), who stars opposite Kreuk as Vincent Keller, aka the Beast. And we’re guessing he’s supposed to know he’s the Beast because of that one tiny scar on his otherwise perfectly airbrushed face. Granted, we’re not exactly fairy-tale scholars, and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Disney cartoon -- but isn’t the Beast supposed to be, you know… ugly?

We shouldn’t be surprised; after all, The CW might as well change their name to the Hot Young Hotties network, since almost every show they have features a bevy of beautiful young people for their teen viewership to gawk at/obsess over. God forbid they ever think of airing a show that stars someone without flawless bone structure.

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To be fair, we’ve seen some early footage of the show where Vincent does transform into a slightly less attractive Beast and savagely attacks people when his animal instincts kick in. But we’re betting he settles right back into photogenic form just in time to have a slow-burning romance with Catherine. Oh, and did we mention Kreuk’s character is supposed to be an NYPD homicide detective? Yes, folks, this is what they got rid of “The Secret Circle” to bring you.