Literate, intelligent TV? Oh, yes, sigh 'Beast' fans
| News Media Commentary | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Literate, intelligent TV? Oh, yes, sigh 'Beast' fans |
| Commentator: | Joanne Ostrow for the Denver Post |
| Date(s): | late 1988 |
| Venue: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Literate, intelligent TV? Oh, yes, sigh 'Beast' fans is a an article in the Denver Post by Joanne Ostrow.
It was printed as a clipping in A Romantic of the Leonine Persuasion #2 in 1989.
Some Topics Discussed
- Beauty and the Beast (TV)
- why women are fans of the show
- women nibbling cookies, looking normal
- some of the crazy, fanatical things women do to show their love and devotion to the show, and to Vincent Wells
- jealous husbands and boyfriends who don't measure up
- interviews with fans
- mentions of some fanzines:
From the Article
He comes in the night, cloaked in suede and uttering sweet sonnets in a luscious baritone. He is tall and imposing yet vulnerable. You want to stroke his face — in fact, you want to brush it — but slowly. He knows what you are feeling. He is the perfect male. So what if he is half beast and only drops by for an hour on Fridays?It's not surprising that men and other realists think “Beauty and the Beast” is a silly romantic fantasy for lonelyhearts.
Women and other dreamers find the series a literate, multi-layered masterpiece for the television intelligentsia. Those who love it are fanatical. “Beauty and the Beast” has a more devoted following than any show on the air.
In Denver, 100 fans of the weekly hour-long fantasy meet regularly to share their passion and to dream: Will Vincent and Catherine progress beyond a chaste kiss this season? Will CBS lift restrictions on their physical contact, rumored to have been imposed by the network for fear of charges of bestiality?
Ten women discussed these pressing questions while replaying the pilot episode at a recent gathering. They look like ordinary 25- to 50-year-olds, nibbling cookies in a living room full of “B&B" posters, buttons and T-shirts. But they share a secret affinity for a fella with a feline upper lip.
“The last seven weeks we were like children without Christmas,” Janet Orashan said.
Their Christmas is tonight when “Beauty and the Beast" has its season premiere at 7 p.m. on Channel 7, and hairy Vincent and his tunnel world breathe again.
"My husband has a problem with me putting up my door-size Vincent poster," Orashan said.
[...]
Her husband is jealous, and he’s not alone.
“Men don’t like the show because Vincent shows up all their flaws," said Lynne Gutshall, a Denver artist and writer.
“No matter if he has a few bestial characteristics here and there, he’s still desirable," Orashan said.
They desire Vincent because he is gentle, strong, wise, honest, compassionate and romantic — everything their real-life partners occasionally are not.
“He leaves her poetry and roses, lie’s there when she wants him and not there when she doesn’t. It's the perfect relationship,” agreed credit analyst Sheryl Quinn.
[...]
Diane Hellering said "I have a void right now. I'm not dating anyone in particular. Vincent is very comforting.