Until the moment the CW announced their 2014-2015 schedule, Beauty and the Beast fans were at their computers online pushing for the show’s renewal. While the exact date is still unknown for the season 3 premiere, it will be back!
At the Television Critics Association CW Press Day, Mark Pedowitz, president of the network, attributed the renewal to the show’s passionate fans, “Beauty and the Beast had a very engaged fan base. It had a very big international following. We brought it back because it actually â€â€ because of what we are as a network, as well as, the platform for our parent company, it’s a very profitable show for everybody.”
The evening before the network’s press day, they held their Annual Summer Stars Party, where I caught up with Beauty and the Beast‘s Austin Basis (JT Forbes). We discussed the season 3 renewal, JT’s finale scare and what’s coming up in season 3.
Read on for edited excerpts from our conversation.
How excited were you about the pick-up?
You’re only as confident as you can be with the work and the show. I thought we were doing a good job and it would be rewarded, one minor thing being the ratings. That’s only one facet of the gauge of success these days with online, new media and international sales. We have such a great online following whether it’s downloads or views and people buy the stuff. And internationally we play in all these different markets. …
I have this weird feeling it will be a 13-episode season. There’s so much going on that they want to pack it into a shortened season and begin it in the middle of the year … or a summer show. We aired six-episodes this summer and we probably did better than we did throughout the year. I’m excited to see what the writers have in store for the third season. … The writers and the actors want to see the characters developed and see where these stories are going to lead. Vincent and Catherine. JT and Tess. And whatever new obstacles and problems they have to face in the future.
When you read the script where you were strung up, were you afraid you were done for?
You want to hear my first reaction? I thought I was shirtless, that he ripped off my shirt, so I was like, “I need to lose some weight. I have to get to the gym. I have to not eat carbs. I have two weeks. They should give me a warning. They give Jay his warning to work out before a topless scene.” That’s what I thought.
The second thing I thought was like, “They could very well kill me … like kill me off right now. They could edit out that last scene in the hospital where they come back and I’m alive and I’m dead. I’m basically dead. If I screw up or say I want more money, they could literally edit out that scene. Oh my, God.”
It’s fun when I get to do stuff like that. Special effects and actual prosthetics and stuff, that’s fun. I did an episode of Grey’s Anatomy where my arm was broke. And other things like that. I’ve played a zombie, I’ve played a pig. That stuff is always fun for me and I don’t get to do it as much as Jay. I don’t wish I did it every day like him. In first season, whether it was a scar or the beast, he was in the make-up chair five hours a day.
What can you tease about where season 3 picks up?
I think from what I know and where it’s going, there’s going to be a lot of forces and conspiracies that are leading to bigger things. The conspiracy is growing. Vincent and Catherine and JT and Tess by virtue of their friendship are going to have to team up and face these things and deal with their domestic partnerships and learn how to live that way.
Everyone’s kind of been a team of four and now they are two teams of two. I think that will be fun to see. Learning from the mistakes of the path that we’ve gone down before, the writers and the show to stick to the heart of the show about Vincent and Catherine and their romance and how their romance is tested.
Not that their relationship isn’t solid and set now. We’ll see how they fare when faced with these new obstacles and maybe this proposition that was made at the end of the season with this government organization, maybe there’s other things out there. “We need your help.” Almost like a Captain America or superhero thing, Batman working with the government. You know they shine the Beast Light and Vincent and Catherine show up and kick some ass. She sometimes kicks more ass than he does.
What do you think the biggest challenge for JT and Tess will be?
This is like his third adult relationship and so third time’s the charm, I think. It’s also figuring out how to be with someone. I don’t know if they will live together, there’s a challenge to living with someone even if you have feelings. Balancing that life and sharing your life, there’s a challenge to sharing your life.
And also, how to not let whatever is going on with Vincent and Catherine interfere with their chemistry and their relationship. Even though they will always be helping them, the show’s about the beauty and the beast, so they will be helping them but sometimes that will affect their relationship adversely. The challenge will be to keep that barrier up where we’ll help you, but we don’t want your drama and issues to adversely affect us.
(Image courtesy of the CW.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
