The CW‘s new series Beauty and the Beast premieres tonight, and we still don’t know what to make of it. The 1980s series from which it was reworked was exceptionally romantic (except for the last season, and don’t get us started on that), had a very cool steampunky underground community where Vincent (the beast) lived, and Vincent looked like a lion-man. Catherine (the beauty) was an Assistant District Attorney whom Vincent had saved from an attack.

The new Beauty and the Beast has a police detective Catherine who was saved from an attack by a Vincent who looks nothing like a lion. Reportedly his version of a beast is what happens to him when the adrenaline kicks in, a result of some supersoldier experimentation. This means that the new series could have more action than the earlier version. And the steampunk design element has apparently been replaced by something much more literally concrete.

What has been confusing about the new series is that it has been called everything from fantasy to romance to procedural to action to specifically “not sci-fi” depending on which interview you read or watch. So when you view the following featurette, bear in mind that we’re really just not going to know until we watch tonight, if then.

Featurette: Beauty and the Beast Series Premiere

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Gaev2LUHo64[/youtube]

Wishing us all luck that it’s wonderful and we all love it. Let us know!

Beauty and the Beast, starring Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan, premieres tonight, October 11, at 9/8c on The CW.