Barker. Charles Barker.
Times are tough for Patrick Swayze. It seems that his swarthy thriller of a show was canceled before it even reached its second season. All this after Swayze completed thirteen episodes while simultaneously undergoing intense chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.
It just doesn't seem fair. The Beast was Swayze's comeback vehicle; he's been in a movie slump for years, and this was his time to shine on television as a kick-ass crime-solver. Critics like Ginia Bellafante from the New York Times and Ray Richmond from the Hollywood Reporter raved about Swayze's performance. So what was it?
Don't blame the rest of the cast. The show featured Larry Gilliard, Jr., formerly of The Wire, as well as up-and-comers like Travis Fimmel, Lindsay Pulsipher, and Kevin J. O'Connor.
Was it the premise? Nah. Crime-fighting shows are flourishing. It's impossible to name them all, but the acronyms CSI and NCIS should sound familiar.
Was it the name of his character, Charles Barker? Not really. It's a bit plain, but it's also reminiscent of a certain equally bad-ass basketball player.
Is it the network? Not exactly. A&E doesn't have the same anchor in Biography that it did ten years ago, but they've got some chops with shows like Dog The Bounty Hunter and Intervention.
The time slot was probably the culprit. The Beast was simply buried on Thursdays at 10 p.m. with dominant shows like Southland on NBC, Private Practice on ABC and Without A Trace on CBS. Factor in Swayze's unfortunate inability to promote the show (due to his medical condition) and you've got a vehicle running on little more than empty. Here's to Patrick Swayze getting another break -- and a speedy recovery.
Comments (32)
No Way!!! well actually i'm not surprised that it's cancelled, it seems that every show that I like is getting cancelled now! grr tv stations... this show was amazing, the plotlines were deff different from other crime shows so its really sad that this show wont be coming back.
I never watched the show but people I know liked it. It sucks when good shows are canceled.
Couldn't really get myself to watch this knowing it might be the last thing that he's ever in. I was hoping that it would do well, BUT I really didn't see this going for more than a season.Oh, and the joke in the beginning of this article is NOT FUNNY. You should not compare someone DYING to getting his show canceled. If it wasn't meant as a joke then it shouldn't have been written as one.
I wanted to liked this show and I tried to but it just fell flat for me. I love Patrick Swayze!!
I was sorry for Patrick Swayze. I hope he will get better soon.
i like the show... i want season 2.........
I never watched the show, but was that comment about Thursdays at 10 PM being ultra competitive serious? Southland and Without A Trace got terrible ratings, and Private Practice is only renewed because it follows Grey's Anatomy.
I think it was a really good show. I am sorry to hear it was called off. It deserved a new season a lot more than some other stuff that's still on the air.
When I found out the show was canceled, I was ticked, to say the least.
Damn, had been looking forward to season 2.
the show got cand becouse it was a show for men and lets face it married guys are wipped they watch what there wives want to watch ralph
I really liked it
Poor Patrick, he has been so unlucky.
Private Practice is dominant??
Shoot me now.
Private Practice is dominant??
Shoot me now.
I initially thought this was going to be a show that barely got by the first few episodes, what with Swayze's medical condition. I was pleasantly surprised! It was really well written and very well acted by both Swayze and Fimmel. I truly enjoyed "The Beast" and was hoping for a second season.Unfortunately very few new dramas seem to be escaping the ax. Too expensive to produce when compared to the so-called "reality" shows that are driving me completely away from commercial television.Jim
the show got canned cuz it wasn't good. its sad but you have to face the facts. ratings = money. thursday is not an excuse. and yeah there are way tooo many crime shows. csi vegas miami new york
ncis ncis california (spinoff which isn't out yet.) castle, mentalist, lie to me, law and order, law and order svu, law and order csu, criminal minds, the forgotten (new show kinda a knockoff of cold case) the unusuals (cancelled), southland, bones, cold case, without a trace ect
they cancelled the show too soon
Real shame, was an excellent cop show that isn't dumbed down like CSI or others and actually requires a little viewer brain power (guess that ruled out 3/4 of its audience sadly), the fact face Patrick filmed it whilst undergoing serious cancer treatment, and yet putting in some fantastic performances deserved better treatment than this.
i was sorry for cancellation
First off The Beast I just couldn't get into it. I am sorry for Patrick Swayze because I really like him. Thursday is a bad lineup but Southland is not dominant and niether is Private Practice. They both have crap audiences. Southland started well but dropped bigtime in the following weeks. Plus to top it off A&E folks would have like 10 times to watch the episode so it wouldn't matter when the first showing was.
They should not have canceled the show. It was pretty good!
Of course they canceled it. All good shows go to the scrap heap while we get more "spin-offs" of The Real Desperate Housewives of whatever. At least the show is being released on DVD on Aug 18.
Meh, it probably was the premise. There is only room for so many crime shows - particularly male-driven ones.
God#amit! Im p###ed! Though the start was a little slow this show got better each week. Ive never seen ANY Patrick Swayze movies but after seeing this show Im hooked. Da## you A&E, da## you to he##! :-(
I never heard of it but with Patrick being sick with cancer I'm surprised he had a show.
I think there are a lot of flaws in this article's argument. It absolutely had to do with it being on a second/third tiered cable channel. That's not to take ANYTHING away from A&E, but they are babies in the original programming department. I don't think they did a disservice to the show one bit; they are just not known for a plethora of original dramas. And Southland didn't have anything to do with it, as the only time they went head-to-head was at the end of Beast's season. The fact is, it didn't have heat. There was no excitement buzz. Interest in his illness eclipsed the show.
I only watched it once or twice
Quite simply an amazing piece of TV that was cancelled well before its time.
This really was a clever bit of work on the writing front and left a heck of a lot more in the way of story left to be told.
Charles Barker (Apache) you will be missed.
I do not know what prompted the cancellation, but it was only I show I watch at A & E.
i can't believe they are not making another series of the beast. they making a big mistake i don't know anybody who doesn't like it. i'm shocked
I really liked the show. Maybe they could do a few tv movies?