I decided to post some of BK's comments and the links to all his interviews for us here. (Click on the links to read the full interviews) We're being told the focus will be on Vincat as a couple. FINALLY!!
What do y'all think and what do you want to see for the new season?
Beauty and the Beast Boss on a Close Cancellation, Changing Focus and an Epic Finale BattleWhat have you learned this season that you might change going forward?
Kern: It's a different mandate going into Season 3. The mandate going into Season 2 was that the network wanted to do everything to expand and reach out to broader audience. That success was checkered and the audience that continued to watch, thank God, stayed with the show every episode. So, going into the third season, what I've learned ties into what the reality is, which is that people who watch the show are the ones who need to be honored, and if we can reach out to broader audiences, fantastic, but the focus is what the loyal audience likes best and that's Vincent and Catherine.
Finally, everyone seems to love Tess and J.T. together. Will they be put through any struggles next season?
Kern: The most fun part of this job is when you discover things. Austin and Nina are terrific, but together they just have chemistry and it was a pleasant surprise. [CW president] Mark Pedowitz felt the same way. He was against it at first, but then saw it. It's been fun to write, but their ability to continue on in Season 3 depends upon their ability to survive the finale.
Beauty and the Beast Producer Teases Season 2 Finale, A Reward for Loyal ViewersTVF: Now that Vincent and Cat are back together and you realize perhaps the audience isn't going to expand beyond the type of viewer you already have, will that have some influence on keeping them together romantically and throwing other challenges in their way? Because they do have to be separated at various time to keep it interesting, but their love is demanded at this point.
Now that they're back together again and now that the loyal audience remains the main audience, going forward our focus, absolutely, is to make the show more Cat/Vincent love-centric. To challenge their love in different ways, but not by splitting them up or tearing them apart.
TVF: I know the theme this year was "Who Am I" and you've mentioned the theme for Season 3 will be "Who Are We." Is that still the idea?
BK: Yeah. I mean, again, the focus of that question is meant to tell the audience that the focus is on Cat and Vincent in Season 3 as they explore what it's like to be a normal couple that has this greater destiny. They've gone through hell and back, Cat and Vincent, but they haven't really dealt with a lot of normal issues yet and that'll be the fun with some of the challenges that we look forward to them working through and dealing with as they deal with the next level of the mythology, which will be in Season 3.
TVF: What one thing would you like to say to our readers as you end Season 2?
BK: Thank you! Thank you for sticking with the show and being the main reason why we're coming back for Season 3. Our goal for Season 3 is to reward the loyal viewers with a show that focuses more on what it is that they love, which is the love of Cat and Vincent.
Beauty and the Beast' Boss on 'Tense' Finale, Promises Romantic Season 3 (Q&A)Have you had conversations with the network and studio about ways to expand the core audience next season?
We haven’t had that conversation, but the network wanted us to expand the audience and direction of the show to try to appeal to a broader audience last season. As I said, we pretty much have the same loyal viewers watching every week, but we didn’t really reach beyond it. It’s kind of hard to imagine that we’re going to be able to reach a new audience in season three. I think that my emphasis will be to — as shown in the last six or seven episodes of season two — drive the show’s direction more into what the loyal audience would like to see because that’s who watches the show.
More focus on Vincent and Cat?
It['ll be] mostly about Cat and Vincent’s love. The design last year was to break them apart for a while to try to establish separate characters and to build the separate characters and to bring them back together stronger. The design of the season as kind of interrupted unwittingly. We were supposed to air those last six or seven episodes right after in continuity, and we found out at the last second that they were going to hold those last six episodes. That wasn’t the design. We would have changed the setup if we had known there was going to be a two month break.
The goal now is to try and focus on the Cat and Vincent love and challenge it to help them grow as a couple, as opposed to try to break them apart.Beauty And The Beast's' Austin Basis: 'Things Happen That Change The Show Forever'I love all the things Austin had to say about the fans in this interview. I also like what this person said about SPN. It's so true.
Shows that air on The CW traditionally have vocal fan bases - Supernatural may be one of the most active fandoms in television, for example - but there's an extra spotlight on the BATB fans, as CW network president Mark Pedowitz specifically pointed toward the show's social media presence as the reason he chose to renew it over The Tomorrow People. We asked Austin to give us his perspective on the "Beasties."
"The extent that they've gone to save the show, it's just evident in the result," he reflected. "They actually raised over $15,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - as a way to promote the show, but also to do good. This was a way of the fans saying we are actually putting our own dollars into the show and how we feel about the show. Yes, we're putting the money towards a good cause, but we're putting our money where our mouths are.
"They also did another campaign tweeting the advertisers and getting a positive relationship with the people that put their commercials into our show. There was a whole campaign where they were buying Yoplait to watch the show, because Yoplait had put their commercials into our show," he continued. "They're a pretty smart bunch. Pretty crafty, pretty persistent, determined and passionate."