TVSquad

While a lot of shows seem to be thriving in cable, in the last couple of days, two series have bitten the dust. TBS dumped The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons, and now A&E Network has canceled The Cleaner, opting not to give the drama series another year. Hmm... does that mean Benjamin Bratt is available to return to Law and Order?

Probably not. Been there, done that, you know. But the TV pro is now unemployed although I doubt that'll be for long. The Cleaner just never really clicked for A&E. It was as intense as the network's hit reality show, Intervention, but it wasn't nearly as compelling.

Some more sad news from Tinseltown. Movie star and recent television star Patrick Swayze has lost his 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer at his ranch in Los Angeles. He was 57 years old.

Barbara Walters will air the actor's final television interview in a one hour special titled Last Dance tonight at 10 PM eastern/9 PM central on ABC.

He's probably best known for his work on the big screen in movies like Ghost, Dirty Dancing and (of course) the timeless Road House, a movie that became a cult sensation for all the wrong reasons and helped birth the sense of humor of MST3K and Rifftrax's Michael J. Nelson. But like all Hollywood actors, he made his presence known on the small screen, and his reach goes much further than his recent venture into cable drama glory with A&E's The Beast.

Though it probably comes as no big surprise, sources are saying that the Patrick Swayze drama about a rogue FBI agent, The Beast, won't be returning for a second season. While A&E has told Variety that no official decision has been made, word is that episode 13, which aired at the end of April, will be the series' last.

I've been watching I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here!, which is a terrible revelation to make about myself, but in the three hours of my life that show has taken from me, I've come to a few conclusions: 1. My life needs more meaning, and 2. Lou Diamond Phillips is kind of a bad-ass.

I bring this up because apparently, there had been talks of The Beast continuing with someone other than Patrick Swayze in the lead in case Swayze's poor health prevented him from continuing on the show. Phillips recently guest-starred on the series, and I would love to see him on television (in a situation in which he wasn't getting eaten by rats).

I love Patrick Swayze as much as the next guy... assuming that the next guy is generally aware of Patrick Swayze, has seen him in a few movies and usually enjoyed his performances and finds his battle with cancer as inspirational as anyone else's battle with cancer. I'll even go so far as to say I'm really enjoying Patrick Swayze's performance in A&E's new series The Beast. But ... man, aside from that this show is getting all kinds of dull! In the beginning we got this promise of Swayze's character getting this new partner, but what he didn't know was this his new partner was recruited to be a double agent put in to spy on him.

We're four episodes into a thirteen episode run and that hasn't happened yet. Instead, we get these tag scenes at the end of each episode that cra-a-a-awls that storyline along. Other than that it's another generic FBI procedural. Only one that's terribly acted, and almost as badly written. Except for Swayze. 99% of the time he's on the screen he's rocking it and owning it. The other 1% ... well he's giving an odd smile that makes it look like his face is breaking.

(S01E01) "The beast eats away at you, and if you're not careful, the beast will eat it all and you have nothing. And you are nothing." -- Charles Barker

The beast that Patrick Swayze's Barker is referring to is the undercover work that he and his new partner Ellis Dove do for the FBI. But there may be more to the show title than just this simple explanation. Barker may be as much the beast as the job. In the spirit of Vic Mackey and The Shield, A&E's new original series is taking us back to a very dark place in law enforcement. But this time, we're not inside the head of the main player in the series. And therefore, we don't know his true motivations or even what he's up to all the time.

That leads us to the reveal at the end of the episode, which may not be a spoiler in that it's been dropped all over the Internet before the episode even aired. Still, I liked the way the episode progressed and how we got to that point. Barker is hard-core and his treatment of Dove throughout the episode is that of a "tough love" mentor. In the end, it seems to be working. Then Dove has the rug pulled out.

Let me start this story by saying that I'm really hoping and praying that Patrick Swayze staves off the cancer that's trying to kill him and lives for many more years. The powers that be at A&E Network are hoping and praying, too. A&E has given the greenlight to The Beast, a cop drama that will star Patrick Swayze. Co-starring with Patrick in the 13 one-hour episodes is actor (and former Calvin Klein underwear model) Travis Fimmel. According the the doctors caring for Patrick, he is well enough to do the shows and, presumably, continue with the series if it's a success.

The premise for The Beast isn't a typical law and order type. It's like Training Day meets Internal Affairs, only without Denzel Washington and Richard Gere, respectively. Patrick plays an FBI agent who does things his own unique way. He's very good at his job, but rubs people the wrong way. He's asked to train a younger agent, Fimmel, at the same time that Swayze's being dogged by a secret internal affairs team.

Patrick has said this role was a long time coming for him. "I have searched for quite a long time to find a character that is this muti-layered, unpredictable and downright entertaining as well as a project this current and cutting-edged."

No, you read correctly on both counts. Patrick Swayze, who is known mostly for his roles in movies such as Red Dawn, Dirty Dancing, Road House, and Ghost, is currently working on a pilot for a new A&E drama series. And, this is still going on despite the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

According to doctors treating the actor, his continued participation in the pilot process can take place because he has a very limited amount of disease and seems to be responding to treatment. I'm not a doctor, but I would think "very limited amount of disease" translates to the fact that they caught the cancer early enough. Representatives for Swayze say that he is continuing his normal schedule, which includes working on the pilot The Beast. The show, still under consideration by A&E, focuses on Patrick as an unorthodox FBI veteran.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Some TV firsts: the one-in-25 million, three-way Jeopardy tie, and hardcore porn hosted by Tom Brokaw.
  
• Reality TV power-couple Rob and Amber were eliminated from The Amazing Race, but promise that their new project is going to blow our minds.
  
• Little House on the Prairie was cheesy enough without Melissa Gilbert and Patrick Swayze making it into a play.
  

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