The Beautiful Life - TV Fanatic

The Beautiful Life: Coming to YouTube!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:05:40 EST

After managing a scant 1.4 million viewers for its first episode and 1.1 million for its second, The Beautiful Life was axed by The CW in early fall.

But because the series aired against Fox juggernaut Glee, and because producer Ashton Kutcher refuses to believe that so few people would care about something with which he's affiliated, the show is making a unique comback.

As announced by Kutcher himself below, the actor's Katalyst Media will post five episodes of The Beautiful Life online and keep them there for six months.

If the Webisodes receive enough hits, more of them will be produced.

The Beautiful Life Announcement

Said Karey Burke, head of television for Katalyst:

“We spend months if not years on a product. We put it out on the television, we let the viewers vote, we get our ratings. If it doesn’t work, we throw it away and start over with something completely different as opposed to tinkering and tweaking and changing the program. What’s exciting is to think about taking a program like this that has a very short shelf life and giving a chance for the brand to live.”

Will this experiment succeed? It's possible. Kutcher does have 4.1 million Twitter followers, after all.

Then again, the series still stars Mischa Barton.

YOU CAN WATCH THE FIRST THREE EPISODES RIGHT NOW, IN OUR SHOW VIDEO SECTION.

The Beautiful Life: Canceled!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:24:25 EST

We have our first casuality of the TV season.

The Beautiful Life has been canceled by The CW, following a pair of terribly rated episodes. The second garnered barely one million viewers. That's fewer than the number of people that follow producer Ashton Kutcher on Twitter!

For now, the network will run reruns of Melrose Place on Wednesday at 9 p.m. However, The CW is likely to replace this series with Life UnExpected, a drama with a silly name, but early, critical raves.

Earlier this week, The CW picked up One Tree Hill for an entire season; and agreed to additional episode of Melrose Place and Vampire Diaries.

The Beautiful Life Recap: "The Beautiful Aftermath"

steve@iscribelimited.com (Steve Marsi) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:01:46 EST

The second episode of The Beautiful Life featured Chris struggling (again) to adjust to the fast-paced world of NYC modeling, while sparks continued to fly with Raina.

Meanwhile, Isaac got himself in even deeper with Vivienne and their "arrangement," as Sonja struggled to keep her secret from the press, then opened up to Cole.

What else went down on last night's episode of The Beautiful Life: TBL? Is the program showing any promise or do you think it's on the fast track to cancellation?

Read our episode guide to "The Beautiful Aftermath" and tell us what you think ...

Cole and Sonja are pretty much the stars of the modeling world.

Among our favorite The Beautiful Life quotes from the evening were...

Cole: [to Chris] If you're looking for compliments, you're in the wrong business. I was once told I was too tall, too short, too fat and too thin all in the same day. | permalink

Isaac: I need three thousand dollars.
Vivienne: How seriously?
Isaac: Very seriously. | permalink

Cole: You only have one chance to get this right. I can set you up with the right photographer.
Chris: Why should I trust you?
Cole: Because I like Raina. And for whatever reason she seems to like you.
Chris: Make the call. | permalink

Raina: Maybe you can stay in my room tonight ...
Chris: On the floor?
Raina: There's only one way to find out. | permalink

The Beautiful Life Photos from "The Beautiful Aftermath"

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:10:30 EST

On this week's episode of The Beautiful Life...

... Chris thinks his modeling career is over;
... Claudia tells Raina that she needs to focus more on her profession;
... Isaac confronts guest star Jaime Murray (Dexter) about her behavior towards him;
... Marissa accuses Sonja of stealing the Versace campaign from her.

Tune in to The CW to see how each of these developments turns out, return to TV Fanatic tomorrow for a full recap, complete with The Beautiful Life quotes and analysis; and click on the photos below for episode stills from "The Beautiful Aftermath."

The Beautiful Life Cast Dishes on The Beautiful Life Characters

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:59:56 EST

If you missed last week's series premiere of The Beautiful Life, you weren't exactly alone.

The CW show garnered less-than-stellar ratings, failing to attract even two million viewers.

Fortunately, if you wanna give the series a shot tomorrow night, you can easily catch up on a pair of the characters.

In the interviews below, stars Mischa Barton and Sara Paxton dish on Sonja Stone and Raina Mayer, respectively. Watch and learn...

Get to Know Sonja Stone

Get to Know Raina Mayer

The Beautiful Life Recap: "Pilot"

steve@iscribelimited.com (Steve Marsi) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:22:05 EST

The pilot episode of The Beautiful Life was surprisingly fast-paced, with dark story lines, edgy filming and some hot new characters that were even a little bit likable.

There was also some dialogue that we think a 12-year-old probably wrote, tons of cliches and the unintentional comedy that is Mischa Barton. So it was hit or miss.

What went down on last night's The Beautiful Life: TBL? Follow the link for our detailed pilot episode guide, and tell us what you think by leaving comments below.

Raina (Sara Paxton) and Chris (Ben Hollingsworth) are models with hearts of gold.

There were plenty of cheesy lines last night, without question, but that doesn't mean they were all bad. Among our favorite The Beautiful Life quotes from the evening were...

Chris: I'm not cut out for this.
Raina: Is anyone? | permalink

Cole: Enjoying your date?
Chris: It's not a date. Simon's just helping me get started.
Cole: Yeah. Pretty sure you're the only one who believes that. | permalink

Marisa: [on Sonja] Pathetic. She's so over. | permalink

Raina: [to Chris] Just relax. Listen to the music. Imagine you're in the shower. Shut your eyes. You're in the shower. The water's warm. Can you feel it? Breathe in the heat. The stem. Let the warm water fall ... all around you. Open your eyes. | permalink

Marisa: [to Raina] Get used to it - every model in New York hating you. You're having your moment. | permalink

Sonja: Don't you dare feel sorry for me. This'll be you in a few years. Just you wait. | permalink

Chris: Everyone who lives here's a model?
Raina: Crazy right? You okay?
Chris: Yeah, it's just, everything's moving kinda fast.
Raina: Welcome to New York. | permalink

The Beautiful Life Makes Like Gossip Girl

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:30:37 EST

Say this about The CW: it's learning from its own success.

Considering the rabid popularity of Gossip Girl, the network is hyping its new series - The Beautiful Life - with a series of video previews that sound an awful lot like the opening of every episode of the program The CW hopes to emulate.

Any Gossip Girl fan will know what we mean as they check out the following trailers. Each begins with: Hey Fashionistas, TBL magazine here...

Sound familiar? We thought so. Too bad Mischa Barton will never be Blake Lively.

The Beautiful Life Preview

Trailer for The Beautiful Life

Starting this week, The Beautiful Life airs Wednesday nights on The CW. There's been talk of a crossover with Gossip Girl, a marketing ploy that would do wonders for the new series.

XOXO, The Beautiful Life...

Eric Balfour Lands Role on The Beautiful Life

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:51:57 EST

Fans of The OC hoping for an Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson reunion will need to keep waiting.

But this might satisfy their craving for a reminder of the formerly great Fox series: Eric Balfour, who played Theresa's boyfriend on The OC, has landed a recurring role in The Beautiful Life, The CW series that debuts tomorrow night and co-stars Mischa Barton.

Balfour will portray Eric, a charming rival to Elle Macpherson's Claudia. He works for a competing modeling agency.

Aside from The OC, Balfour has appeared on 24 and The West Wing.

Corbin Bleu Speaks on The Beautiful Life, Character

steve@iscribelimited.com (Steve Marsi) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:03:44 EST

There's been plenty of hype about CW's The Beautiful Life (including some naked promos, appropriate for a series about modeling) so far this summer.

But we've heard little from the actors and actresses themselves, save for the troubled, unpredictable star Mischa Barton possibly trying to end herself.

Well, former High School Musical star Corbin Bleu recently opened up a bit about his character, Isaac, on the new series, saying "He bounces back and forth between modeling and the music world. Out of all the characters, he has very good morals."

Corbin Bleu (right) is coming into his own as a young actor.

"He wants to do well and be legit about it. This woman (modeling agency boss Claudia Foster, played by Elle MacPherson) comes about and really tries to pry at him."

"He's being kept. This is not what he wants, and he gets desperate at certain points."

Sounds a little more complex than the likes of High School Musical. We're looking forward to seeing Corbin & Co. on The Beautiful Life: TBL this fall.

Billy Magnussen to Guest Star on The Beautiful Life

steve@iscribelimited.com (Steve Marsi) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:57:28 EST

The Beautiful Life just got a little more beautiful - if that's even possible.

According to TV Guide, As the World Turns' Billy Magnussen will guest star in multiple episodes as the older brother of main character Raina (Sara Paxton).

His story arc will offer insight into the checkered past of Raina's family, which might explain why she decided to leave home to become a model at age 15.

Earlier today, we reported that Ed Quinn joined the cast. Previously this week, it was reported that the show's roster will also include actress Gal Gadot.

With all these recent castings and the recent sexy promos for the new series, we are counting down the days until the debut of The Beautiful Life: TBL.

Billy Magnussen is coming to The Beautiful Life.