'Beauty and the Beast: First look at Kristin Kreuk's return to The CW

The CW's newest Thursday night drama, "Beauty and the Beast," will have a lot to live up to when it inherits the 9 p.m. post-"The Vampire Diaries" time slot in the fall. The network announced that the shows will be paired together on its official Fall 2012 TV schedule, bringing former "Smallville" star Kristin Kreuk back to the network on the night where she used to reside.

"'Beauty and the Beast' takes a classic love story and adds a procedural element," says CW President Mark Pedowitz. While "The Secret Circle" didn't survive more than one year after the excellence of "TVD," "B&B's" supernatural element and CW royalty make the two shows a perfect match in theory. Check out the description of the show (and the first photo of Kreuk and her handsome beast, played by Jay Ryan) and let us know if you agree!

Here's The CW's description of the show:

Detective Catherine Chandler (Kreuk) is a smart, no-nonsense homicide detective. Several years earlier, Catherine witnessed the murder of her mother at the hands of two gunmen. Catherine would have been killed too, but someone -- or something -- saved her. No one has ever believed her, but she knows it wasn't an animal that attacked the assassins...it was human. Years have passed, and Catherine is a strong, confident, capable police officer, working alongside her equally talented partner, Tess (Nina Lisandrello). While investigating a murder, Catherine discovers a clue that leads her to a handsome doctor named Vincent Keller (Ryan), who was reportedly killed by enemy fire while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. Catherine learns that Vincent is actually still alive and that it was he who saved her many years before. For mysterious reasons that have forced him to live outside of traditional society, Vincent has been in hiding for the past 10 years to guard his secret -- when he is enraged, he becomes a terrifying beast, unable to control his super-strength and heightened senses. Catherine agrees to protect his identity in return for any insight he may have into her mother's murder. Thus begins a complex relationship between Catherine and Vincent, who are powerfully drawn to each other yet understand that their connection is extremely dangerous for both of them.