Variety is reporting that cancer-stricken Roadhouse vet Patrick Swayze will star in a new TV series called The Beast. Alas, the show does not, as the name might imply, fall into the sci fi genre. (Swayze with tentacles!?). Nor will it be a re-imagining of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale in the manner of the Linda Hamilton-helmed late-Eighties TV masterpiece of the same name. (Swayze with a cleft palate and furry face?!). Instead, it will follow the trials and tribulations of a renegade FBI agent and his straight-laced partner. (Swayze with a badge and a bad attitude.) Yawn. The good news is that the green-light portends a clean bill of health for the actor, whose diagnosis of pancreatic cancer back in March seemed bleak as fuck. Being deeply involved with an on-going TV project doesn't guarantee that Swayze's out of the woods, but one would think that if he was getting ready to sing his swan song, he'd opt for something a bit more prestigious ... Like, say, a re-imagining of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale in the manner of the Linda Hamilton-helmed late-Eighties TV masterpiece (see above).