A&E 'Psycho' Prequel Series 'Bates Motel' Will Be A Cross Between 'Twin Peaks' & 'Smallville'

Television

by Kevin Jagernauth
July 2, 2012 2:36 PM
1 Comment

It's a very good time to be an Alfred Hitchcock fan these days (and if you're not a fan, you're doing it wrong). Not only are there two feature films on the way -- the BBC/HBO production "The Girl" with Toby Jones and Sienna Miller and Fox Searchlight's "Hitchcock" with Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel and many many more -- but on September 25th, Universal will be dropping a 15 movie strong boxset "Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection" on Blu-ray. But if all that isn't enough to sate your appetite, Hitch is headed to the small screen as well. Sort of.

First revealed earlier this year, "Lost" and "Friday Night Lights" folks Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin, having been working on "Bates Motel," a prequel of sorts to "Psycho." Well, A&E must really like what they've been seeing as THR reports, they've skipped the whole pilot stage, and gone ahead an ordered up ten episodes of the show. Described as a cross between "Twin Peaks" and "Smallville" (huh?), the show will take place before the events in "Psycho," showing the relationship between a teenage Norman Bates and his mother, and explain the back story of how he wound up a serial killer.

Things are moving quickly with casting underway and production to begin soon for a 2013 premiere on the network. Anthony Cipriano ("Twelve And Holding" starring a pre-fame Jeremy Renner) penned the pilot and we're curious about this -- sort of. We kind of already know what drove Norman Bates over the edge, so we're not sure what this series will add that isn't already there without drilling it needlessly into our heads. But it can't be any worse than "Psycho IV: The Beginning" right?

Television