It’s Hitchcock mania! Just to recap, Toby Jones will star as Alfred Hitchcock in “The Girl” for HBO, debuting October 20. Anthony Hopkins will star as Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock hitting theaters next year. And Universal will debut the Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection on Blu-ray on September 25. And now there’s going to be a television prequel to Psycho starring Vera Famiga as Mrs. Bates. That’s a whole lotta Hitch… too bad that last idea is a bad one.
Titled “Bates Motel“, the series will air on A&E and, according to the official synopsis, gives viewers an intimate understanding of how Norman Bates’ psyche developed from his childhood through his teen years. Fans will have access to the dark, twisted backstory and learn first hand how his mother, Norma, and her love damaged Norman, helped forge the most well-known serial killing motel owner in history.
Didn’t we learn anything from Hannibal Rising?
The Hollywood Reporter brings the Farmiga casting news and adds, “It’s been dubbed a cross between ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Smallville’.” Gag. Why not just say it’s going to be gritty like The Dark Knight and mysterious like Inception? Those are buzzy titles as well with a following.
As much as I like Farmiga and the original Psycho, I don’t need to learn any details on why and/or how Norman Bates became the way he became. Nuts is nuts and the character was and is perfect just how Hitchcock left it (note, how Hitchcock left it). There was a television prequel once before, Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990. I never saw it and have no plans to.
As for Norma Bates, I’d prefer to remember her just as we see her above.
