A&E devloping Psycho prequel series

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Enterprise is Great, Jan 14, 2012.

  1. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2009
    Location:
    New York City
    a poster only.

    source and poster here
    I will still want to check this out. On cable I think this will offer them the time to play out the suspense and character development ala Mad Men style. Is this to be set in the 1950s?
     
  2. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2003
    Location:
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
    Call me crazy, but this could actually be done well--with the right direction, casting, writing. Who would have thought that a series about a chemistry teacher cooking meth or a protagonist serial killer could be successful? They were.

    With the proper time to develop characters--it might work. Maybe. Of course it could be a disaster, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Then I'm a completely psychotic and morbid person.
     
  3. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Location:
    Tatoinne
    That name, Dylan, didn't sit right with me, assuming they're being true to the time period and the character would have been born, what, in the 1930s?

    Then it hit me, people started to name their kids Dylan because of Bob Dylan (and therefore indirectly, Dylan Thomas). And sure enough, the name dates only from 1966 in America.

    Hmm. Time travel?
     
  4. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2003
    Location:
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
    That's true. It does ring a bit odd for the 1950s. It would be like having a female character named Madison or Taylor set in the 50s. You never heard the name Madison for girl until the early 80s after the movie Splash came out, and Taylor didn't come into prominence for girls until the 1980s either.

    To this day, I HATE the name Taylor for a girl because it evokes the wholly masculine image of Charlton Heston running around in a loin cloth in Planet of the Apes. Taylor the astronaut/human ape.
     
  5. Admiral James Kirk

    Admiral James Kirk Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2001
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Psycho II was a fine sequel and a top notch thriller in it's own right. Nothing mediocre about it whatsoever. Psycho IV was a poor movie though I don't blame Anthony Perkins, Joe Stefano or Olivia Hussey. I put it all on Universal hiring noted hack Mick Garris. Garris couldn't direct his way out of a 7-Eleven parking lot much way a prequel to a Hitchcock classic.
     
  6. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I don't think they've actually said that this will be set in the 50s. Since it's a re-imagining, it could very well be set in the present.
     
  7. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Location:
    Tatoinne
    If it's modern day, ten demerits!
     
  8. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Indeed. That would make me much less likely to check it out.
     
  9. Admiral James Kirk

    Admiral James Kirk Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2001
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Part of the fun of a Psycho prequel is making it a period piece!
     
  10. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2003
    Location:
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
    I'm sure it's not set in the present. If it were, they'd call it a reboot. TPTB are pointedly calling it a prequel in all the print descriptions. The sign in the poster is not a modern hotel sign. I'd bet my paycheck it's set in the 1950s. Norman simply couldn't get away with everything he did, including keeping a dead body, in a present day setting. The whole nature of the story, how isolated he is--the fact that no one came snooping around from child protective services even though a well known crazy woman had a child with her....it just wouldn't work in the internet age. Norman could google mental illness.

    No, it's a prequel. It's set in the past. And I agree that Psycho II was a good film. It had the saddest music I think I've ever heard in a movie. Google it and it really sets a tragic tone. The more I think about this series--the more I think it could work.
     
  11. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I hope you're right. It has enough going against it as it is. :rommie:
     
  12. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 11, 2008
    Location:
    Oregon
    Crack reporting from the AV Club:
    Having perhaps realized that it might otherwise be a rehash of the TV movie Psycho IV: The Beginning, the Carlton Cuse-produced series has been revealed (via a script leak to Shock Till You Drop) to be less straight prequel than contemporary reimagining, with all the creative liberties and cell phones that implies.

    On that note, the recent casting of Max Thieriot also answered the question of "Who will play Norman Bates' motorcycle-riding, rebellious, James Dean-like brother Dylan?" that was likely never asked, because Norman doesn't have an older brother, because his being an only child and thus his mother's best friend is seemingly crucial to their weird dynamic. But in this new, more modern take on Psycho lore, Dylan is as much a part of Norman's world as his trying out for the track team, going to wild high school parties, hanging out with a quartet of rebellious teen girls, and sneaking looks at Japanese manga comics filled with "young, Asian girls in various states of sexual slavery." Boy, for his mother to compete with all of that, she must be super sexy. Maybe they should just forego the Psycho connection entirely and rename this Sexy Mom Motel?
     
  13. Beagleman

    Beagleman Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2003
    Location:
    Same planet as yours.
    What the..!? :lol: Oh my god, this is gonna be so much fun, get the popcorn out and watch heads explode! :D:techman:
     
  14. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Location:
    Tatoinne
    Obviously, mommy loved her sexy James Dean-esque son more than Norman, whose pathological jealousy is what sparked his serial killer career. ;)
     
  15. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I blame the comic books.
     
  16. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2004
    Location:
    The Island
    Doctor Wertham...what a nut.
     
  17. Admiral James Kirk

    Admiral James Kirk Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2001
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ

    Goldsmith was great! :)

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsD12cIRNrw[/yt]
     
  18. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2003
    Location:
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
    That's it right there. That refrain breaks my heart. It screams loneliness and grief. Norman's tragedy that turned deadly for all.

    A contemporary reimagining? I don't know about that. Of course, it may well be good, but I just don't know. I'll give it a chance, but it'll have to hook me very quickly. For me, the period piece would have been more effective. Show Norman as a normal young man, desperate to be good, struggling against his mother's illness as we know he's condemned to the same fate. It could have been compelling with skilled enough writing.
     
  19. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2004
    Location:
    The Island
    Nestor Carbonell, Mike Vogel join A&E's "Bates Motel"

     
  20. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    For the 21st century, everybody must be a psycho. :rommie: