Bates Motel - US Pace

Pisces CloudPisces Cloud Posts: 30,239
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This new series starts on Monday 18th. A mystery/horror show charting the earlier years of Norman Bates and his mother. Starring Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga. I wonder how this one will pan out.

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/tags/bates-motel
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  • MoreTearsMoreTears Posts: 7,025
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    Surely this belongs in the US Shows forum. It is neither science fiction nor fantasy.
  • Pisces CloudPisces Cloud Posts: 30,239
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    I thought it might have a supernatural element in there somewhere or it will turn out to be more of a cult show. Time will tell, though.
  • Matt35Matt35 Posts: 29,727
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    Rather disturbing that some want to see it just to see him and his mother get it on.
  • 007Fusion007Fusion Posts: 3,657
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    I'm looking forward to this as well as the Hannibal series that starts soon. There hasn't really been any decent mid-season shows this year.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 55
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    Matt35 wrote: »
    Rather disturbing that some want to see it just to see him and his mother get it on.

    Followed by.....
    007Fusion wrote: »
    I'm looking forward to this

    :D
  • LMLM Posts: 63,249
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    Yay i have been looking forward to this. Thanks for the reminder of the premiere date.
  • 007Fusion007Fusion Posts: 3,657
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    Followed by.....



    :D

    Funny.....I forget to mention i'm desperately playing the guessing game with what they will call the child.
  • Pisces CloudPisces Cloud Posts: 30,239
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    It seems a bit odd that they've set it in the modern day, when the original was set in the 60s. The reasoning might become clearer, though.
  • Seymour CatSeymour Cat Posts: 1,147
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    It seems a bit odd that they've set it in the modern day, when the original was set in the 60s. The reasoning might become clearer, though.

    I think in the pilot they flee a terminator in a modified Delorean, or something...
  • Pisces CloudPisces Cloud Posts: 30,239
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    I think in the pilot they flee a terminator in a modified Delorean, or something...

    :D:D:p
  • LMLM Posts: 63,249
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    Really can't wait:)
  • silentNatesilentNate Posts: 84,079
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    Wasn't one of the producers of this also on Lost?! :eek:

    Apparently there are nods to the Lost mythology that can be spotted in the first six episodes of Bates Motel! :confused::o
  • silentNatesilentNate Posts: 84,079
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    Copies of the first episode have leaked onto the internet. :(

    I think this just spoils it for those waiting to watch :mad: :o
  • 007Fusion007Fusion Posts: 3,657
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    silentNate wrote: »
    Copies of the first episode have leaked onto the internet. :(

    I think this just spoils it for those waiting to watch :mad: :o

    Well thanks for letting me know!

    I disagree, you can avoid spoilers and message boards until its' official premiere. As for the ratings, it won't make much of a difference (downloaders are a minority).
  • silentNatesilentNate Posts: 84,079
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    Did you spot the Lost reference? ;):o
  • Joe_ZelJoe_Zel Posts: 20,832
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    It seems a bit odd that they've set it in the modern day, when the original was set in the 60s. The reasoning might become clearer, though.

    Because it's a re-imagining.

    The producer said they are building up to how Norman becomes the man from the Hitchcock film but they're not building up to that exact film or limiting themselves to the confines of all the story set up in it.
  • stud u likestud u like Posts: 42,100
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    silentNate wrote: »
    Copies of the first episode have leaked onto the internet. :(

    I think this just spoils it for those waiting to watch :mad: :o

    Why wait?
  • silentNatesilentNate Posts: 84,079
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    Why wait?

    Mother told me to wait...I don't want to upset her as she's been quite highly strung since that weird fella started hanging around outside the motel claiming to be the true owner ;):o
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,305
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    Just watched the pilot and wasn't very impressed at all. The writing is poor, often stretching credibility to breaking point (e.g. Norman, an odd loner, is almost instantly surrounded and hit on by exceptionally good looking girls and invited to a party within a day of moving to a new town...yeah, i don't think so...). The kid playing Norman was very weak too, i know he was probably trying to make the character seem odd and quirky like Anthony Perkins did in the film, but he just came across as extremely wooden instead. Vera Farmiga was fairly good, but she was let down by the clunker of a script.

    I also can't help but feel that it would have been better to have set the show in the 50s so that it actually builds up to the Psycho movie rather than setting it in the present day.

    I may give it another episode to see if it improves at all, but based on the pilot i can see this getting axed (or stabbed in the shower?) after one season.
  • MoreTearsMoreTears Posts: 7,025
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    CJClarke wrote: »
    ...(e.g. Norman, an odd loner, is almost instantly surrounded and hit on by exceptionally good looking girls and invited to a party within a day of moving to a new town...yeah, i don't think so...).

    I actually disagree with most of what you said, but I agree completely with this point. But even that is completely justifiable if the girls are only pretending to be interested in Norman, as a set up for a cruel joke (like making Carrie Prom Queen only to dump pig's blood on her). That would not only make sense, but serve as a foundation for Norman going psycho and getting violent revenge on the girls.
  • LMLM Posts: 63,249
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    I am gonna see if it gets a second series first. I am becoming very funny with shows, as i hate dedicating time to shows that get cancelled, especially in their first season,
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,305
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    MoreTears wrote: »
    I actually disagree with most of what you said, but I agree completely with this point. But even that is completely justifiable if the girls are only pretending to be interested in Norman, as a set up for a cruel joke (like making Carrie Prom Queen only to dump pig's blood on her). That would not only make sense, but serve as a foundation for Norman going psycho and getting violent revenge on the girls.

    That's a fair point, but if that is actually what happens then i think i'd be even less impressed with the writing because that would literally just be a predictable rip-off of Carrie.

    As negative as my last post was, i didn't hate it, i just found it pretty underwhelming, especially as a fan of the original Hitchcock movie, i'll be giving it at least one more episode to convince me to stick with it, i'm hoping that Freddie Highmore grows into the role more as the series progresses though as i really did think he was quite wooden in the pilot. I'm glad you enjoyed it more than i did though MoreTears:)
  • MoreTearsMoreTears Posts: 7,025
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    CJClarke wrote: »
    ...especially as a fan of the original Hitchcock movie...

    One has to let things like that go to enjoy a "reimagining" of a pre-existing "property" (as they call these things in the business). I was disapproving of the project for a long time because I kept seeing it described as a "prequel" to Psycho, but with the TV show set in the modern day, I think the prequel idea is untenable, and that made it possible for me to put anything Psycho-related out of my mind and treat the TV show as something entirely new, with characters unencumbered by any fixed destiny or backstory.

    Here's the way I look at it: As daring as cable TV has become in the US, a pitch to any cable channel -- any channel: HBO, AMC, Showtime, Starz, whatever -- that described a proposed show as being about a twisted mother/teenage son relationship that has incestuous overtones -- well, not only does that pitch get a "no" from any cable TV executive, it probably gets the writer/producer thrown out of the office. But dress up the same pitch in the guise of an iconic film, and suddenly the unpalatable becomes palatable to TV executives. If it took the Psycho brand to get the core relationship in Bates Motel on to TV, I am okay with that. And I will add that to me the really significant thing about that relationship is that it makes the mother possibly the first female lead "anti-hero" character in a US cable TV landscape that has only had men as anti-hero leads (the mob boss in The Sopranos, the corrupt cop in The Shield, the drug dealer in Breaking Bad, etc.). That aspect of Bates Motel makes it legitimately groundbreaking, and I am sure nobody expected A&E -- a channel that has been something of a disgrace -- to be the cable channel that would break this particular ground.
  • silentNatesilentNate Posts: 84,079
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    MoreTears wrote: »
    One has to let things like that go to enjoy a "reimagining" of a pre-existing "property" (as they call these things in the business). I was disapproving of the project for a long time because I kept seeing it described as a "prequel" to Psycho, but with the TV show set in the modern day, I think the prequel idea is untenable, and that made it possible for me to put anything Psycho-related out of my mind and treat the TV show as something entirely new, with characters unencumbered by any fixed destiny or backstory.

    Here's the way I look at it: As daring as cable TV has become in the US, a pitch to any cable channel -- any channel: HBO, AMC, Showtime, Starz, whatever -- that described a proposed show as being about a twisted mother/teenage son relationship that has incestuous overtones -- well, not only does that pitch get a "no" from any cable TV executive, it probably gets the writer/producer thrown out of the office. But dress up the same pitch in the guise of an iconic film, and suddenly the unpalatable becomes palatable to TV executives. If it took the Psycho brand to get the core relationship in Bates Motel on to TV, I am okay with that. And I will add that to me the really significant thing about that relationship is that it makes the mother possibly the first female lead "anti-hero" character in a US cable TV landscape that has only had men as anti-hero leads (the mob boss in The Sopranos, the corrupt cop in The Shield, the drug dealer in Breaking Bad, etc.). That aspect of Bates Motel makes it legitimately groundbreaking, and I am sure nobody expected A&E -- a channel that has been something of a disgrace -- to be the cable channel that would break this particular ground.

    Not sure you should be dissing the channel that gave us Storage Wars but I think a lot of your post is right... my impression of the first episode was that it was a lot darker than most modern TV including The Following and Cult which have failed to deliver anything as disturbing as the scene of sexual assault in the first episode of Bates Motel :eek:

    I'm wondering if we will be routing to Ma Bates and just how disturbing this show will be if it does go down the incest route... which I really can't see American TV or it's viewers wanting :o:(

    Certainly I think this could be a great show without having to go to that extreme :eek:
  • Pisces CloudPisces Cloud Posts: 30,239
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    I thought it was better than what I thought it was going to be. Although, I agree about the teen girls being a bit too far fetched, but there is probably more to it than what first seems. I hope they're not going to go down the Carrie route, though. As for Norman and his mother, I think it's going to turn out to be a case of a fixation/attraction more on his part than hers, as I can't see them going down the incest route, I hope they don't, anyway.
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