What I have to commend Bates Motel on more than anything (even Vera Farmiga‘s exceptional insanity) is that it doesn’t hide behind mystery to an absurd point, yet it doesn’t burn through plots too quickly.  The pacing is, in a word, excellent.  We’re a little more than halfway through the first season now, and we’ve already had one big mysteries explained and one major plot ended, and yet knowing the “truth,” as it were, hasn’t diminished from the experience — in fact, it has opened up new avenues for drama.  Bates Motel doesn’t drive us crazy with waiting for certain revelations, but rewards our patience with small favors.  Hit the jump for why you should never threaten Norma in front of Norman.

The A&E drama series Bates Motel (which was recently renewed for a second season) gives viewers an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates’ (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years.  This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho reveals the dark, twisted backstory and shows first-hand just how deep the relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly goes, as she helps forge the most famous serial killer of them all.  The show also stars Max Thieriot, Nicola Peltz, Olivia Cooke, Nestor Carbonell and Mike Vogel.

During this exclusive interview with Collider, executive producers/writers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin talked about how they each came to be involved with Bates Motel, how much they use Psycho as an inspiration, just how crucial the casting of Norman and Norma Bates was, the overall story they’re looking to tell this season, how far ahead they plan out the story, what it will add to the show when guests start checking in to the Bates Motel, and the importance of transmedia to make viewers more directly active with the show.  Cuse also talked about how he’ll divide his time, if the adaptation of The Strain goes into production at FX.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

A&E’s Psycho prequel series will be continuing for at least another year.  The network announced today that it has ordered a second season of Bates Motel, which premiered a couple of weeks ago to solid ratings and positive reviews.  The drama series comes from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights alum Kerry Ehrin and centers on the relationship between a teenage Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  The show is similar to Lost in that it has set up a number of mysteries in its first few episodes, some of which may or may not be resolved by season’s end.  Hit the jump for more, including the full press release.

The new A&E drama series Bates Motel gives viewers an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates’ (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years.  This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho reveals the dark, twisted backstory and shows first-hand just how deep the relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly goes, as she helps forge the most famous serial killer of them all.  The show also stars Max Thieriot, Nicola Peltz, Olivia Cooke, Nestor Carbonell and Mike Vogel.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, show star Freddie Highmore talked about why he was intrigued by the show and the character, why it’s alright to identify with Norman Bates, who this version of Norman is when the story picks up, working with co-star Vera Farmiga, what it was like to see the sets for the house and the Bates Motel, how throwing a brother (Thieriot) into the mix affects things, and just how dark things will get with the show.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The first full trailer for A&E’s upcoming Psycho prequel series Bates Motel has been released, and it’s sufficiently tantalizing.  The drama comes from executive producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) and centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  This trailer gives us our first look at extended footage from the show, and it appears to be equal parts intense, mysterious, and nuts.  I have high hopes for this one.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Vogel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E on March 18th.

A&E has released a new teaser and poster for its upcoming Psycho prequel series Bates Motel.  The drama comes from executive producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) and centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  This teaser trailer is the creepiest yet, unless you think sitting on a bed with your mother and staring ominously is normal behavior.

Hit the jump to check out the new trailer and poster, and click here to check out five more tantalizing teaser posters.  The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Vogel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E on March 18th. 

A&E has released five rather disturbing teaser posters for the upcoming new drama series Bates Motel.  The show acts as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s horror classic Psycho, as it centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  These posters show that there’s much more going on in Bates Motel than meets the eye, and I continue to get a strong Twin Peaks vibe from the series.  Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights alum Kerry Ehrin are running things behind the scenes, so here’s hoping the full series delivers.

Hit the jump to check out the teaser posters, and click here to watch the first full trailer for the show.  The series also stars The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Vogel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E on March 18th.

The TCA’s got underway today (look for our extensive television coverage soon), and as part of the event, premiere dates for a few upcoming series were announced.  First up, A&E confirmed that the Psycho prequel show Bates Motel will premiere on Monday, March 18th.  The series, from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights’ Kerry Ehrin, serves as a prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock classic and centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).

Additionally, HBO announced that the five-part WWI-era miniseries Parade’s End will debut on February 26th.  The adaptation of Madox Ford’s novel series stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, and Adelaide Clemens and centers on an English aristocrat trying to adjust to the social upheaval around him.  And finally, the much-anticipated new HBO comedy series from Christopher Guest, Family Tree, will premiere this coming spring.  All in all, there’s plenty of exciting TV to look forward to in the coming year.

A couple of tantalizing teaser trailers for A&E’s upcoming Psycho prequel series Bates Motel have been released.  We just recently saw a batch of images from the show that gave us a look at Freddie Highmore as the legendary Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his mother, Norma, and at the time I noted a bit of a Twin Peaks vibe.  That comparison seems even more valid after these two trailers, which tease a couple of haunting scenarios and hint that everything might not be what it seems at the eponymous Bates Motel.  The series comes from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights alum Kelly Ehrin, so I’ve got high hopes for this one.

Hit the jump to watch the teaser trailers.  The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Voel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E in Spring 2013.

We recently got our first look at A&E’s highly anticipated Psycho prequel series Bates Motel by way of a couple of images of stars Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga as Norman and Norma Bates, and now a large batch of new images from the series has landed online.  The drama from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights alum Kerry Ehrin centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates and his mother, and the show looks to feature an appropriately colorful cast of characters.  There’s a bit of a Twin Peaks feel from these images, so hopefully Cuse and Ehrin have crafted a creepy and fun take on the burgeoning serial killer.  A&E ordered Bates Motel straight to series instead of waiting to see a pilot first, so the show is poised to debut in Spring 2013.

Hit the jump to check out the images which feature Max Thieriot as Norman’s older brother Dylan, Olivia Cooke as classmate and fellow outcast Emma Decody, Mike Vogel as Deputy Zach Shelby, and Lost alum Nestor Carbonell as town Sheriff, Alex Romero.

Legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock is having a banner year popularity-wise between two feature films and a fantastic Blu-ray set, and it looks as if the sudden Hitch boom is likely to extend well into 2013.  The first image from the A&E TV series Bates Motel has landed online, giving us a first look at Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as young Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his loving (?) mother.  Developed by former Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights’ Kerry Ehrin, the series will explore the relationship between future psycho Norman Bates and his mother Norma.

Hit the jump to check out the first image.  Bates Motel will debut on A&E in Spring 2013.

Michael Bay is expanding his television interests.  The explosions feature film director recently set up a pirate drama at Starz called Black Sails, and now THR reports that he’ll produce a cop drama at A&E called Occult through his Platinum Dunes banner.  The story will center on an FBI agent who has returned from administrative leave after going off the deep end while investigating his wife’s disappearance. Eager to be back on the job, he is paired with an agent with her own complicated backstory who specializes in the occult.  The duo set out to solve cases as part of the newly formed occult crimes task force.  James Wong, who wrote and directed the first and third Final Destination films, will pen the script.  He’s no stranger to television, as he previously wrote for 21 Jump Street, The X-Files, and American Horror Story.

Occult is one of a number of pilots that A&E is developing for the upcoming season, including a Psycho prequel series called Bates Motel from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse.  The order is not to series, so the network will look at the pilot before committing to further episodes of Occult.

Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) may be better known for her film work in the last few years, but she’s no stranger to TV (having starred in the short-lived NBC series Undercover as Alex Cross, as well asDetective Susan Branca in USA’s Touch Evil) or the horror genre (she’s appeared in the Omen where she showed she has one hell of a scream), the marriage of which will result in the upcoming A&E series Bates Motel.

The 10-episode series, which was sent straight to order without a pilot, will serve as a prequel to the Hitchcock horror classic Psycho.  Though it was originally slated as a miniseries, former Lost-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Parenthood‘s Kerry Ehrin, who will serve as executive producers and writers, decided to rework it into a full series.  For more on Farmiga’s role, hit the jump.

While many fans directed their love/hate mail to J.J. Abrams during Lost’s six-season run, the truth is that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were the actual brains behind the day-to-day running of the series. The two were the showrunners for the duration of the show’s life while Abrams simply served as an executive producer (though he was crucial to developing the pilot and the overall idea for the groundbreaking series). Lindelof took a fairly prolific route following the series finale with writing gigs on Cowboys & Aliens, Star Trek 2, and Prometheus, but many fans have been waiting to see what Cuse would tackle post-Lost. It appears we have our answer, as Cuse has just joined the A&E series The Bates Motel as an executive producer. Hit the jump for more.

The A&E Network mini-series, Bag of Bones, based on the #1 best-selling novel from Stephen King and premiering on December 11^th and 12^th, is a ghost story of grief and lost love, with an innocent child caught up in the secrets of Dark Score Lake. When best-selling novelist Mike Noonan (Pierce Brosnan) is unable to stop grieving after the sudden death of his wife (Annabeth Gish), he returns to the couple’s lakeside retreat in western Maine, with the hope that it will get him over his current problem with writer’s block. While there, Noonan befriends an attractive young widow (Melissa George) and her daughter (Caitlin Carmichael), and begins having nightmares and mysterious ghostly visitations from blues singer Sara Tidwell (Anika Noni Rose), whose spirit lingers in the house. As everything escalates, Noonan realizes that the town is haunted by many secrets from its dark past.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, director Mick Garris talked about what he loves about the Bag of Bones story, why it works better in the mini-series format, the challenges of telling a movie-quality story on a TV budget and schedule, his friendship with Stephen King and why they collaborate so well together, the importance of assembling such a talented cast of actors, and that he hopes viewers really feel the passion of the story. He also talked about wanting to develop one of his own upcoming novellas into a film. Check out what he had to say after the jump: