Here’s some excited news from A&E for one of our featured shows here at TV For the Rest of Us. Bates Motel has been renewed for two more seasons! That’s 20 episodes in cable terms. Below is the press release from A&E sharing the good news.
A&E NETWORK GREENLIGHTS TWO MORE SEASONS OF THE ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES “BATES MOTEL”
20 EPISODES ORDERED TO AIR IN 2016
NEW YORK, NY – June 15, 2015 – A&E Network has ordered twenty episodes of the acclaimed drama series, “Bates Motel” from Universal Television it was announced today by Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager, A&E and Lifetime.
“The vision of our incredible creative team has exposed the steady breakdown of the relationship between Norman and Norma Bates,” said Sharenow. “We are thrilled to bring fans two more seasons to witness the next stages of Norman’s transformation into the most notorious psychopath in cinematic history.”
New episodes of “Bates Motel” will begin production later this year and will air over two seasons, starting in 2016.
“Bates Motel” has garnered a truly loyal fan base over the past three seasons. Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air, The Conjuring) in her Emmy-nominated role as Norma Bates, and Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as Norman star alongside Max Thieriot (Disconnect, “Texas Rising”), Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and Nestor Carbonell (“Lost,” The Dark Knight Rises).
The 2015 Critics’ Choice Television Awards just recently nominated Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore for Best Actress and Actor in a Drama Series.
“Bates Motel” serves as a contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho and provides viewers with an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates unravels through his teenage years.
“Bates Motel” is produced by Universal Television for A&E Network. Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers for Carlton Cuse Productions and Kerry Ehrin Productions.
*******************
In not so pleasant but not surprising news, The Returned was cancelled by A&E. The numbers were pretty low for that one, half of what Bates Motel has done. It’s another one and done series for actor Mark Pellegrino. I say there’s always work for him at Supernatural! Ditto for Executive Producer Raelle Tucker. Anyway, sorry for you fans of that show
So glad to hear Bates Motel has been renewed for two more seasons. According to the executive producers, the show was conceived with a five year story arc in mind, so I hope this means they will be able to tell their full story as planned. It really is a very well done show. I thought The Returned was pretty good. It wasn’t quite up to par with the French version, but I thought ti had a lot of potential. And Mark Pellegrino was very good in it. Well, as you say, he’s always welcome back at SPN! Lucifer could always escape the cage, especially next season, with all the chaos The Darkness is sure to bring. Thanks for your report, Alice.
I was pretty pleased to hear the news Roxanne, but not too surprised. It’s a marquee show for the network and despite decreased ratings it still does very well. Given that the producers have said that this show has a beginning, middle, and end planned, these are likely the last two seasons. But who knows, it could go a little longer!