'Bates Motel' Casts Female Lead

Norma Bates (Norman Bates's mother) will be played by Oscar nominated actress (Up in the Air) Vera Farmiga in the upcoming A&E series that will serve as a prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock directed 'Psycho.'   (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

The article from The Hollywood Reporter's LIVE FEED blog mentions that the series has been described as a "contemporary exploration of Norman Bate's formative years.  So if the series is set in the present and not a period piece, referring to it as a prequel may be a bit misleading.

Some commentators have expressed their displeasure with television making yet another prequel.  They've even singled out A&E specifically for abandoning the Arts and Entertainments that it originally stood for back in the '90s.  However, isn't scripted television a step up from the reality garbage that has aired on the network for the past decade.