New A&E Show Premieres to an Impressive 2.4 Million Viewers.
Bates Motel is a raunchy show, to say the least. The first episode, which earned A&E a whopping 2.4 million viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, is making the program one of the most popular on television.
Bates Motel is a television prequel to the genre setting film, “Psycho,” the 1960 American horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and “promises to give television viewers an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates’ psyche unravels through his teenage years,” according to A&E’s website.
The first episode goes like this: Norma Bates is raped by a resentful local, Keith Summers. Norma is eventually saved by Norman, who beats the rapist over the head. When he awakens, he is handcuffed and leers, “You liked it” at Norma. She stabs him to death. All this is done to a backdrop of implied incest. Ya, all this was in the first episode!
Here you have ‘Bates Motel’ in a nutshell. It’s rape, incest and killing wrapped up in one sick and twisted program. Sure to turn off the faint of heart in the first episode, there are clearly enough of you horror hungry TV viewers of primetime to keep the show going. It’s the most popular premiere ever for A&E, and Bob DeBitetto, President and GM of A&E is proud of his TV-14 rated television show.
“We are extremely pleased with the initial viewer response to this edgy and provocative series and are confident that it will continue to draw in new audiences.”
Though the show has garnered positive ratings from critics, parents and right-wing groups like the Culture and Media Institute disagree. “Bates Motel is one of the most despicable attempts at TV ratings in recent memory,” said Dan Gainor, to RadarOnline.com. “A woman is stabbed, handcuffed to a table, beaten and raped. She stabs her rapist eight separate times and kills him… Yet A&E thinks that’s TV-14?”
What do you think? Would you want your 14 year old watching this show? Comment below!
