'Bates Motel' gets a second season Freddie Highmore plays Norman Bates as a teenager and Vera Farmiga plays his mother in "Bates Motel." April 8, 2013, 1:45 p.m. "Bates Motel" will be open another season. A&E ordered a second 10-episode season of the thriller series on Monday after premiering in March to strong ratings and good reviews. The series, designed as a sort of contemporary prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece, "Psycho," stars Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his mother, Norma. As anyone who has seen the film knows, young Norman will eventually wander around his house dressed like his dead mother, whom he keeps in his bed as a mummified skeleton. But that will be a few seasons down the road. In the meantime, the series, executive produced by Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin, will continue to develop the eerie relationship between the pair as they begin to operate their motel in rural Oregon. Just three episodes of the series' 10-episode first season have aired, but the premiere garnered 4.5 million total viewers, making it the highest-rated drama debut in the key demos in A&E's history. Melissa McCarthy as an abusive coach is a slam dunk for 'SNL' Judge Judy will continue her judgment days on CBS through 2017