This busted TV pilot film is set in the sinister family-operated motel made infamous by Hitchcock's Psycho. Former mental patient Bud Cort inherits the motel from its cross-dressing owner Norman Bates (played in Psycho by Anthony Perkins, who wisely passed up this TV film). With the help of runaway teen Lori Petty, Cort renovates the motel and hopes to re-open for business. Unfortunately the joint is haunted, thus it attracts only devotees of the Supernatural. Bates Motel was aimed at teenagers, who turned away in droves. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi