‘Bates Motel’ producers want to schedule an end date for the series

(CBR)

Carlton Cuse is bringing an important lesson learned from “Lost” to “Bates Motel.” He and co-producer Kerry Ehrin want to schedule an end date and write toward it, although the precise number of seasons hasn”t been determined yet.

“I feel like we don”t want to do a literal version of what is in the movie, because that would feel anticlimactic,” Variety quotes Cuse as saying at the ATX Television Festival. “The specifics of exactly what happens to them, we have some ideas that I think are good, but it”ll be part of the unique world of our story. This is not a show that should run for 10 years. We feel like this year, we”ll have a pretty good sense of when it”s gonna end … a couple more seasons after that, perhaps? I would hope that we could work that out with Universal and A&E and tell the audience exactly how much longer is left.”

He said the writers would like to have an idea when the end is coming so they can write toward it, unlike a drama like “Grey”s Anatomy,” which is more open-ended.

“Season 7, they start working in a hospital,” Ehrin joked. “It”s gonna be really fun [to write the finale] – when you think of “Psycho,” you see it all from this one point of view, (which is not) from Norman”s. What is Anthony Perkins doing in that house? What was he thinking was going on in there? It”s such a rich, fascinating world that will be super fun to dig into when the time comes.”

“Bates Motel” was renewed for a third season before the second even finished, but premiere date hasn”t been announced.