The new Bates Motel is better than it really has any right to be but I seriously don't know how they could've sustained THIS variation on a weekly basis. Horror anthology shows were rampant in the late'80s/early '90s (Tales from the Cypt/Dark Side, Monsters, Friday the 13th, Freddy's Nightmares, Nightmare Cafe, etc.) but the Love Boat/Fantasy Island guest-of-the-week portion of this pilot doesn't work. 80% of the movie focuses on Alex and Willy, and then Barbara comes along and it totally shifts gears to her story -- suddenly it's like you're watching a completely different movie. If the next episode had monsters under the bed or aliens or whatever, it would've been even harder to swallow (I do have a soft spot for this pilot, but I'm the first to admit that it's a very bitter pill). If it had been more along the lines of the new show, focusing on Alex and Willy's struggle to keep their business afloat with a villain like Tom Fuller/Lila Loomis being hellbent on shutting them down, it might've lasted 13 weeks. The "Twin Peaks" approach sorta works but "The Twilight Zone" doesn't at all.
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