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8 Movies That Deserve A TV Prequel Series

Bates Motel is an interesting idea for a series (and frankly, so is The Carrie Diaries),but like Carrie Bradshaw I have to wonder: Have we nailed the art of the movie prequel TV series yet? I think it remains to be seen.

Today, in honor of A&E's new show about Norman Bates' bizarre past, I say we examine eight movies that could inspire fabulous prequel series. I snuck in two ideas for other Hitchcock prequels in case that's an easy sell right now. Grab your most hideous bridesmaid gown and suggest your options for prequel-worthy movies below.

1.Fatal Attraction

Face it: Alex Forrest should be one of the most interesting characters of the '80s, but because Fatal Attraction corners her into being a two-dimensional psychotic loon, she's never quite as humanized as she should be (despite Glenn Close's exceptional performance). A prequel series would rectify this; I'd love to see the beginnings of Alex's psychosis, particularly when it's established in context with her upbringing and family. As she confronts her mental illness and still goes after well-to-do men with unhinged fervor, she might actually become a sympathetic character and not a horrifying caricature who keeps coming back from the dead.

2.Brokeback Mountain

I like the idea of a Brokeback Mountain prequel because, well, I want Brokeback Mountain to go on forever. But I also like it since Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal's character) is so mysterious and sinister that I'd love to find out where his (homo)sexual confidence comes from. Has he been to Tijuana a few times before? Has he been in love with a men before? And what does his fabulously feathered wife (Anne Hathaway) actually know about his double life?

3.Ordinary People

Ordinary People is about a family that falls apart ostensibly because of a son's death, but the matriarch at the center of the film (Mary Tyler Moore) is so chilly and scary that I'd actually like to see more of her when things were going "well" -- when she was actively favoring her older son and sort of forgetting that meek, corduroy-clad Conrad (Timothy Hutton) existed. Ordinary People may be awesome because it explores the world of a family that's reached its bleakest hour, but the origins of that bleakness are just as fascinating.

4. Bridesmaids

Though Bridesmaids offers up a bunch of funny scenes with Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, and the still-underrated Wendi McLendon-Covey, my actual favorite part of the movie may be the beginning, when Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig) and Lillian Donovan (Maya Rudolph) chitchat over cheap lunch and sneak into outdoor yoga classes without paying. Wiig gives such a natural, funny performance that I'd be totally down with watching her struggle to keep her job at a jewelry shop while Rudolph deadpanned quips right alongside her. Imagine if 2 Broke Girls featured women who were willingly goofy, flawed,and mature.

5.Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

By the time George and Martha appear on screen in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, they've been through a lifetime of pangs, woes, and arguments. The cantankerous couple has invented a method of survival that involves fabricating the existence of a child, and that's just insane enough to warrant an origin story. How does the "hysterical pregnancy" come to be? Who started it? And how many couples (besides Nick and Honey) have they acted out their little "games" for? Screw Liz and Dick, here's what I want: to see George and Martha contrive new games and new dramas every week for an unsuspecting invited couple. Why doesn't this exist? Or is this what The Middle is about?

6. Shadow of a Doubt

Hitchcock's creepy story about a beloved uncle (Joseph Cotten) whose niece (Teresa Wright) comes to discover his nefarious ways is a bona fide treasure. Hitchcock famously considered it his best film, but part of the reason for that is the depth of Cotten's two-faced mystique. Where has he been? Who has he killed? How many names has he had? While I'm aware that Dexter is a popular and long-running series, I like the jaunty, Mad Men-style wickedness to Cotten's character. I'd love to see this charming sociopath work his magic in the glamorous '30s. Related: I would also settle for a Marnie prequel series.

7. Vertigo

My one critique of Vertigo is this: You've got to be kidding me. You're telling me this Scotty fellow (James Stewart) loses the love of his life, rediscovers her, essentially cajoles her into revealing that she tried to frame him for murder, and actually gets her to fall in love with him. It's a thrilling idea, and there's a lot that's completely distinct about Vertigo's eerie storytelling, but I can't help wondering if the back-story of Kim Novak's deceitful character would be cooler to explore. The platinum blonde muse who lures men into trouble simply by being unattainable? That is right up my alley. And it'd give January Jones a chance to be an interesting icy character again.

8.Paris Is Burning

Paris is Burningis an undeniably fabulous documentary. It is inspiring, bleak, bad-ass, hilarious, and above all else, real. We caught glimpses of a dozen stories in its exploration of vogueing balls of the late '80s, and I cannot for the life of me understand why we haven't seen a show about the rivalries and very close friendships in those houses. Give me a Dorian Corey type who throws mean side-eye at a nervy Venus Xtravaganza type. Give me a skilled Willi Ninja who forges a rapport with Pepper LaBeija. How isn't this a show. How isn't this my favorite show.

Your turn. What prequel series would you watch?

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