A new take on Hannibal Lecter

"l want to help you, Will. You'd be more comfortable if you relaxed with yourself! We don't invent our natures, they're issued to us with our lungs and pancreas and everything else. Why fight it?" — Dr. Hannibal Lecter, "Manhunter"

Some movies don't need to be weekly TV shows. I said this when looking at "Bates Motel," an attempted weekly prequel show that's meant to explain how Norman Bates got to be Norman Bates of "Psycho." I didn't care for the premise and rejected the notion that could make for a compelling series. A&E just picked it up for season two, so I guess it's doing fine without me.

Still, some things don't need to be made. I sort of felt the same way about "Hannibal," NBC's new series that serves as a prequel to the stories by Thomas Harris that have become famous films. Of course, when we talk about Hannibal Lecter, most people think of "Silence of the Lambs." And why not? It's a great film, one of only three to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.

But before "Silence of the Lambs" came "Manhunter." The film — directed by Michael Mann and released in 1986 — was about an FBI profiler, Will Graham, and Lector, already in jail. It was evident that Graham caught Lecter, and that they had a past. And Graham turned to Lecter, despite the baggage there, to help him catch a killer.

But the question remained, what happened before that point? What was Graham and Lecter's history. Now, I confess, I haven't read the Harris novels, so maybe those questions are answered there. But for those that have simply followed Lecter on film, the show "Hannibal" seeks to fill in those gaps. And, based on the pilot, it might be a far more intriguing journey than one might have imagined.

The show centers on Graham (Hugh Dancy) in his work for the FBI and lead agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne). Graham is great at getting into a killer's head and being able to understand how and why they did what they did. That kind of insight helps Graham capture these killers. It's also what gives him a hard time connecting to the real world.

Enter Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikklesen), there to provide a psychological profile of Graham. But what Graham — and the rest of the world of the show — don't realize is that Lecter isn't what he seems.

The show was developed by Bryan Fuller, who is best known for a more comedic approach. He used that well with the critically adored but quickly cancelled "Pushing Daisies" and the eclectic show "Wonderfalls." But there is no light-hearted spirit with "Hannibal." He is working with a group of technical personnel and producers that have gone dark before with shows like "Dexter" and movies like "30 Days of Night." And all that fuses together brilliantly with "Hannibal" — at least it did in the pilot.

I wasn't excited about the prospect of this show when I heard about it, but seeing how it's been put into practice makes me think this might be the perfect prequel to the movies we've come to know and love. Only time will tell.

Pilot Grade: A-