TWIN PEAKS
Premiere Date: April 8, 1990
Finale Date: June 10, 1991
Created By: Mark Frost and David Lynch
Overview: The surrealist, cult-hit drama kicked off with the mystery of “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” With a cast of quirky characters like pie-loving FBI Agent Dale Cooper, oddball Twins Peaks residents like hippie shrink Dr. Jacoby and the prophetic “Log Lady”, the show included sci-fi and supernatural elements (the mystical Black Lodge, the demon known as “BOB”, the backward-talking Man From Another
Place). The show netted boffo ratings early on (nearly 20 million viewers at its peak, with a full third of all television sets in use tuned in to ABC), but by the time it was canceled, it had lost more than 75 percent of its audience. The fissure of its creative mojo is frequently traced back to the reveal of who did indeed kill cheerleader-with-a-secret Laura, in its 15th episode, and the show’s increasing reliance upon esoteric themes.
Just Getting Started: TWIN PEAKS helped launch the careers of Kyle Maclachlan (Agent Cooper), David Duchovny
(Denise), Heather Graham (Annie) and Lara Flynn Boyle (Donna), among others.
We Knew Them When: Daytime alumni on the show included Ray Wise (ex-jamie, LOVE OF LIFE, et al), who played Laura Palmer’s father, Leland; and Ian Buchanan (ex-duke, GH), who played Dick Tremayne.
Celebrity Drop-ins: David Lynch himself played hard-of-hearing FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole.
Leave Me Hanging: In the first season ender, heroine waitress Shelly was left for dead by her abusive husband; drug smuggler Jacques Renault was arrested for Laura’s murder — then smothered to death; and an unknown someone shot Agent Cooper.
Grand Finale: The show’s final episode on ABC featured soapy twists like amnesiac Nadine recovering her memory along with ONLY-IN-TWIN-PEAKS turns like Agent Cooper vanishing in the forest and rematerializing in another dimension, where his soul became trapped.
Spin Cycle: TWIN PEAKS got a big-screen prequel, 1992’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and in 2017, the series reunited much of its original cast and returned with 18 new episodes for an HBO revival (billed as TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN).
Trophy Case: In 1990, the show was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, and won for Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Editing. In 1991, the show was named Best Drama at the Golden Globes, while Kyle Maclachlan won Best Actor in a TV drama series and Piper Laurie (Catherine) won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Its theme song won a Grammy in 1990. In 1991, TWIN PEAKS won the prestigious Peabody Award.