Twin Peaks (1990-91): What Happened to this Show?

Last Updated on November 21, 2023

A new decade began at the end of the 80s. The television landscape was beginning to change somewhat. The big three were nervous about a new network called Fox that, with an animated show of all things called The Simpsons, would manage to beat them in the ratings.

ABC decided to gamble on something completely different in comparison to anything else on the television landscape at that time with David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. This was the first glimpse that viewers would have into the misty and surreal town of Twin Peaks, a dream world created by David Lynch and Mark Frost which would become an obsession to viewers and would continue to be over the years to come.

Twin Peaks didn’t follow any conventional rule of how a TV series acted and David Lynch, a man known for the strange in his film work, would not tame it down for a small screen at all. When it premiered in the spring of 1990, it became a cultural phenomenon. The pilot was so well received that it was released as a feature film overseas. Yet, just as quickly as it entered the zeitgeist, audiences seemed to tire of the show, with the second season tanking in the ratings, leading to a quick cancellation. In the years since, it spawned a feature film (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me) and a sequel series that’s perhaps even stranger (and possibly better) than the original, Twin Peaks: The Return. But is that the end of the franchise? Will Kyle MacLachlan’s Dale Cooper ride again? So grab your damn fine coffee and get that slice of pie to go. We’re about to arrive in the picturesque town of Twin Peaks…where nothing is what it seems. In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten.