Subject: Re: A Dissenting Opinion....
From: andy@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Andy Michael USGS Guest)
Date: 1990-10-02, 17:26
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

In article <1990Oct2.193018.12783@velvet.com> barb@velvet.com (Barbara Petersen) writes:
> >
> >The word that came most strongly to mind was "pathetic".  A few of the good
> >points remain: many of the characters are still interesting; the direction is
> >still top-notch; there are still lots of "good lines".  On the other hand:
MANY LINES DELETED
> >Ultimately, I wonder if it's even *possible* for a week-after-week television
> >show format to be compatible with the sort of production that "Twin Peaks"
> >wanted (and wants) to be.  As a mini-series, it could have been a classic; as
> >it is, it continues to grow embarrassing.

Well, personally I enjoyed the start of the second season, but I'm not replying
to argue, rather to explore what the television format brings to TP.  I agree that
we may be expecting too much to have TP stay at the level of the first premiere for
the 7 year run that is now expected of major hit TV shows.  Even two seasons could
add up to 20 to 30 hours of material, enough to constitute a lifetime of work for a film
director.  I think we/"the networks" do a diservice when we expect things to last for
years.  Many of the best British Comedies only about 12 episodes.  Of course to keep
actors alive the viewer is expected to accept the same actors and actresses in different
series with different personalities without major layoffs in between shows.  Sort
of repertory TV.  So if TP dies after this season,  don't complain.  It could be a good
precendent for American TV.

The thing that TP gains from TV is some guidelines that DL and MF must stay within.  On
film DL can send decapitated heads flying across the screen (with smoke overlay so
its only an R), but on TV they are much more limited.  Most of the time they are forced
to show the affects of violent acts instead of the acts themselves.  I don't think any
depiction of a murder could be more disturbing than the scene DL gave us in the pilot
to show what Laura's murder meant.  That slow camera pan down the dangling phone cord with
Laura's mother screaming on the sound track brought the reality of murder home.  This
approach affects me more than the end of last nights episode (which at 10:55PM is hardly
a time when small children should be watching, but then I was disturbed to see Audrey
and all the other kids drinking coffee in the Double R. :-))  These limitations are
similar to an argument made about classical music, that because the composers are bound
by many rules the music is actually better.  I never liked that arguement, but now I
am starting to see the point.  How do other people feel about the differences between
TP and DL's movies that might be due to the TV format? -andy