Subject: Does Peaks HAVE a future??? (long)
From: morrison@ducvax.auburn.edu
Date: 1991-06-26, 21:29
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

   The rumors of a Twin Peaks movie are intriguing, BUT... does Twin Peaks
HAVE a future?

   Think about it for a minute.

   In the beginning, Twin Peaks was one of the most intriguing (IMHO) shows
ever created for network television. It opened with massive hype to heavy
praise and a sizable audience.

   But then, it dragged on... and on... and on... and got stranger... and
weirder... and incredibly difficult to follow. I didn't mind, but an enormous
number of viewers turned away, leaving the show one of the lowest rated on
the air. It got pushed to a network death slot and, inevitably, cancelled.

   Intense lobbying from Lynch, Frost, and Peaks fans forced ABC to give the
show one last chance. And here is where, in my opinion, the show committed
suicide.

   By ending the series with a movie, advertised as such, the show had a chance
to attract many of its original viewers back. It also had the chance to tie up
loose ends and give the show a memorable sendoff if it didn't do well in the
ratings. But the show that aired did neither. The casual viewer who tuned out
after Laura Palmer's killer was revealed didn't have a prayer of following what
was going on. The faithful viewer was given a sack full of questions and few
answers.

   Now, put yourself in the position of a television network or movie studio.
You're being approached to revive, as a film, a TV series whose last attempted
resuscitation scored a flatline. What do you do?

   If the new film is intended to wrap up the loose ends of the previous film,
it's likely going to be shot down in a hurry. Why invest time and money in a
film that, from previous indications, will be a ratings disaster?

   On the other hand, if the new film is intended as a stand alone feature, how
are you going to sell people on it? Pretend it doesn't have anything to do with
the TV series on the hopes people will come see it anyway? Heavily advertise it
as a "new beginning" or a "fresh start" or etc.?

   If my livelihood depended on making decisions like these, I would just say
"no" to both of these.

   The very nature of Twin Peaks makes it almost impossible to resuscitate like
other shows (Star Trek, for example). It simply has too much baggage and
overhead. Sad, but true. The recent ill-fated Dark Shadows was the only other
attempt I have ever seen to resuscitate a show like Peaks, and the approach
taken was to start over and retcon the entire show.

   I think the only viable future Twin Peaks has will be as a series of books.
It has a good head start, as I believe both Laura's diary and Cooper's auto-
biography sold well. Maybe we can get Frost to write an "ending" for the show?

   Well, that's my two cents worth. Can anyone (please!) convince me I'm
wrong???