TV SERIES · 1990–2017 · USA
Twin Peaks
- Created by
- Mark Frost, David Lynch
- Network
- ABC, Showtime
- Seasons
- 3
- Episodes
- 48
- Studio
- Spelling Entertainment, Lynch/Frost Productions, Propaganda Films
646 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul.
646 Interesting Facts About Twin Peaks
Interesting Facts (39)
- #001
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Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn previously appeared together in West Side Story (1961), for which Rita Moreno became the second Puerto-Rican born actor to win an Academy Award. The first was José Ferrer, father of cast member Miguel Ferrer, who subsequently appeared in Traffic (2000), for which Puerto Rican-born actor Benicio Del Toro received his Academy Award.
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In the 2014 book Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks by Brad Dukes, Jules Haimovitz (who was the president and COO of Spelling Entertainment while Twin Peaks was on) says that during the show's run, he got a call from the financier Carl Lindler demanding to know who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz that he was asking not for himself but for then-president of the United States George H.W. Bush, who was in turn asking for Mikhail Gorbachev, then the leader of the U.S.S.R.
- #007
In order to prevent information about the killer leaking out, the scene of Maddie's murder was also filmed with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) as the killer, but that alternate scene was never intended to be shown in any form. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and an intentionally leaked script indicated both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne as the killer.
- #008
Kyle MacLachlan refused to further develop the storyline about his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), resulting in the writers having to abruptly change and add several second season story lines. As originally scripted, Audrey Horne would have been the one kidnapped by Windom Earle and taken to the Black Lodge in the series finale; the characters of Justice Wheeler and Annie were written in specifically to give Dale and Audrey "appropriate" love interests. At the time, the relationship between Cooper and Audrey was heavily publicized in TV Guide and other entertainment magazines, akin to the press given to later TV "power couples" (such as Mike and Susan of Desperate Housewives (2004)). The move alienated audiences and caused a further decline in the show's already suffering ratings. At the time, Kyle MacLachlan attributed his insistence to a belief that the morally upright Cooper would not date an underage girl; however, Audrey was a high school senior who, in the time line of the series, would have graduated in one to two months, and in fact was not underage. In Washington state, the age of consent is 16, and Audrey is 18 (she tells Cooper that is her age during the first season and - while she might be lying - that seems unlikely given Cooper's obvious perspicacity). Crew members who would later attend the annual Twin Peaks convention recalled that MacLachlan was pressured into the decision by his then-girlfriend, Lara Flynn Boyle, who did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend sharing love scenes with her.
- #009
This series is notorious for having one of the most torrid productions in television history. Though a major cult phenomenon and a ratings smash in the first year, the series was abruptly canceled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC's constant changing of the show's time slot, as well as the network insisting that the murderer of Laura Palmer be revealed. Lynch also was unable to focus his full attention on the show in its second year, as he was promoting Wild at Heart (1990) at the time. After the Palmer murder was solved, ratings plummeted, and though Lynch returned to the series full time with the intention of further exploring the origins of Laura's killer, ABC canceled the series. The cable network BRAVO then tried to revive the show, even hiring Lynch to film new scenes for episodes in syndication. Still, audience interest waned. Despite the release of the tie-in feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), high DVD sales and several fan attempts to revive the series, Lynch spent many years refuting any rumors of a follow-up. Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return to the show for a limited series on Showtime, with the duo writing and Lynch directing every episode.
- #010
Although Episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death (1991)) was the last of the television series, many scenes taking place after Episode 29 were originally filmed for the feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). These scenes included the much-anticipated resolution to the series finale, revealing the fate of Annie Blackburn (who survives but is hospitalized) and Agent Cooper (whose soul remains trapped in the Black Lodge, with the Man from Another Place telling him that he will be there for several years). Due to running time, these scenes were cut, resulting in several main characters of the series not appearing in the film at all. Negotiations over the cost of remastering, editing, and scoring the deleted scenes fell through in 2007, but the scenes were finally completed for the 2014 Blu-ray release of the series and film together for the first time.
- #011
Even though they knew from the beginning who it was, Mark Frost and David Lynch have stated that they had no intention to ever reveal who killed Laura Palmer, but the network forced them to do it, arguing everyone was watching Season 2 to find out. When they finally told Ray Wise that it was Leland, the actor got really sad, because he was hoping it wouldn't be him. One reason he was upset to be the killer is that he had a young daughter at the time of filming, so the idea that his character was revealed to have murdered his own child really affected him.
- #012
David Lynch and Mark Frost were originally working on a screen adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography "Goddess." When they failed to get the rights to the book, the project they embarked upon instead, 'Twin Peaks,' contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story - particularly the fact that she was killed just after mentioning in her diary that she would tell the world the truth about the famous and important man she was having an affair with (Ben Horne).
- #013
- #014
During the final episodes of the second season, several characters experience sudden tremors in their hands, which might be an indication of the paranormal events to come. Such tremors are also a common side effect of Haloperidol, an anti-psychotic drug mentioned on several occasions in the series.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When Major Briggs is found after being kidnapped by Windom Earle, he shows psychotic symptoms apparently due to the effect of the injection made to him by Earle. It is said that this injection has been of Haloperidol, while in reality Haloperidol is given to psychotic patients to reduce their psychotic symptoms.
- #017
The character Bob emerged when David Lynch suddenly envisioned an image of set decorator Frank Silva hiding in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch filmed the famous shot of Silva crouching behind Laura's bed without any idea of how he would use it. Later, while shooting a scene in which Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sits and screams, Lynch noticed that Silva's reflection appeared in the shot entirely by accident. Lynch then devised the idea that Bob was an otherworldly spirit, giving birth to the series' mythology.
- #018
In Brad Dukes's 2014 book Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks, Jules Haimovitz, who was president and COO of Spelling Entertainment while Twin Peaks was on the air, says that during the show's run he received a phone call from financier Carl Lindler asking to learn who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz he wanted it not for himself but for then-US President George H. W. Bush, who wanted it for Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the USSR at the time.
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- #022
To prevent information about the killer from leaking, the murder scene of Maddie was also shot with the killer as Ben Horne (Richard Beymer), but this alternative scene was never intended to be shown in any way. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and a deliberately leaked script stated that the killer was both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne.
- #023
Kyle MacLachlan refused to develop the story of his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) any further, which forced the writers to suddenly change and add several second-season storylines. As originally written in the script, the person abducted by Windom Earle and taken to the Black Lodge in the series finale was to be Audrey Horne; the characters of Justice Wheeler and Annie were written specifically to increase the love between Dale and Audrey. At the time, the relationship between Cooper and Audrey was heavily publicized in TV Guide and other entertainment magazines, similar to the press given to later TV "power couples" such as Mike and Susan on Desperate Housewives (2004). This move alienated viewers and caused the series' already troubled ratings to fall further. At the time, Kyle MacLachlan attributed his insistence to his belief that the morally upright Cooper would not date an underage girl; however, according to the series' timeline, Audrey was a high school senior who would graduate within one or two months and was in fact not of age. In Washington state the age of consent is 16, while Audrey is 18 (she tells Cooper this is her age in the first season, and although she is lying, this seems unlikely given Cooper's obvious perceptiveness). Cast members who later attended the annual Twin Peaks convention recalled that MacLachlan was pressured into this decision by his then-girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle, who did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend to share love scenes with her.
- #024
Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman/The Log Lady) died in 2015. Her gravestone bears most of the usual elements you would expect to find on a cemetery marker: her English name (Catherine Elizabeth Coulson), her Hebrew name (Chana Elisheva), her birth and death years (1943-2015) and the words "Daughter, Sister, Mother, Friend." Above all this information is also an engraved line-art image of two hands embracing a log, a tribute to her iconic role as Margaret Lanterman / The Log Lady on Twin Peaks.
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- #029
Although Episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death, 1991) was the series finale, many scenes set after Episode 29 were first shot for the feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). These scenes included the eagerly awaited resolution of the series finale, revealing the fates of Annie Blackburn (who survived but was hospitalized) and Agent Cooper (whose spirit was trapped in the Black Lodge, where the Man from Another Place told him he would stay for several years). The scenes were cut for length, which is why many of the series' main characters never appear in the film. Talks in 2007 about reassembling, editing and scoring the deleted scenes fell through, but the scenes were finally completed for the 2014 Blu-ray release, the first time the series and the film were released together.
- #030
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- #032
David Lynch and Mark Frost were initially working on a film adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography "Goddess." When they could not secure the rights to the book, the project they took on instead, Twin Peaks, contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story — in particular the fact that she was killed just after saying in her diary that she would tell the world the truth about the famous and important man she had an affair with (Ben Horne).
- #033
Dr. Jacoby is based on the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearances are strikingly similar, their clothing styles are alike, and both are in liberal arts professions. Dr. Jacoby vacations in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife, while McKenna lived in Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a notable mushroom-shaped lamp, and McKenna studied and wrote extensively on psychedelic mushroom culture. Mark Frost's tie-in book written for the third season makes the connection even clearer with a quotation from Jacoby's "written" book on the therapeutic uses of psychotropic drugs.
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"Twin Peaks" is set in and was filmed in Washington State. Two major characters in the series share the names of two legendary figures in Washington State history. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares his surname and initials with D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker and extortionist who disappeared after jumping from a plane over the Washington-Oregon border in 1971. (Believers in the truth will note that the man gave his name as Dan Cooper, not D. B. Cooper, the name a mistaken press report gave him.) Sheriff Harry Truman shares his name not only with a U.S. president but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old lodge owner who was killed in the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, after refusing to evacuate his cabin on the volcano's slope.
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Production Story (235)
- #040
There was speculation that David Lynch had less input on the second season due to the filming of Wild At Heart. According to Harley Peyton, the reverse is true. Wild At Heart began filming in late 1989, and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19 1990, a week before the finale of the first season aired. ABC announced that they would order a second season of Twin Peaks just before the season finale, and production began soon after that.
- #041
David Lynch and Mark Frost first worked together on the unproduced script, "One Saliva Bubble", a bizarre comedy in which an accident at a power plant causes mayhem in a small town. When neither that film nor their Marilyn Monroe biopic came to pass, they sought out a possible television deal. One of the television projects they first proposed was "The Lemurians", based on legends of an Atlantis-like lost civilization. Lynch and Frost took elements from the plot of "The Lemurians" and the Monroe biopic to create this show.
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- #044
In early to mid-2025, after the unfortunate passing of series creator and visionary filmmaker David Lynch, indie streaming service Mubi, a global streaming, production and distribution service that provides a carefully curated selection of films, acquired the streaming rights to Twin Peaks (and later Twin Peaks (2017)) to air the series in both the US and UK concurrently with its continued availability on Paramount+.
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The show and the prequel movie's immense popularity in Japan led to a series of commercials advertising Georgia canned coffee. The commercials starred Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Catherine E. Coulson, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse and Kimmy Robertson as well as a new agent, "Ken," played by a Japanese actor. The spots presented a new mystery and even referenced the Black Lodge.
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Many of the show's cast members had previously collaborated with David Lynch before the series was filmed. Jack Nance (Pete Martell) played the lead in Eraserhead (1977) and had minor roles in both Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986), Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) played lead roles in Dune and Blue Velvet, Frank Silva (Bob) worked on the set of Dune, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990), Catherine E. Coulson (The Log Lady) did assistant camera work on the set of Eraserhead. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) and Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) also had small roles in Lynch's early work.
- #051
In one episode of season 2, the small role of social worker Judy Swain was played by the then-unknown Molly Shannon (who would go on to be a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975)). In Shannon's 2022 memoir, Hello Molly!, Shannon reveals that she conned her way into getting a reading for this role. In an attempt to make Hollywood contacts, she and her friend Eugene Pack would call casting agents pretending to be assistants to the playwright and screenwriter David Mamet. "We started meeting everyone--agents at ICM, William Morris. I wanted to be on 'Twin Peaks' so Eugene called the casting director, Johanna Ray, and I actually did get cast on 'Twin Peaks.' Through the Mamet Scam." Shannon met with Ray, who set up Shannon's next meeting--with David Lynch, "which was exactly what I wanted to have happen. Because I would drive my wreck past [Ray's] casting office and say, 'Oh, I really want to be on 'Twin Peaks.' I love that show!'"
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Steven Spielberg expressed interest in directing an episode, and was in particular planning to direct the first episode of the second season. When David Lynch decided to direct that episode himself, Spielberg was unable to find another opening in his schedule. However, he did direct Don S. Davis in his next film, Hook (1991), and Laura Dern in his subsequent film, Jurassic Park (1993).
- #056
The character of the one-armed man was originally only to appear in a walk-on role in the pilot as a homage to The Fugitive (1963). However, after David Lynch wrote the closed ending for the European version of the pilot, he decided to use the character to recite the infamous "Fire Walk with Me" poem. Highly impressed by the performance of Al Strobel, Lynch decided to make the character integral to the series mythology and give Strobel a recurring role on the show. At the time of the airing of the series, Spelling Entertainment, the show's lead production company, owned the rights to The Fugitive (1963).
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The central concept of Laura's murder came from Mark Frost - growing up, the daughter of a family they knew was abducted and killed. On the discovery of her body, her younger brother came to stay with the Frosts for a few days. The writer later reflected: "We were told we couldn't tell him. This kid came and didn't know. That stayed with me. And the grief that came after."
- #059
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn both starred in the film version of West Side Story (1961), as Tony and Riff, respectively. However, they were cast as Ben Horne and Lawrence Jacoby independent of each other and the coincidence was not noted until afterward. In fact, they didn't share many scenes until Horne's American Civil War delusion in the second season.
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David Lynch and Mark Frost watched the original film Peyton Place (1957) to get an idea of how to develop the town's inhabitants, and ended up borrowing several ideas. Both revolve around a young girl who was sexually abused by a family member. Russ Tamblyn also appeared in both projects.
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During a panel for The X-Files with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi on January 7, 2017 at Wizard World New Orleans, Duchovny was asked about his role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He revealed that the role was originally written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader. However, Spader ended up having to turn down the role due to a scheduling conflict with another shoot, so the role was offered to young up-and-coming actors and David got the part. And the only thing he now regrets about his time during the first two seasons of the show is that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
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The population of Twin Peaks was originally only supposed to be 5,120. However, there was a backlash against rural-themed shows at the time, as networks were fearful that the burgeoning urban and suburban population of America would not be able to sympathize with shows set in small farming or industrial towns, so ABC requested that the sign read 51,201. In a "Visitor's Guide to Twin Peaks" tie-in book authorized by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, a note tells readers that the population was indeed 5,120, but that the sign had a "typo."
- #067
Each episode of Twin Peaks was written sequentially; this allowed the overall plot to gather momentum as it progressed but allowed for the organic process of adding new elements as the writers thought of them; a process favored by series co-creator David Lynch. It also allowed Mark Frost, Lynch's partner in creating the series, to plan ahead to ensure plot details and threads would be revisited as necessary.
- #068
The official tie-in books were published by Simon & Schuster, whose then-sister company, Paramount Television, gained the rights to the the series in 1999. S&S and what would become CBS Studios remained co-owned until 2023, when what had became Paramount Global sold the book publisher to KKR.
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There were plans to spin off Sherilyn Fenn's character, Audrey Horne, into her own series, but production never began. Apparently, Audrey inspired David Lynch for Naomi Watts's character in Mulholland Drive (2001). Fenn said in an interview in 1997 about the Audrey Horne spin-off, "David was talking about 'Mulholland Drive,' he talked about like 'Audrey goes to Hollywood.' She's driving along Mulholland in this convertible car.... But it didn't end up happening."
- #073
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Creators David Lynch and Mark Frost assigned no episode titles, only episode numbers. When the series aired in Germany, titles were assigned, which were then translated to English. The episodes are untitled on the DVD sets, but the titled episodes appear on the official Twin Peaks CBS website when streaming the episodes.
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- #077
Contains a major spoiler — show
Immediately before the final episode of the first season aired, the cast appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. The producers polled the audience for who they thought killed Laura Palmer. The most popular choice was Dr. Jacoby at 31%, followed by Leo Johnson at 17%. Only 3% guessed Leland Palmer. (However, one audience member commented on Leland Palmer's extreme reaction at the funeral and speculated that incest might have been involved.)
- #078
Contains a major spoiler — show
During the series run, two official tie-in books were released as prequels to the series: 'The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper' (ISBN:0671744003) and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer'. The latter book was commissioned by David Lynch to be written by his 21-year-old daughter Jennifer Lynch, to whom Lynch revealed all of the series' secrets so the book could accurately reflect the events of the series. The diary was written with several "missing pages" (which presumably implicate the killer), with the remaining pages making Ben Horne look guilty. These books were published by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, whose sister company Paramount Television acquired the rights to "Twin Peaks" in 1999, a result of Viacom, the owner of Paramount and S&S since 1994, buying Spelling Entertainment.
- #079
Contains a major spoiler — show
The "Invitation To Love" segments were directed on video by Mark Frost. Peter Michael Goetz ("Evan St. Vincent as Jared Lancaster") had worked with Warren Frost at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, while Rick Giolito ("Jason Denbo as Montana") is Mark Frost's brother-in-law. The soap opera was never intended to provide "clues" for the mystery, but elements of its plot do parallel Twin Peaks. The segments were eventually phased out in the second season, as David Lynch felt they were too ridiculous.
- #080
Contains a major spoiler — show
Robert Forster was originally cast as Sheriff Harry S. Truman, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. David Lynch later cast him in Mulholland Drive (2001) and Twin Peaks (2017). In the latter, he replaced Michael Ontkean as Frank Truman, Harry's brother.
- #081
The series is famous for having one of the most passionate followings in television history. It became a major cult phenomenon and broke ratings records in its first year, but was suddenly cancelled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC constantly changing the series' time slot and to the network's insistence that Laura Palmer's killer be revealed. Lynch could not focus all his attention on the series in its second year because he was promoting Wild at Heart (1990) at the time. Ratings fell after the Palmer murder was solved, and although Lynch returned to the series full-time to explore the killer's origins further, ABC cancelled it. The cable network BRAVO later tried to revive the series, even hiring Lynch to shoot new scenes for the syndicated episodes. Even so, audience interest waned. Despite the premiere of the related feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), high DVD sales and various fan efforts to revive the series, Lynch spent many years denying sequel rumours. Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return to the series for a limited run on Showtime, written by the pair and with Lynch directing every episode.
- #082
The population of the town of Twin Peaks was originally planned to be just 5,120. But at the time there was a backlash against rural-themed series; the networks feared that America's growing urban and suburban population would not sympathize with shows set in small farming or industrial towns. For this reason, ABC wanted the sign to read 51,201. In the 'Twin Peaks Access Guide' book, approved by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, it is stated that the population really is 5,120 but that there is a 'typo' on the sign.
- #083
According to Brad Dukes's 2014 book 'Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks', while the series was on the air, Jules Haimovitz, then president and COO of Spelling Entertainment, received a phone call from financier Carl Lindler asking who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz that he was asking not for himself but on behalf of then-US President George H.W. Bush, and that Bush was asking the question for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
- #084
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- #086
Although Mark Frost and David Lynch knew from the beginning who killed Laura Palmer, they intended never to reveal it. But the network pressured them, saying everyone was watching the second season to find out. When they told Ray Wise that the killer was Leland, the actor was very upset because he had hoped it would not be him. One reason for his distress was that he had a young daughter during filming; the revelation that his character had killed his own child affected him deeply.
- #087
There were plans for a spin-off series for the character Audrey Horne, played by Sherilyn Fenn, but the production never began. Apparently Audrey inspired David Lynch's character played by Naomi Watts in the 2001 film Mulholland Drive. In a 1997 interview, Fenn said the following about the Audrey Horne spin-off: 'David was talking about Mulholland Drive,
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- #089
The series and the prequel film gained great popularity in Japan, and a series of commercials was shot for Georgia brand canned coffee. The commercials featured Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Catherine E. Coulson, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse and Kimmy Robertson, as well as a new agent, 'Ken', played by a Japanese actor. The spots presented a new mystery and even referenced the Black Lodge.
- #090
- #091
Although episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death, 1991) was the final episode of the television series, many scenes set after episode 29 were actually shot for the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). These scenes included the eagerly awaited resolution of the series finale: the fate of Annie Blackburn (she survives but is hospitalized) and the fate of Agent Cooper (his soul is trapped in the Black Lodge and the Man from Another Place tells him he will stay there for several years). These scenes were cut due to running time, and many of the series' main characters never appeared in the film at all. In 2007, talks about the cost of reassembling, editing and scoring the deleted scenes came to nothing, but the scenes were finally completed in 2014 for a Blu-ray release featuring the series and the film together.
- #092
- #093
David Lynch and Mark Frost were initially working on an adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography 'Goddess'. When they could not obtain the rights to the book, 'Twin Peaks', the project they replaced it with, contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story - especially her death shortly after writing in her diary that she would reveal the truth to the world about the famous and important man she had an affair with (Ben Horne).
- #094
This series is known as one of the most turbulent productions in television history. Despite being a major cult phenomenon and breaking ratings records in its first year, it was abruptly cancelled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC constantly changing the show's time slot and the network insisting on revealing Laura Palmer's killer. Lynch was also unable to focus fully on the series because he was busy promoting his film Wild at Heart (1990) during the second year. After the Palmer murder was solved, ratings fell, and although Lynch wanted to return to the show full-time and explore the origins of Laura's killer in greater depth, ABC cancelled it. The cable channel BRAVO later tried to revive the series, even hiring Lynch to shoot new scenes for syndicated episodes. Even so, audience interest waned. Despite the release of the related film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), high DVD sales and several fan initiatives, Lynch denied rumours of a sequel for years. Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return with a limited series for Showtime; the pair would write the script and Lynch would direct every episode.
- #095
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Creators David Lynch and Mark Frost did not give the episodes titles, using only episode numbers. When the series aired in Germany, titles were given, and these were later translated into English. The episodes are untitled on the DVD sets, but titled versions appear when the episodes are streamed on the official Twin Peaks CBS website.
- #097
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Every episode of Twin Peaks was written in sequence; this allowed the overall plot to gain momentum as it progressed while also enabling the writers to add new elements as they came up with them, a method preferred by series creator David Lynch. It also allowed Lynch's partner Mark Frost to plan ahead so that plot details and connections could be revisited when necessary.
- #100
While the series was on the air, two official tie-in books were published as prequels to the show: 'The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper' (ISBN: 0671744003) and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer'. The second book was written by David Lynch's 21-year-old daughter Jennifer Lynch; Lynch revealed all the secrets to his daughter so that the book would accurately reflect the events of the series. The diary was written with several 'missing pages' (possibly hinting at the killer), and the remaining pages pointed to Ben Horne as the culprit. These books were published by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster; Simon & Schuster's sister company Paramount Television bought the rights to 'Twin Peaks' in 1999, a result of Viacom, which had owned Paramount and S&S since 1994, acquiring Spelling Entertainment.
- #101
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The pilot episode generated such positive excitement that it may have inspired a tribute before it even aired. A story in the series Wiseguy (1987) revolved around a series of murders in a small town in Washington state, and even featured a sheriff who cried when a body was found. The town was called Lynchboro. Its deputy chief was played by David Straithairn, who was considered for the role of Chief Truman.
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David Lynch and Mark Frost first worked on a strange comedy film called 'One Saliva Bubble', in which an accident at a power plant causes chaos in a small town. When neither this film nor Marilyn Monroe biopics came to fruition, they went looking for a possible television deal. One of the first television projects they proposed was 'The Lemurians', based on legends of a lost civilisation similar to Atlantis. Lynch and Frost took elements from 'The Lemurians' and the Monroe biopic to create this series.
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- #109
The central concept of Laura's murder came from Mark Frost - the daughter of a family they knew when he was a child had been abducted and killed. When her body was found, her younger sibling stayed at the Frosts' house for a few days. The writer later thought: "We were told not to tell him. This kid came and he didn't know. That stayed with me. And the grief that followed."
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- #113
The series began as a midseason replacement in the 1989-1990 season - the same season in which The Simpsons (1989) also began. Although their fates were very different - Twin Peaks lasted only two seasons while The Simpsons has continued for thirty years - both series were extremely influential. The Simpsons has in fact paid tribute to Twin Peaks at least twice; however, to date, Kimmy Robertson is the only original cast member to have appeared as a guest star on The Simpsons.
- #114
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Steven Spielberg was interested in directing an episode and specifically planned to direct the first episode of the second season. When David Lynch decided to direct that episode himself, Spielberg could not find another opening in his schedule. However, he went on to direct Don S. Davis in his next film, Hook (1991), and later Laura Dern in Jurassic Park (1993).
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Josie Packard's scenes in the second season were shot according to Joan Chen's schedule, which explained the character's absences and her limited interactions with the rest of the town. In the end, Chen - frustrated with the TV business - wanted to leave the series. Years later, Chen expressed regret over her decision, though she joked that at least Josie's fate was unforgettable.
- #119
Just before the first season's finale aired, the cast appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. The producers asked the audience who killed Laura Palmer. The most popular choice was Dr. Jacoby with 31%, followed by Leo Johnson with 17%. Only 3% guessed Leland Palmer. (However, one viewer, noting Leland Palmer's excessive reaction at the funeral, suggested it might be incest.)
- #120
In early 2025, after the death of series creator and visionary director David Lynch, the independent streaming service Mubi acquired the streaming rights to Twin Peaks (and later Twin Peaks (2017)) and began streaming the series simultaneously with its availability on Paramount+ in the US and UK.
- #121
There was speculation that David Lynch contributed less to the second season because of the shooting of his film Wild at Heart. According to Harley Peyton, the opposite is true. Shooting on Wild at Heart began in late 1989 and it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 1990, a week before the first season finale. ABC announced just before the season finale that it would order a second season of Twin Peaks, and production began shortly afterward.
- #122
The officially tie-in books were published by Simon & Schuster; its then-sister company Paramount Television acquired the rights to the series in 1999. S&S and the company that would later become CBS Studios remained under joint ownership until 2023, when Paramount Global sold its book publisher to KKR.
- #123
The population of the town of Twin Peaks was originally planned to be just 5,120. But because networks at the time were reacting against rural-themed series and feared that America's urban and suburban population could not sympathize with shows set in small farming or industrial towns, ABC wanted the sign to read 51,201. In the 'Twin Peaks Visitor's Guide' book authorized by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, it is stated that the population really is 5,120 but that there is a 'typo' on the sign.
- #124
In Brad Dukes's 2014 book 'Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks', Jules Haimovitz, who was president and COO of Spelling Entertainment when the series aired, says that one day he received a phone call from financier Carl Lindler asking who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz that he was asking the question not for himself but on behalf of then-US President George H.W. Bush, who in turn wanted it for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
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- #127
Mark Frost and David Lynch said that although they had known from the start who the killer was, they never intended to reveal who killed Laura Palmer, but that the network forced them to do so, and that everyone was watching to find out in the second season. When they told Ray Wise that the killer was Leland, the actor was very upset because he had hoped it would not be him. One reason for his distress was that he had a small daughter during filming; the revelation that his character had killed his own child truly affected him.
- #128
The character Audrey Horne, played by Sherilyn Fenn, was planned to be spun off into her own series, but the production never began. Apparently Audrey inspired David Lynch's character for Naomi Watts in the 2001 film Mulholland Drive. In a 1997 interview, Fenn said of the Audrey Horne spin-off, 'David was talking about Mulholland Drive, something like "Audrey goes to Hollywood." She's driving in a convertible in Mulholland... But in the end it didn't happen.'
- #129
The series and the prequel film gained great popularity in Japan and led to a series of commercials for Georgia brand canned coffee. The commercials featured Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Catherine E. Coulson, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse and Kimmy Robertson, as well as a new agent, 'Ken', played by a Japanese actor. The spots presented a new mystery and even referenced the Black Lodge.
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- #131
Although episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death, 1991) is the final episode of the television series, many scenes set after episode 29 were actually shot for the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. These scenes included the resolution of the long-awaited series finale, the fate of Annie Blackburn (she survives but is hospitalized) and the fate of Agent Cooper (his soul is trapped in the Black Lodge, and the Man from Another Place tells him he will stay there for several years). These scenes were cut due to running time, and many of the series' main characters never appeared in the film. In 2007, negotiations over the cost of reassembling, editing and scoring the deleted scenes came to nothing, but the scenes were finally completed in 2014 for the first-ever Blu-ray release of the series and film together.
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- #133
David Lynch and Mark Frost were initially working on an adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography 'Goddess'. When they could not obtain the rights to the book, the project they started instead, 'Twin Peaks', contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story - especially her death shortly after writing in her diary that she would tell the world the truth about the famous and important man she had a relationship with (Ben Horne).
- #134
This series is famous for having one of the most turbulent productions in television history. Despite becoming a major cult phenomenon and breaking ratings records in its first year, the show was abruptly cancelled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC constantly changing the series' time slot and the network's insistence on revealing Laura Palmer's killer. Lynch had also been unable to focus fully on the series because he was promoting his film Wild at Heart (1990) during its second year. After the Palmer murder was solved, ratings fell, and although Lynch returned full-time to explore the series' origins further, ABC cancelled the show. The cable channel BRAVO later tried to revive it, even hiring Lynch to shoot new scenes for syndicated episodes. Even so, viewer interest waned. Despite the release of the tie-in film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), high DVD sales and several fan initiatives, Lynch denied rumours of a sequel for years. Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return with a limited series for Showtime, that the pair would write the script and that Lynch would direct every episode.
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- #136
Creators David Lynch and Mark Frost did not give the episodes titles, only episode numbers. When the series aired in Germany, titles were given, and these were later translated into English. The episodes are untitled on the DVD sets, but titled episodes appear when the episodes are streamed on the official Twin Peaks CBS website.
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- #138
Each episode of Twin Peaks was written in sequence; this allowed the overall plot to gain momentum as it progressed, while also permitting the organic process of adding new elements as the writers thought of them, a process preferred by the series' co-creator David Lynch. It also allowed Lynch's partner in creating the series, Mark Frost, to plan ahead to ensure that plot details and themes could be revisited when necessary.
- #139
During the series' run, two official tie-in books serving as prequels to the show were published: 'The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper' (ISBN: 0671744003) and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer'. The second book was written by David Lynch's 21-year-old daughter Jennifer Lynch; Lynch revealed all the series' secrets to his daughter so that the book could accurately reflect the show's events. The diary was written with several 'missing pages' (possibly hinting at the killer), while the remaining pages pointed to Ben Horne as the culprit. These books were published by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster; Simon & Schuster's sister company Paramount Television acquired the rights to 'Twin Peaks' in 1999, a result of Viacom's (owner of Paramount and S&S since 1994) acquisition of Spelling Entertainment.
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- #141
The pilot episode received such a positive response that it may have inspired a tribute before it had even aired. A story arc of the series Wiseguy (1987) revolved around a series of murders in a small town in Washington state and even featured a sheriff who cried when a body was found. The town was called Lynchboro. Its deputy chief was played by David Straithairn, who was considered for the role of Chief Truman.
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- #143
David Lynch and Mark Frost first worked on an unproduced script called 'One Saliva Bubble', an odd comedy in which an accident at a power plant causes chaos in a small town. When neither this film nor Marilyn Monroe biopics came to fruition, they went looking for a possible television deal. One of the first television projects they proposed was 'The Lemurians', based on legends of a lost Atlantis-like civilisation. Lynch and Frost created this series by taking elements from the plot of 'The Lemurians' and from the Monroe biopic.
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- #146
The core concept of Laura's murder came from Mark Frost — the daughter of a family he knew as a child had been abducted and killed. When her body was found, her younger sibling stayed at the Frosts' house for a few days. The writer later reflected: "She was told what we couldn't tell her. This kid came and didn't know. That stayed with me. And then the grief that followed."
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- #149
The series premiered as a midseason replacement in the 1989-1990 season — the same season in which The Simpsons (1989) first aired. Although the fates of the two shows were very different — Twin Peaks lasted only two seasons while The Simpsons has continued for thirty years — both were extremely influential. The Simpsons in fact paid tribute to Twin Peaks at least twice; however, to date, Kimmy Robertson is the only original cast member to have appeared as a guest star on The Simpsons.
- #150
Steven Spielberg was interested in directing an episode and specifically planned to direct the first episode of the second season. When David Lynch decided to direct that episode himself, Spielberg could not find another gap in his schedule. However, he went on to direct Don S. Davis in his next film, Hook (1991), and later Laura Dern in Jurassic Park (1993).
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- #152
Josie Packard's scenes in the second season were shot according to Joan Chen's schedule; this explained the character's absences and her limited interactions with the rest of the town. In the end, Chen — frustrated with the TV business — wanted to leave the series. Years later, Chen expressed regret over her decision, though she joked that at least Josie's fate was unforgettable.
- #153
Just before the first season's finale aired, the cast appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. The producers polled the audience to find out who they thought killed Laura Palmer. The most popular choice was Dr. Jacoby with 31%, followed by Leo Johnson with 17%. Only 3% guessed Leland Palmer. (However, one viewer pointed to Leland Palmer's overreaction at the funeral and suggested it might be incest.)
- #154
The "Invitation To Love" segments were directed on video by Mark Frost. Peter Michael Goetz ("Evan St. Vincent as Jared Lancaster") had worked with Warren Frost at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; Rick Giolito ("Jason Denbo as Montana") is Mark Frost's brother-in-law. The soap opera was never designed to provide "clues" to the mystery, but elements of its plot parallel Twin Peaks. The segments were gradually phased out in the second season because David Lynch found them too absurd.
- #155
From early to mid-2025, following the sad death of series creator and visionary director David Lynch, the independent streaming service Mubi acquired the streaming rights to Twin Peaks (and later Twin Peaks (2017)), releasing the series simultaneously with its availability on Paramount+ in the US and UK.
- #156
It was speculated that David Lynch had less involvement in the second season due to the shooting of Wild at Heart. According to Harley Peyton, the opposite is true. Shooting on Wild at Heart began in late 1989 and it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 1990, a week before the first season's finale. ABC announced just before the season finale that it would order a second season of Twin Peaks, and production began shortly afterward.
- #157
The official tie-in books were published by Simon & Schuster; its then-sister company Paramount Television acquired the rights to the series in 1999. S&S and the company that would later become CBS Studios remained partners until 2023, when Paramount Global sold the book publisher to KKR.
- #158
The character of Bob came about when David Lynch suddenly saw an image of his set decorator, Frank Silva, hiding in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch filmed that famous shot of Silva crouching behind Laura's bed without knowing what he would use it for. Later, while shooting a scene in which Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sits and screams, Lynch noticed entirely by chance that Silva's reflection appeared in the frame. Lynch then conceived of Bob as a supernatural spirit, and the show's mythology was born.
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To prevent the identity of the killer from leaking, Maddie's murder scene was also shot with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) as the killer, though this alternate scene was never meant to be shown in any form. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and a deliberately leaked script showed both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne as the killer.
- #161
In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says the producers devised a plan to keep secret whether her character, Catherine Martell, survived the mill fire in the second season. Laurie was to be present on set only in a Japanese businessman's costume and prosthetic makeup. Other cast and crew were told that she was a Japanese film actor named Fumio Yamaguchi (a man) who had mostly worked with the famous director Akira Kurosawa, and that Yamaguchi did not speak English well. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was forbidden from telling the press, or even her own family, that she had not been fired from the show. Many of her co-stars were initially fooled, including Jack Nance (who played her character's husband) and Peggy Lipton (who instead suspected that David Lynch's then-girlfriend, Isabella Rossellini, was in disguise).
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Because of the show's secrecy-driven structure, actors were given only the script pages containing their own characters. Ian Buchanan said that he mostly shot his comedic scenes and noticed the makeup team preparing a horrifying prop for another scene, without knowing what it was for until the episode aired.
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Kyle MacLachlan refused to develop his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), so the writers had to abruptly change and add many storylines in the second season. In the original script, Audrey Horne was to be kidnapped by Windom Earle and taken to the Black Lodge; the characters of Justice Wheeler and Annie were added to create "suitable" love interests for Dale and Audrey. At the time, the Cooper-Audrey relationship was heavily promoted in TV Guide and other magazines, much like later TV "power couples." The move alienated viewers and made already falling ratings worse. Although MacLachlan said that the moral Cooper would not date an underage person, Audrey was a high school senior and would have graduated within a month or two; she was in fact of age. In Washington state the age of consent is 16, and Audrey is 18. Later, crew members stated that MacLachlan was pressured into this decision by his then-girlfriend, Lara Flynn Boyle; Boyle did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend sharing love scenes with her.
- #168
The one-armed man character was initially meant to appear only in the pilot, as a tribute to The Fugitive (1963). However, after David Lynch wrote a closed ending for the European version of the pilot, he decided to use the character to recite the "Fire Walk with Me" poem. So impressed by Al Strobel's performance, Lynch made the character an integral part of the show's mythology and gave Strobel a recurring role. At the time the show aired, Spelling Entertainment held the rights to The Fugitive.
- #169
Don S. Davis, who played Major Garland Briggs, described the show as the biggest break of his career. When he went to meet David Lynch, he did not have to read for the part; they simply met. After the meeting, Lynch liked Davis and wrote the role based on his chemistry with the other actors. Davis said that through the show he developed lifelong friendships with the cast and crew. Davis and Lynch initially portrayed Briggs as an arrogant fool; Lynch took Davis aside and told him the character was more than his first appearance suggested, and Davis adjusted his performance accordingly.
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At an X-Files panel with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi held at Wizard World New Orleans on January 7, 2017, Duchovny was asked about the role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He explained that the role was actually written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader, but that Spader had to turn it down due to a scheduling conflict, so the role was offered to young, new actors and he got it. His only regret about the show's first two seasons is that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
- #173
Dale Cooper's secretary Diane, the person to whom he records many tapes on the show, is never seen on screen. In Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), there was almost a moment where she was seen talking to him in his FBI office, but she was in another room and not visible. Diane finally appeared physically in the 2017 continuation series, played by Laura Dern.
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- #176
At the start of filming for the second season, Sherilyn Fenn had a severe bout of pneumonia, which led to reports that filming might be affected or that she might have to leave the show. Writer/producer Harley Peyton said in an interview, "It could have created serious problems for us... She was magnificent and recovered quickly, returning sooner than she should have. Different directors were shooting every day, and sometimes there were two directors in one day; we completed all her scenes."
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In one episode of the second season, the small role of social worker Judy Swain was played by the then-unknown Molly Shannon (who later became a regular on Saturday Night Live (1975)). In her 2022 memoir Hello Molly!, Shannon recounts how she tricked her way into getting a reading for the role. She says that she and her friend Eugene Pack called agencies pretending to be playwright David Mamet's assistant in order to make Hollywood connections: "We started meeting everyone--agents at ICM, William Morris. I wanted to be on 'Twin Peaks,' Eugene called casting director Johanna Ray and I actually got the part. Thanks to the Mamet Scam." Shannon met with Ray and set up her next meeting with David Lynch: "That was exactly what I wanted. Because as I drove past [Ray's] office in my junk car, I'd say, 'Oh, I really want to be on 'Twin Peaks,' I love that show!'"
- #179
Many of the show's actors had worked with David Lynch before. Jack Nance (Pete Martell) starred in Eraserhead (1977) and took small roles in Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986); Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) starred in Dune and Blue Velvet; Frank Silva (Bob) worked on the sets of Dune, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990); Catherine E. Coulson (Log Lady) worked as a camera assistant on the set of Eraserhead. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) and Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) also took small roles in Lynch's early work.
- #180
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn played Tony and Riff, respectively, in the film adaptation of West Side Story (1961). However, they were cast independently of each other as Ben Horne and Lawrence Jacoby, and the coincidence was noticed later. They did not even share many scenes until Horne's American Civil War hallucination in the second season.
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Many actors later went on to memorable roles in Seinfeld (1989). Warren Frost (Dr. Will Hayward) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) played the Ross family, the parents of George Costanza's fiancée Susan. Frances Bay (Mrs. Tremond/Mrs. Chalfont) played Mrs. Choate, the elderly woman from whom Jerry steals a loaf of rye bread; that episode also featured Frost, Zabriskie and Don Amendolia (Emory Battis) in small roles. Brenda Strong (Jones) played Elaine's rival Sue Ellen Mishke. Ian Abercrombie, who appeared as Tom Brockman in a single episode, had his biggest role in Seinfeld as Elaine's wealthy and eccentric boss Justin Pitt. Frost, Zabriskie, Bay and Abercrombie also appeared in the final episode of Seinfeld.
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This series is the third project on which Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn worked together, and all of their projects have a connection to Natalie Wood. The three appeared together in West Side Story (1961). Beymer and Tamblyn later starred in Scream Free! (1969) alongside Natalie's sister Lana Wood. Neither sister appears in this series, but Lana appeared in an episode of The Fugitive (1963), which is referenced here through the one-armed man Philip Gerard. Natalie starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955); the characters in that film inspired the characters of Donna and James in this series.
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Piper Laurie's character's maiden name is Packard, the same as her character's surname in The Hustler (1961). Her next film was Carrie (1976), in which she worked with two other David Lynch actors: Priscilla Pointer (Blue Velvet (1986)) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)), who was Lynch's sister-in-law at the time.
- #192
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn had previously starred together in West Side Story (1961), with which Rita Moreno became the second Puerto Rico-born actor to win an Academy Award. The first was José Ferrer, the father of cast member Miguel Ferrer; Ferrer later starred in Traffic (2000), with which Puerto Rico-born actor Benicio Del Toro won an Academy Award.
- #193
The population of the town of Twin Peaks was originally planned to be just 5,120. However, because networks at the time were reacting against rural-themed series and feared that America's urban and suburban population could not sympathize with series set in small farming or industrial towns, ABC wanted the sign to read 51,201. In the 'Twin Peaks Visitor's Guide' book authorized by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, it is stated that the population really is 5,120 but that there is a 'typo' on the sign.
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- #196
Mark Frost and David Lynch said that although they knew from the beginning who the killer was, they never intended to reveal who killed Laura Palmer, but that the network forced them to do so, and that everyone watched the second season to find out. When they told Ray Wise that the killer was Leland, the actor was very upset because he had hoped it would not be him. One reason for his distress was that he had a young daughter during filming; the revelation that his character had killed his own child genuinely affected him.
- #197
The character Audrey Horne, played by Sherilyn Fenn, was planned to be spun off into her own series, but the production never began. Apparently Audrey inspired David Lynch's character for Naomi Watts in the 2001 film Mulholland Drive. In a 1997 interview, Fenn said of the Audrey Horne spin-off, 'David was talking about Mulholland Drive, something like "Audrey goes to Hollywood." In Mulholland she's driving in a convertible... But in the end it didn't happen.'
- #198
Although episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death, 1991) is the final episode of the television series, many scenes set after episode 29 were actually shot for the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. These scenes included the resolution of the long-awaited series finale, the fate of Annie Blackburn (she survives but is hospitalized) and the fate of Agent Cooper (his soul is trapped in the Black Lodge, and the Man from Another Place tells him he will stay there for several years). These scenes were cut due to running time, and many of the series' main characters never appeared in the film. In 2007, negotiations over the cost of reassembling, editing and scoring the deleted scenes came to nothing, but the scenes were finally completed in 2014 for the first Blu-ray release of the series and film together.
- #199
- #200
David Lynch and Mark Frost were initially working on an adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography 'Goddess'. When they could not obtain the rights to the book, the project they started instead, 'Twin Peaks', contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story - in particular her death shortly after writing in her diary that she would tell the world the truth about the famous and important man she had an affair with (Ben Horne).
- #201
The series is famous for having one of the most turbulent productions in television history. Despite being a major cult phenomenon and breaking ratings records in its first year, the series was suddenly cancelled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC constantly changing the series' time slot and the network insisting on the killer of Laura Palmer being revealed. Lynch had also been unable to focus fully on the series in its second year because he was promoting his film Wild at Heart (1990). After the Palmer murder was solved, ratings fell, and although Lynch returned full-time to explore the series' origins further, ABC cancelled the series. The cable channel BRAVO later tried to revive the series, even hiring Lynch to shoot new scenes for syndicated episodes. Even so, audience interest waned. Despite the release of the related film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), high DVD sales and several fan efforts, Lynch denied rumours of a sequel for years. Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return with a limited series for Showtime, with the pair writing the script and Lynch directing every episode.
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- #203
The creators David Lynch and Mark Frost did not give the episodes titles, only episode numbers. When the series aired in Germany, titles were given, and these were later translated into English. The episodes are untitled on the DVD sets, but titled episodes appear when the episodes are streamed on the official Twin Peaks CBS website.
- #204
- #205
Each episode of Twin Peaks was written in sequence; this allowed the overall plot to gain momentum as it progressed, while also allowing the organic process of adding new elements as they occurred to the writers, a process preferred by the series' co-creator David Lynch. It also allowed Lynch's partner in creating the series, Mark Frost, to plan ahead to ensure that plot details and themes could be revisited when necessary.
- #206
During the period the series aired, two officially linked books were published as prequels of sorts: 'The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper' (ISBN: 0671744003) and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer'. The second book was written by David Lynch's 21-year-old daughter Jennifer Lynch at his request; Lynch revealed all of the series' secrets to his daughter so that the book could accurately reflect the show's events. The diary was written with a few 'missing pages' (possibly hinting at the killer), while the remaining pages pointed to Ben Horne as the guilty party. These books were published by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster; Simon & Schuster's sister company Paramount Television acquired the rights to 'Twin Peaks' in 1999, a result of Viacom's (owner of Paramount and S&S since 1994) acquisition of Spelling Entertainment.
- #207
- #208
The pilot episode received such a positive response that it may have inspired a tribute before it even aired. A story arc of Wiseguy (1987) revolved around a series of murders in a small town in Washington state and even included a sheriff who wept when a body was found. The town was called Lynchboro. Its deputy chief was played by David Straithairn, who was considered for the role of Sheriff Truman.
- #209
- #210
David Lynch and Mark Frost first worked on an unproduced script titled 'One Saliva Bubble', an odd comedy in which an accident at a power plant causes chaos in a small town. When neither this film nor Marilyn Monroe biopics came to fruition, they went looking for a possible television deal. One of the first television projects they proposed was 'The Lemurians', based on legends of a lost Atlantis-like civilization. Lynch and Frost created this series by taking elements from the plot of 'The Lemurians' and the Monroe biography.
- #211
- #212
The core concept of Laura's murder came from Mark Frost - the daughter of a family they knew when he was a child had been abducted and killed. When her body was found, her younger brother stayed at the Frosts' house for a few days. The writer later reflected: "We were told not to tell him. This kid came over and he didn't know. That stayed with me. And then the grief that followed."
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- #216
The series premiered as a midseason replacement in the 1989-1990 season - the same season in which The Simpsons (1989) also first aired. Although the fates of the two series were very different - Twin Peaks lasted only two seasons while The Simpsons has continued for thirty years - both shows were extremely influential. The Simpsons has in fact paid tribute to Twin Peaks at least twice; however, to date, Kimmy Robertson is the only original cast member to have appeared as a guest star on The Simpsons.
- #217
Steven Spielberg was interested in directing an episode and specifically planned to direct the first episode of the second season. When David Lynch decided to direct that episode himself, Spielberg could not find another gap in his schedule. However, he went on to direct Don S. Davis in his next film Hook (1991) and then Laura Dern in Jurassic Park (1993).
- #218
Josie Packard's scenes in the second season were shot according to Joan Chen's schedule; this explained the character's absences and her limited interactions with the rest of the town. In the end, Chen - frustrated with the TV business - wanted to leave the series. Years later, Chen expressed regret over her decision, but joked that at least Josie's fate was memorable.
- #219
Just before the first season's finale aired, the cast appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. The producers polled the audience to find out who they thought killed Laura Palmer. The most popular choice was Dr. Jacoby at 31%, followed by Leo Johnson at 17%. Only 3% guessed Leland Palmer. (However, one viewer pointed to Leland Palmer's extreme reaction at the funeral and suggested it might be incest.)
- #220
It was speculated that David Lynch had less involvement in the second season because of the filming of Wild at Heart. According to Harley Peyton, the opposite is true. Filming on Wild at Heart began in late 1989 and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 1990, a week before the first season's finale. ABC announced it would order a second season of Twin Peaks just before the season finale, and production began shortly afterward.
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Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman / Log Lady) died in 2015. Her headstone bears, alongside the expected information: her English name (Catherine Elizabeth Coulson), her Hebrew name (Chana Elisheva), her birth and death years (1943-2015) and the inscription 'Daughter, Sister, Mother, Friend'. Above all of this is a drawing of two hands embracing a log – a tribute to her iconic role as the Log Lady in Twin Peaks.
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Dr. Jacoby was inspired by the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearance and style of dress are strikingly similar; both come from liberal arts professions. Dr. Jacoby spends his holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife; McKenna also lived in Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a striking mushroom-shaped lamp, while McKenna studied and wrote about psychedelic mushroom culture. The tie-in book Mark Frost wrote for the third season makes this connection even more explicit with a quote from a book Jacoby 'wrote' on the therapeutic use of psychotropic drugs.
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Twin Peaks is set in and filmed in the state of Washington. Two main characters in the series share their names with two legendary figures in Washington state history. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares his surname and initials with D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker and extortionist who disappeared after parachuting from a plane over the Washington-Oregon border in 1971. (Sticklers note that the man called himself Dan Cooper, and that D. B. Cooper was the result of an erroneous press report.) Sheriff Harry Truman, meanwhile, shares his name not only with US President Harry S. Truman but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old cabin owner who died on May 18, 1980, when Mount St. Helens erupted after refusing to leave his lodge.
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Possibly unintentional, but there is a parallel with Marilyn Monroe's life: Monroe was a friend of Rosemary Clooney and was invited to a party at her home in 1955. Clooney had just given birth, and she took Monroe upstairs to see her baby. When Monroe took the baby in her arms, the baby began to cry, then opened her eyes, saw Monroe and simply stared at her. Monroe spent the entire party upstairs with the baby. That newborn was none other than series actor Miguel Ferrer.
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The wooded area that is the focus of Cooper's investigation and the site of mysterious, supernatural events is called Glastonbury Grove. It takes its name from Glastonbury in England, which has been the subject of legends about its mystical and mythical qualities for centuries. The Glastonbury area and a monastery founded there in the 8th century have long been associated with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur; in some Arthurian legends, Glastonbury is regarded as Arthur's burial place.
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Glastonbury Grove is the name given to a part of the Twin Peaks woods and has long been the focus of local folklore and Native American legends. The Giant tells Agent Cooper, 'Owls are not what they seem.' Additionally, the location of the Owl Cave in the series offers another connection to owls. Interestingly, Bohemian Grove, a private gentlemen's club in Monte Rio, California, also features a giant owl statue. This place, a focus of conspiracy theories, also appears in the companion book Mark Frost wrote for the third season.
- #237
Sheriff Harry S. Truman takes his name from the former US president, while also recalling Harry R. Truman, who refused to leave his home at Spirit Lake, Washington, during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The name evokes both a political figure and a folk hero who stood his ground against a natural disaster.
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The population of the town of Twin Peaks was initially planned to be just 5,120. However, because networks at the time were reacting against rural-themed series and feared that America's increasingly urbanized population would not sympathize with shows set in small farming or industrial towns, ABC wanted the sign to read 51,201. In the 'Twin Peaks Visitor's Guide' book approved by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, it is stated that the population really is 5,120 but that there is a 'typo' on the sign.
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According to Brad Dukes's 2014 book 'Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks,' while the series was on the air, Jules Haimovitz, then president and COO of Spelling Entertainment, received a phone call from financier Carl Lindler asking who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz that he was asking the question not for himself but on behalf of then-US President George H.W. Bush, who in turn wanted it for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
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Mark Frost and David Lynch stated that although they had known from the beginning who the killer was, they never intended to reveal who killed Laura Palmer, but that the network forced them to do so. The network argued that everyone was watching the second season to find out. When they told Ray Wise that the killer was Leland, the actor was very upset because he had hoped it would not be him. One reason he was upset was that he had a young daughter during filming; so the revelation that his character had killed his own child affected him deeply.
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Kyle MacLachlan refused to further develop his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), which led the writers to suddenly change and add several storylines in the second season. In the original script, Audrey Horne was to be kidnapped by Windom Earle and taken to the Black Lodge in the series finale; the characters Justice Wheeler and Annie were written to give Dale and Audrey 'suitable' love interests. At the time, the relationship between Cooper and Audrey was heavily promoted in TV Guide and other entertainment magazines, just like later TV 'power couples' (such as Mike and Susan on Desperate Housewives). This move alienated viewers and drove the series' already low ratings even lower. At the time, Kyle MacLachlan attributed his insistence to his belief that the morally upright Cooper would not date an underage girl; however, Audrey was a high school senior and would graduate within a month or two in the series timeline, meaning she was of age. In Washington state the age of consent is 16, and Audrey is 18 (in the first season she tells Cooper her age and - she may be lying - but given Cooper's sharp mind, this is unlikely). Team members who later attended the annual Twin Peaks convention recalled that MacLachlan was forced into this decision by his then-girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle, who did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend to share love scenes with her.
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There were plans to turn Sherilyn Fenn's character Audrey Horne into her own series, but the production never got off the ground. Apparently Audrey inspired David Lynch's Naomi Watts character in Mulholland Drive (2001). In a 1997 interview about the Audrey Horne spin-off, Fenn said, 'David was talking about Mulholland Drive,
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The series and the prequel film gained great popularity in Japan and led to a series of commercials for Georgia brand canned coffee. The commercials featured Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Catherine E. Coulson, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse and Kimmy Robertson, as well as a new agent, 'Ken,' played by a Japanese actor. The spots introduced a new mystery and even referenced the Black Lodge.
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Although Episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death (1991)) is the final episode of the television series, many scenes set after Episode 29 were actually shot for the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). These scenes included the resolution of the long-awaited series finale, the fate of Annie Blackburn (she survives but is hospitalized) and the fate of Agent Cooper (his soul is trapped in the Black Lodge and the Man from Another Place tells him he will stay there for several years). These scenes were cut due to running time, and many of the series' main characters never appeared in the film. In 2007, negotiations over the cost of reassembling, editing and scoring the deleted scenes came to nothing, but the scenes were finally completed in 2014 for the Blu-ray release of the series and film together.
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David Lynch and Mark Frost were actually working on an adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography 'Goddess'. When they could not secure the rights to the book, the project they started instead, 'Twin Peaks', contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story - in particular her death shortly after writing in her diary that she would tell the world the truth about the famous and important man she had a relationship with (Ben Horne).
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The series is famous for having one of the most turbulent productions in television history. Despite becoming a major cult phenomenon and breaking ratings records in its first year, the show was abruptly cancelled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC constantly changing the show's time slot and the network insisting that Laura Palmer's killer be revealed. Lynch had also been unable to focus fully on the series because he was promoting his film Wild at Heart (1990) during its second year. After the Palmer murder was solved, ratings fell, and although Lynch returned to the show full-time to explore the killer's origins further, ABC cancelled it. The cable channel BRAVO later tried to revive the series, even hiring Lynch to shoot new scenes for syndication. Even so, audience interest waned. Despite the release of the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), high DVD sales and several fan campaigns, Lynch denied rumours of a sequel for years. Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return with a limited series for Showtime, with the pair writing the script and Lynch directing every episode.
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Each episode of Twin Peaks was written in sequence; this allowed the overall plot to gain momentum as it progressed while also permitting the organic process of adding new elements as they occurred to the writers, a process preferred by series co-creator David Lynch. It also allowed his co-creator Mark Frost to plan ahead to ensure that plot details and themes could be revisited when necessary.
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While the series was on the air, two official tie-in books were published as prequels to the show: 'The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper' (ISBN:0671744003) and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer'. The second book was written by David Lynch's 21-year-old daughter Jennifer Lynch; Lynch revealed all the series' secrets to his daughter so that the book could accurately reflect the show's events. The diary was written with several 'missing pages' (possibly hinting at the killer), and the remaining pages pointed to Ben Horne as the culprit. These books were published by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster; Simon & Schuster's sister company Paramount Television bought the rights to 'Twin Peaks' in 1999, a result of Paramount and S&S owner Viacom's acquisition of Spelling Entertainment.
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The pilot episode received such a positive response that it may have inspired a tribute before it even aired. A story arc of the series Wiseguy (1987) revolved around a series of murders in a small town in Washington state and even included a sheriff who cried when a body was found. The town was called Lynchboro. Its deputy was played by David Straithairn, who was considered for the role of Sheriff Truman.
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David Lynch and Mark Frost first worked together on an unproduced script called "One Saliva Bubble", an odd comedy in which a nuclear power plant accident causes chaos in a small town. When neither this film nor the Marilyn Monroe biographies came to fruition, they went looking for a television deal. One of the first television projects they proposed was "The Lemurians", based on legends of a lost Atlantis-like civilization. While creating this series, Lynch and Frost took elements from "The Lemurians" and the Monroe biography.
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David Lynch and Mark Frost watched the original 1957 film Peyton Place to get ideas for how to develop the town's residents, and ultimately borrowed several ideas from it. Both productions revolve around a teenage girl who is sexually abused by a family member. Russ Tamblyn also appeared in both projects.
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The core concept of Laura's murder came from Mark Frost — while growing up, the daughter of a family he knew had been abducted and killed. When her body was found, her younger brother had come to the Frosts' house for a few days. The writer later reflected: "We were told not to tell him. This kid came over and he didn't know. That stayed with me. And the grief that followed."
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The series began as a midseason replacement in the 1989-1990 season — the same season in which The Simpsons (1989) also debuted. Although the fates of the two series were very different — Twin Peaks lasted only two seasons while The Simpsons has continued for thirty years — both shows proved highly influential. The Simpsons in fact paid tribute to Twin Peaks at least twice; however, to date, Kimmy Robertson is the only original cast member to have appeared as a guest star on The Simpsons.
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Josie Packard's scenes in the second season were shot according to Joan Chen's schedule, which explained the character's absences and her limited interactions with the rest of the town. In the end, Chen — frustrated with the TV business — wanted to leave the series. Years later, Chen expressed regret over her decision, though she joked that at least Josie's fate was unforgettable.
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Just before the first season's finale aired, the cast appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. The producers polled the audience on who killed Laura Palmer. The most popular choice was Dr. Jacoby with 31%, followed by Leo Johnson with 17%. Only 3% guessed Leland Palmer. (However, one viewer pointed to Leland Palmer's excessive reaction at the funeral and suggested that incest might be involved.)
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In early to mid-2025, following the sad passing of series creator and visionary filmmaker David Lynch, the independent streaming service Mubi acquired the streaming rights to Twin Peaks (and later Twin Peaks (2017)), beginning to stream the series simultaneously with its availability on Paramount+ in the US and UK.
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There was speculation that David Lynch contributed less to the second season due to the filming of Wild at Heart. According to Harley Peyton, the opposite is true. Filming on Wild at Heart began in late 1989 and it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 1990, a week before the first season's finale. ABC announced just before the season finale that it would order a second season of Twin Peaks, and production began shortly afterward.
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The officially tie-in books were published by Simon & Schuster, whose then-sister company Paramount Television acquired the rights to the series in 1999. S&S and the company that would later become CBS Studios remained under shared ownership until 2023, when Paramount Global sold its book publisher to KKR.
Behind the Scenes (50)
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Due to the secretive nature of the show, cast members would be given only the portions of the script that involved their characters. Ian Buchanan remarked that he would film his (mostly comic relief) scenes and notice the makeup artists preparing a gruesome prop for another scene and have no idea what it was for until the episode aired.
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At the beginning of the shooting of the second season, actress Sherilyn Fenn came down with a bad case of pneumonia, making headlines that the shooting of the series might be affected or that she might have to leave the show. As writer/producer Harley Peyton said in an interview, "It looked like it could give us some really serious problems.... She was tremendous and recovered rather quickly and came back sooner than she had to. We had different directors shooting each day and two directors shooting in a single day and, in fact, got all of her scenes done."
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In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says that to maintain the secret of whether her character, Catherine Martell, survived the mill fire into the second season, the producers hatched a plan for her to be on set only in her Japanese businessman costume and prosthetic makeup. The rest of the cast and crew were told only that she was a (male) Japanese movie actor named Fumio Yamaguchi who had worked mostly with the acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa, and that Yamaguchi didn't speak much English. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was restricted from telling the press or even her own family that she had not been fired from the show. Several of her costars were fooled at first, including Jack Nance (who played her husband) and Peggy Lipton (who suspected it was David Lynch's then-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini in disguise instead).
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Josie Packard's scenes in the second season were filmed around Joan Chen's schedule, which explained both the character's absences and her limited interactions with the rest of the town. Eventually Chen - disillusioned with TV work - asked to be written out of the show. Decades later Chen expressed regret over her decision, but also joked that at least Josie's fate was memorable.
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Mark Frost and David Lynch stated that although they knew from the beginning who the killer was, they had not planned to reveal who killed Laura Palmer, but that everyone watching Season 2 to find out forced their hand. When they finally told Ray Wise that it was Leland, the actor was genuinely upset, because he had hoped it would not be him. One reason his being the killer upset him was that he had a small daughter during filming, so the idea of his character having killed his own child truly affected him.
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In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says that to keep secret whether her character Catherine Martell survived the mill fire in the second season, the producers devised a plan for her to appear on set only in the costume of a Japanese businessman and in prosthetic makeup. The cast and the rest of the crew were told only that she was a (male) Japanese film actor named Fumio Yamaguchi who had mostly worked with the acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa, and that Yamaguchi spoke little English. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was restricted from telling the press and even her own family that she had not been fired from the series. Many of her co-stars were initially fooled, including Jack Nance (who played her husband) and Peggy Lipton (who suspected that her replacement was actually David Lynch's disguised girlfriend Isabella Rossellini).
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The character of Bob came about when David Lynch saw his set decorator Frank Silva hiding in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch shot the famous take of Silva crouching behind Laura's bed without knowing what he would use it for. Later, while filming a scene in which Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sits and screams, he noticed that Silva's reflection had accidentally appeared in the frame. Lynch thus conceived of Bob as a supernatural spirit, giving birth to the series' mythology.
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To prevent information about the killer from leaking, Maddie's murder scene was also shot with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) as the killer, but this alternative scene was never intended to be shown in any way. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and in a deliberately leaked script both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne were shown as the killer.
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In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says that to keep it secret whether her character Catherine Martell survived the mill fire into the second season, the producers devised a plan: she would be on set only in a Japanese businessman's costume and prosthetic makeup. The other cast and crew were told that she was a Japanese film actor named Fumio Yamaguchi (male) who had mostly worked with the famous director Akira Kurosawa, and that Yamaguchi did not know English very well. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was forbidden from telling the press, and even her own family, that she had not been fired from the series. Many of her co-stars were initially fooled, including Jack Nance, who played her husband, and Peggy Lipton, who instead thought that David Lynch's then-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini was in disguise.
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At the start of filming for the second season, actress Sherilyn Fenn came down with a severe case of pneumonia, which led to reports that the series' filming might be affected or that she might have to leave the show. Writer/producer Harley Peyton said in an interview, 'It looked like it could create serious problems for us... She was great and recovered quite quickly and came back earlier than she should have. Different directors were shooting every day, and sometimes two directors were working in a single day, and we actually completed all of her scenes.'
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Because of the series' mysterious nature, the actors were given only the script pages containing their own characters. Ian Buchanan stated that while mostly filming his comedic scenes, he noticed that the makeup artists were preparing a terrifying prop for another scene, and that he did not know what it was for until the episode aired.
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The 'Invitation To Love' segments were directed on video by Mark Frost. Peter Michael Goetz ('Jared Lancaster as Evan St. Vincent') had worked with Warren Frost at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; Rick Giolito ('Montana as Jason Denbo') is Mark Frost's brother-in-law. The soap opera was never designed to provide a 'clue' to the mystery, but some elements of its plot parallel Twin Peaks. The segments were gradually phased out in the second season because David Lynch found them too absurd.
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The character of Bob came about when David Lynch saw set decorator Frank Silva hiding in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch shot that famous take of Silva crouching behind Laura's bed without knowing what he would use it for. Later, while filming the scene in which Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sits and screams, he noticed that Silva's reflection was in the frame entirely by coincidence. Lynch then conceived of Bob as a supernatural spirit, giving birth to the show's mythology.
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To prevent information about the killer from leaking, Maddie's murder scene was also shot with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) as the killer, though this alternative scene was never meant to be shown in any way. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and a deliberately leaked script showed both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne as the killer.
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In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says the producers devised a plan to keep the secret of whether her character Catherine Martell survived the mill fire into the second season: she would be on set only in a Japanese businessman's costume and prosthetic makeup. The rest of the cast and crew were told she was a Japanese film actor (male) named Fumio Yamaguchi who had worked with the famous director Akira Kurosawa and spoke little English. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was forbidden from telling the press, or even her own family, that she had not been fired from the show. Many of her co-stars were initially fooled, including Jack Nance, who played her husband, and Peggy Lipton, who thought David Lynch's then-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini was disguised in her place.
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Because of the show's mysterious nature, actors were given only the parts of the script that concerned their own characters. Ian Buchanan said that while filming his mostly comedic scenes, he would notice the makeup team preparing a horrifying prop for another scene and had no idea what it was for until the episode aired.
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The 'Invitation To Love' segments were directed on video by Mark Frost. Peter Michael Goetz ('Jared Lancaster as Evan St. Vincent') had worked with Warren Frost at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, while Rick Giolito ('Montana as Jason Denbo') is Mark Frost's brother-in-law. The soap opera was never intended to provide 'clues' to the mystery's solution, though some elements of its plot parallel Twin Peaks. The segments were gradually phased out in the second season because David Lynch found them too silly.
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The character of Bob came about when David Lynch suddenly saw an image of set decorator Frank Silva hiding in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch filmed that famous shot of Silva hiding behind Laura's bed without knowing what he would use it for. Later, while shooting a scene in which Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sits and screams, Lynch noticed entirely by chance that Silva's reflection appeared in the frame. Thereupon Lynch conceived of Bob as a supernatural spirit, and the mythology of the series was born.
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To prevent the identity of the killer from leaking, the murder scene of Maddie was also shot with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) as the killer, though this alternative scene was never intended to be shown in any way. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and a deliberately leaked script showed both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne as the killer.
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In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says that to keep secret whether her character Catherine Martell survived the factory fire in the second season, the producers devised a plan. According to this, Laurie would appear on set only in the costume of a Japanese businessman and in prosthetic makeup. The other actors and the crew were told that she was a Japanese film actor named Fumio Yamaguchi (a man) who had mostly worked with the famous director Akira Kurosawa, and that Yamaguchi did not know English very well. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was forbidden from telling the press, and even her own family, that she had not been fired from the series. Many of her co-stars were initially fooled, among them Jack Nance (who played her character's husband) and Peggy Lipton (who instead suspected that David Lynch's then-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini was in disguise).
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Because of the series' secrecy-focused structure, actors were given only the script pages containing their own characters. Ian Buchanan stated that he mostly shot his comedic scenes and noticed that the makeup team was preparing a horrifying prop for another scene, and that he did not know what it was for until the episode aired.
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The character of Bob came about when David Lynch saw set decorator Frank Silva hiding in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch shot that famous footage of Silva hiding behind Laura's bed without knowing what he would use it for. Later, while filming the scene in which Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sits and screams, he noticed entirely by chance that Silva's reflection appeared in the frame. Lynch thus conceived of Bob as a supernatural spirit, giving birth to the series' mythology.
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To prevent the identity of the killer from leaking, Maddie's murder scene was also shot with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) as the killer, but this alternative scene was never intended to be shown in any way. Neither Beymer nor Ray Wise knew who the killer was, and in a deliberately leaked script both Big Ed Hurley and Ben Horne were shown as the killer.
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In her 2011 autobiography, Piper Laurie says that to keep secret whether her character Catherine Martell survived the mill fire into the second season, the producers devised a plan: she would be on set only in a Japanese businessman's costume and prosthetic makeup. The other cast and crew were told that she was a Japanese film actor named Fumio Yamaguchi (a man) who had worked with the famous director Akira Kurosawa and spoke hardly any English. Laurie's name was removed from the credits, and she was forbidden from telling the press, and even her own family, that she had not been fired from the series. Many of her co-stars were initially fooled, among them Jack Nance, who played her husband, and Peggy Lipton, who instead thought that David Lynch's then-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini was in disguise.
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At the start of filming for the second season, actress Sherilyn Fenn came down with a severe case of pneumonia, and reports appeared that the series' shooting might be affected or that she might have to leave the show. Writer/producer Harley Peyton said in an interview, 'It looked like it might create serious problems for us... She was great, she recovered quite quickly and came back earlier than she should have. Different directors were shooting every day, and sometimes two directors were shooting in a single day, and we actually completed all of her scenes.'
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Because of the series' mysterious nature, actors were given only the script pages containing their own characters. Ian Buchanan stated that he mostly shot comic relief scenes and that he would notice the makeup artists preparing a frightening prop for another scene, without knowing what it was for until the episode aired.
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The 'Invitation To Love' segments were directed on video by Mark Frost. Peter Michael Goetz ('Evan St. Vincent as Jared Lancaster') had worked with Warren Frost at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; Rick Giolito ('Jason Denbo as Montana') is Mark Frost's brother-in-law. The soap opera was never meant to provide a 'clue' to the mystery, but elements of its plot parallel Twin Peaks. The segments were gradually phased out in the second season because David Lynch found them too absurd.
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Characters & Cast (169)
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Dale Cooper's secretary, Diane, to whom he records many tapes throughout the series, never appears onscreen. She came close to appearing in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) when Cooper is seen to be talking to her in person at the FBI office, but she is in another room and cannot be seen. Diane finally makes a physical appearance in the follow-up series Twin Peaks (2017), played by Laura Dern.
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Don S. Davis, who portrayed Major Garland Briggs, credited the show as the luckiest break he'd ever had as an actor. When he was initially going to audition for David Lynch, he didn't even have to read but just met with Lynch. Lynch had liked Davis after the meeting and wrote his part around the chemistry he had with the other cast members. Davis went on to say that because of the show, he developed a lot of life-long friendships with the cast and crew. Davis and Lynch initially portrayed Briggs as a pompous buffoon. Lynch took Davis aside and explained that there was more to the character than seen in his first appearance and Davis adjusted his performance accordingly.
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Don S. Davis, who played Major Garland Briggs, regarded the series as the luckiest opportunity he had ever had as an actor. When he initially went to David Lynch's audition he did not even have to read, but he met Lynch for the first time. Lynch had liked Davis after the meeting and wrote his role according to the chemistry between him and the other actors. Davis said that through the series he developed many lifelong friendships with the cast and crew. Davis and Lynch initially portrayed Briggs as a pompous buffoon. Lynch took Davis aside and explained that the character was more than what was seen in his first appearance, and Davis adjusted his performance accordingly.
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At The X-Files panel with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi at Wizard World New Orleans on January 7, 2017, Duchovny was asked about the role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He explained that the role was actually written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader. However, Spader had to turn the role down because of a scheduling conflict with another shoot, so the part was offered to promising young actors and David took it. And the only thing he now regrets about his time on the series' first two seasons is that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
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The one-armed man character was initially meant to appear only in the pilot episode, in a brief role as a tribute to the series 'The Fugitive' (1963). However, after David Lynch wrote a closed ending for the European version of the pilot, he decided to use the character to recite the famous 'Fire Walk with Me' poem. So impressed was Lynch by Al Strobel's performance that he made the character an inseparable part of the show's mythology and gave Strobel a recurring role. At the time the series aired, the production company Spelling Entertainment held the rights to 'The Fugitive' (1963).
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Don S. Davis, who played Major Garland Briggs, described the series as the biggest break of his career. When he went to meet David Lynch, he did not have to read anything; they simply met. Lynch liked Davis after the meeting and wrote his role based on his chemistry with the other actors. Davis said that thanks to the series, he developed lifelong friendships with the cast and crew. Davis and Lynch initially portrayed Briggs as an arrogant fool. Lynch took Davis aside and explained that the character was more than his first appearance suggested, and Davis adjusted his performance accordingly.
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At an X-Files panel held at Wizard World New Orleans on January 7, 2017, with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi, Duchovny was asked about the role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He explained that the role was actually written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader. However, Spader had to turn down the role due to a scheduling conflict with another shoot, and the role was offered to young, new actors; David got the part. His only regret from the show's first two seasons was that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
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The children of many cast and crew members later became film and television stars: Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby) is the father of Amber Tamblyn; Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward) and series director Caleb Deschanel are the parents of Zoey and Emily Deschanel; Peggy Lipton is the mother of Rashida Jones; and finally, series director Stephen Gyllenhaal is the father of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.
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Diane, the secretary to whom Dale Cooper records many tapes in the series, never appeared on screen. She came close to appearing when she was seen talking to Cooper in his FBI office in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), but she was in another room and was not visible. Diane finally appeared physically in the continuation series Twin Peaks (2017), played by Laura Dern.
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In one episode of season 2, the small role of social worker Judy Swain was played by the then-unknown Molly Shannon (who would later become a regular on the Saturday Night Live (1975) cast). In her 2022 memoir Hello Molly!, Shannon recounts how she tricked her way into reading for the role. Together with her friend Eugene Pack, she would call casting directors pretending to be assistants to playwright and screenwriter David Mamet in order to make Hollywood connections. 'We started meeting everyone--agents at ICM, William Morris. I wanted to be on 'Twin Peaks,' so Eugene called casting director Johanna Ray and I actually got cast on 'Twin Peaks.' Thanks to the Mamet Scam.' Shannon met with Ray, and Ray set up Shannon's next meeting with David Lynch, 'which was exactly what I wanted to happen. Because I would drive past [Ray's] office in my junk car and go, 'Oh, I really want to be on 'Twin Peaks'! I love this show!''
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Many of the series' actors had worked with David Lynch before. Jack Nance (Pete Martell) starred in Eraserhead (1977) and took small roles in Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986); Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) starred in Dune and Blue Velvet; Frank Silva (Bob) worked on the sets of Dune, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990); Catherine E. Coulson (Log Lady) worked as a camera assistant on the set of Eraserhead. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) and Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) also took small roles in Lynch's early works.
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Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn played Tony and Riff respectively in West Side Story (1961). However, the roles of Ben Horne and Lawrence Jacoby were cast independently of each other, and the coincidence was only noticed later. In fact, until the American Civil War vision in the second season, they shared very few scenes.
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Before the role of Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan played a young FBI agent assigned to investigate a bizarre murder in The Hidden (1987). The Hidden revolves around alien activity (particularly alien beings that can possess others), a subject also explored in the series. Chris Mulkey also has a small role in that film.
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Many of the actors later took on memorable roles on Seinfeld (1989). Warren Frost (Dr. Will Hayward) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) played the Ross family, the parents of George Costanza's fiancée Susan. Frances Bay (Mrs. Tremond/Mrs. Chalfont) played Mrs. Choate, the old woman from whom Jerry steals a marble rye; that episode also featured Frost, Zabriskie and, in a small role, Don Amendolia (Emory Battis). Brenda Strong (Jones) played Elaine's nemesis Sue Ellen Mishke. Ian Abercrombie, who appeared as Tom Brockman in a single episode, had his biggest role on Seinfeld as Elaine's wealthy and eccentric boss Justin Pitt. Frost, Zabriskie, Bay and Abercrombie also appeared in the Seinfeld finale.
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This series is the third project Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn worked on together, and all of their projects have a connection to Natalie Wood. The three appeared together in West Side Story (1961). Beymer and Tamblyn later came together with Natalie's sister Lana Wood in Scream Free! (1969). Although neither of the sisters appears in this series, Lana appeared in an episode of The Fugitive (1963), a series remembered for its reference to the one-armed man Philip Gerard. Natalie appeared in Rebel Without a Cause (1955); the characters in that film and James Dean's character inspired the roles of Donna and James in this series.
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Piper Laurie's character's maiden name was Packard, which was also the surname of her character in The Hustler (1961). Her next film was Carrie (1976), in which she worked with two other David Lynch collaborators: Priscilla Pointer (Blue Velvet (1986)) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)), who was Lynch's sister-in-law at the time.
- #371
The population of the town of Twin Peaks was initially planned to be only 5,120. But at the time there was a backlash against rural-themed series; the networks feared that America's growing urban and suburban population would not sympathize with shows set in small farming or industrial towns. So ABC wanted the sign to read 51,201. In the 'Twin Peaks Access Guide' book, approved by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, it is stated that the population really is 5,120 but that there is a 'typo' on the sign.
- #372
According to Brad Dukes's 2014 book 'Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks', while the series was on the air, Jules Haimovitz, then president and COO of Spelling Entertainment, received a phone call from financier Carl Lindler asking who killed Laura Palmer. Lindler told Haimovitz that he was asking the question not for himself but on behalf of then-US President George H.W. Bush, who in turn wanted it for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
- #373
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- #375
Although Mark Frost and David Lynch knew from the start who killed Laura Palmer, they intended never to reveal it. But the network pressured them, saying everyone was watching the second season to find out. When they told Ray Wise that the killer was Leland, the actor was very upset, because he had hoped it would not be him. One reason Wise was upset was that he had a small daughter during filming; the revelation that his character had killed his own child affected him deeply.
- #376
Kyle MacLachlan refused to develop his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), which led the writers to suddenly change and add many storylines in the second season. In the original script, Audrey Horne was to be kidnapped by Windom Earle in the season finale and taken to the Black Lodge; the characters Justice Wheeler and Annie were written to give Dale and Audrey 'suitable' love interests. At the time, the relationship between Cooper and Audrey was heavily promoted in TV Guide and other entertainment magazines, just like later 'power couples' (such as Mike and Susan on Desperate Housewives). This move alienated viewers and caused the already declining ratings to worsen further. Kyle MacLachlan at the time attributed his insistence to his belief that the moral Cooper would not date an underage girl; however, Audrey was a high school senior and would graduate within a month or two in the series timeline, meaning she was of age. The age of consent in Washington state is 16, and Audrey is 18 (she tells Cooper this age in the first season, and although she could be lying, that seems unlikely given Cooper's sharp mind). Cast members who attended Twin Peaks conventions held in later years recalled that MacLachlan made this decision under pressure from his then-girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle; Boyle did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend sharing love scenes with her.
- #377
There were plans for a spin-off series for Sherilyn Fenn's character Audrey Horne, but the production never began. Apparently Audrey inspired David Lynch for Naomi Watts's character in the film Mulholland Drive (2001). In a 1997 interview about the Audrey Horne spin-off, Fenn said, 'David was talking about Mulholland Drive, something like 'Audrey goes to Hollywood.' She drives down Mulholland in her convertible... But in the end it didn't happen.'
- #378
- #379
Although episode 29 (Beyond Life and Death, 1991) was the final episode of the television series, many scenes set after episode 29 were actually shot for the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Among these scenes was the eagerly awaited resolution of the series finale: the fate of Annie Blackburn (she survives but is hospitalized) and the fate of Agent Cooper (his soul is trapped in the Black Lodge and the Man from Another Place tells him he will stay there for several years). These scenes were cut due to running time, and many of the series' main characters never appeared in the film. In 2007, talks about the cost of reassembling, editing and scoring these deleted scenes came to nothing, but the scenes were finally completed for the first time, together with the series and the film, in the 2014 Blu-ray release.
- #380
- #381
- #382
David Lynch and Mark Frost were initially working on an adaptation of the Marilyn Monroe biography 'Goddess'. When they could not secure the rights to the book, the project they started instead, 'Twin Peaks', contained many elements of Marilyn Monroe's story - particularly her death immediately after writing in her diary that she would tell the world the truth about the famous and important man she had a relationship with (Ben Horne).
- #383
The series is famous for having one of the most turbulent productions in television history. Although it became a major cult phenomenon and broke ratings records in its first year, it was suddenly cancelled in its second season. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch attribute this to ABC constantly changing the show's time slot and the network insisting on revealing Laura Palmer's killer. Lynch was also unable to focus fully on the series because he was busy promoting his film Wild at Heart (1990) during its second year. After the Palmer murder was solved, ratings fell, and although Lynch returned to the series full-time to explore the origins of Laura's killer further, ABC cancelled the show. The cable channel BRAVO later tried to revive the series, even hiring Lynch to shoot new scenes for syndication episodes. Even so, audience interest waned. Despite high DVD sales and several fan initiatives, Lynch denied rumours of a sequel film for years, following the related film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Finally, in October 2014, it was announced that he and Frost would return with a limited series for Showtime, with the pair writing and Lynch directing every episode.
- #384
Creators David Lynch and Mark Frost did not give the episodes titles, using only episode numbers. When the series aired in Germany, titles were given, and these were later translated into English. The episodes are untitled on DVD sets, but titled versions appear when the episodes are streamed on the official Twin Peaks CBS website.
- #385
- #386
- #387
Each episode of Twin Peaks was written in sequence; this allowed the overall plot to gain momentum as it progressed while enabling the writers to add new elements as they came to mind, a process preferred by series co-creator David Lynch. It also allowed Lynch's partner Mark Frost to plan ahead to ensure that plot details and connections were revisited when necessary.
- #388
While the series was on the air, two official tie-in books were published as prequels to the show: 'The Autobiography of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper' (ISBN: 0671744003) and 'The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer'. The second book was written by David Lynch's 21-year-old daughter Jennifer Lynch; Lynch revealed all the series' secrets to his daughter so that the book could accurately reflect the show's events. The diary was written with several 'missing pages' (possibly hinting at the killer), and the remaining pages pointed to Ben Horne as guilty. These books were published by Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster; Simon & Schuster's sister company Paramount Television bought the rights to 'Twin Peaks' in 1999, a result of Paramount and S&S owner Viacom's acquisition of Spelling Entertainment in 1994.
- #389
- #390
- #391
David Lynch and Mark Frost first worked on an unproduced script called 'One Saliva Bubble', an odd comedy in which an accident at a power plant causes chaos in a small town. When neither this film nor the Marilyn Monroe biographies came to fruition, they sought a possible television deal. One of the first television projects they proposed was 'The Lemurians', based on legends of a lost Atlantis-like civilization. Lynch and Frost created this series by taking elements from the plot of 'The Lemurians' and the Monroe biography.
- #392
- #393
David Lynch and Mark Frost watched the original film Peyton Place (1957) to get ideas on how to develop the town's residents and ultimately borrowed several ideas. Both productions revolve around a young girl who is sexually abused by a family member. Russ Tamblyn also appeared in both projects.
- #394
- #395
The central concept of Laura's murder came from Mark Frost - as a child, the daughter of a family they knew had been abducted and killed. When her body was found, her younger brother had come to the Frosts' house for a few days. The writer later thought: 'He was told we can't tell him. This kid came over and he didn't know. That stayed with me. And then the grief that followed.'
- #396
- #397
Steven Spielberg was interested in directing an episode and specifically planned to direct the second season's first episode. When David Lynch decided to direct that episode himself, Spielberg could not find another gap in his schedule. However, he later directed Don S. Davis in his next film Hook (1991) and Laura Dern in Jurassic Park (1993).
- #398
- #399
Josie Packard's scenes in the second season were shot according to Joan Chen's schedule; this explained the character's absences and her limited interactions with the rest of the town. In the end, Chen — frustrated with the television business — wanted to leave the series. Years later, Chen expressed regret over her decision, but joked that at least Josie's fate was unforgettable.
- #400
From early to mid-2025, following the sad passing of series creator and visionary director David Lynch, the independent streaming service Mubi acquired the streaming rights to Twin Peaks and later Twin Peaks (2017), releasing the series simultaneously with its availability on Paramount+ in the US and the UK.
- #401
There was speculation that David Lynch contributed less in the second season due to the filming of Wild at Heart. According to Harley Peyton, the opposite is true. Filming on Wild at Heart began in late 1989 and its premiere was held on 19 May 1990 at the Cannes Film Festival, a week before the first season finale aired. ABC announced just before the season finale that it would order a second season of Twin Peaks, and production began shortly afterwards.
- #402
The officially tie-in books were published by Simon & Schuster, which had acquired the series rights in 1999 from its then-sister company Paramount Television. S&S and the company that would later become CBS Studios remained under shared ownership until 2023, when Paramount Global sold its book publisher to KKR.
- #403
- #404
- #405
Kyle MacLachlan refused to develop his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), which led the writers to suddenly change and add several storylines in the second season. In the original script, Audrey Horne was to be kidnapped by Windom Earle and taken to the Black Lodge; the characters of Justice Wheeler and Annie were written to create "suitable" love interests for Dale and Audrey. At the time, the Cooper-Audrey relationship was heavily promoted in TV Guide and other entertainment magazines, just like later TV "power couples" (such as Mike and Susan on Desperate Housewives). This move alienated viewers and drove the show's already low ratings even lower. Kyle MacLachlan at the time attributed this insistence to his belief that the moral Cooper would not date an underage girl; however, Audrey was a high school senior and would graduate within a month or two in the show's timeline, meaning she was of age. The age of consent in Washington state is 16, and Audrey is 18 (she tells Cooper her age in the first season, and — she could be lying, but given Cooper's sharp mind, that is unlikely). Years later, cast members who attended the annual Twin Peaks convention recalled that MacLachlan was forced into this decision by his then-girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle; Boyle did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend sharing love scenes with her.
- #406
The one-armed man character was initially going to appear only in a brief role in the pilot episode as a tribute to The Fugitive (1963). However, after David Lynch wrote a closed ending for the European version of the pilot, he decided to use the character to recite the famous "Fire Walk with Me" poem. Lynch, greatly impressed by Al Strobel's performance, decided to make the character an integral part of the show's mythology and to give Strobel a recurring role. At the time the show aired, the production company Spelling Entertainment held the rights to The Fugitive (1963).
- #407
Don S. Davis, who played Major Garland Briggs, described the show as the greatest stroke of luck he experienced as an actor. When he went to audition for David Lynch, he did not even have to read; he simply met Lynch. After the meeting, Lynch liked Davis and wrote his role based on his chemistry with the other actors. Davis said that thanks to the show, he developed lifelong friendships with the cast and crew. Davis and Lynch initially portrayed Briggs as an arrogant clown. Lynch took Davis aside and explained that the character was more than his first appearance suggested, and Davis adjusted his performance accordingly.
- #408
- #409
- #410
On January 7, 2017, at an X-Files panel with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi at Wizard World in New Orleans, Duchovny was asked about the role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He explained that the role was actually written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader. However, Spader had to turn down the role due to a scheduling conflict with another shoot, and the role was offered to young and new actors, and David landed it. His only regret about the show's first two seasons is that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
- #411
The children of many cast and crew members later became film and television stars: Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby) is the father of Amber Tamblyn; Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward) and series director Caleb Deschanel are the parents of Zoey and Emily Deschanel; Peggy Lipton is the mother of Rashida Jones; and series director Stephen Gyllenhaal is the father of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.
- #412
Diane, Dale Cooper's secretary, the person to whom he records many tapes on the show, never appears on screen. In Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), it came close to her being seen talking with him in Cooper's FBI office, but she was in another room and was not visible. Diane finally appeared physically in the continuation series Twin Peaks (2017), played by Laura Dern.
- #413
- #414
At the start of filming for the second season, actress Sherilyn Fenn contracted a severe case of pneumonia, which made headlines suggesting the show's production could be affected or that she might have to leave the series. Writer/producer Harley Peyton said in an interview, "It could have created serious problems for us... She was wonderful and recovered quite quickly, returning sooner than she needed to. Different directors were shooting every day, and sometimes two directors were shooting in a single day, and we completed all of her scenes."
- #415
- #416
In one episode of the second season, the small role of social worker Judy Swain was played by the then-unknown Molly Shannon (who would later become a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975)). In her 2022 memoir Hello Molly!, Shannon recounts how she tricked her way into an audition for the role. Together with her friend Eugene Pack, she would call casting directors posing as an assistant to playwright and screenwriter David Mamet in order to make Hollywood connections. "We started meeting everyone--agents at ICM, William Morris. I wanted to be on 'Twin Peaks,' so Eugene called casting director Johanna Ray and I actually got cast on 'Twin Peaks.' Thanks to the Mamet Scam." Shannon met with Ray, and Ray set up Shannon's next meeting with David Lynch, "which was exactly what I wanted to happen. Because I used to drive past [Ray's] casting office in my junk car and say, 'Oh, I really want to be on 'Twin Peaks.' I love that show!'"
- #417
Most of the series' cast had previously collaborated with David Lynch before the show was made. Jack Nance (Pete Martell) starred in Eraserhead (1977) and took small roles in both Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986); Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) played leading roles in Dune and Blue Velvet; Frank Silva (Bob) worked on the sets of Dune, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990); Catherine E. Coulson (Log Lady) worked as an assistant camera operator on the set of Eraserhead. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) and Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) also took small roles in Lynch's early work.
- #418
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn played Tony and Riff respectively in West Side Story (1961). However, they were cast independently of each other as Ben Horne and Lawrence Jacoby, and the coincidence was only noticed afterward. In fact, they did not share many scenes until Horne's American Civil War hallucination in the second season.
- #419
- #420
Before the role of Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan played a young FBI agent assigned to a strange murder squad in The Hidden (1987). The Hidden revolves around extraterrestrial activity (specifically alien beings capable of possessing others), a subject similar to one explored in the series. Chris Mulkey also has a small role in that film.
- #421
- #422
- #423
Many cast members later took on memorable roles on Seinfeld (1989). Warren Frost (Dr. Will Hayward) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) played the Ross family, the parents of George Costanza's fiancée Susan. Frances Bay (Mrs. Tremond/Mrs. Chalfont) was the old woman Mrs. Choate whose rye bread Jerry steals; Frost, Zabriskie and Don Amendolia (Emory Battis) also appeared in small roles in that episode. Brenda Strong (Jones) played Elaine's nemesis Sue Ellen Mishke. Ian Abercrombie, who appeared as Tom Brockman in a single episode, had his biggest role on Seinfeld as Elaine's wealthy and eccentric boss Justin Pitt. Frost, Zabriskie, Bay and Abercrombie also appeared in the Seinfeld finale.
- #424
- #425
This series is the third project Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn worked on together, and all of their projects have a connection to Natalie Wood. The three of them appeared together in West Side Story (1961). Beymer and Tamblyn later reunited with Natalie's sister Lana Wood in Scream Free! (1969). Neither of the sisters appears in this series; however, Lana appeared in an episode of The Fugitive (1963), a series remembered for the one-armed man character Philip Gerard. Natalie appeared in Rebel Without a Cause (1955); the characters in that film inspired the roles of Donna and James in this series.
- #426
- #427
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- #429
- #430
- #431
- #432
- #433
- #434
Piper Laurie's character's maiden name is Packard, the same as her character's surname in the film The Hustler (1961). Her next film was Carrie (1976), in which she worked with two other David Lynch collaborators: Priscilla Pointer (Blue Velvet (1986)) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)), who was Lynch's sister-in-law at the time.
- #435
- #436
- #437
Kyle MacLachlan refused to develop his character Dale Cooper's relationship with Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), so the writers had to abruptly change and add many storylines in the second season. In the original script, Audrey Horne was to be kidnapped by Windom Earle and taken to the Black Lodge; the characters of Justice Wheeler and Annie were added to create "suitable" love interests for Dale and Audrey. At the time, the Cooper-Audrey relationship was heavily promoted in TV Guide and other magazines, much like later TV "power couples." This move alienated viewers and made the already falling ratings even worse. Although MacLachlan said that the moral Cooper would not date an underage person, Audrey was a high school senior and would graduate within a month or two; she was in fact of age. In Washington state the age of consent is 16, and Audrey is 18. Later, crew members stated that MacLachlan was pressured into this decision by his then-girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle; Boyle did not get along with Fenn on set and did not want her boyfriend sharing love scenes with her.
- #438
The one-armed man character was initially meant to appear only in the pilot episode as a tribute to The Fugitive (1963). However, after David Lynch wrote a closed ending for the European version of the pilot, he decided to use the character to recite the "Fire Walk with Me" poem. Deeply impressed by Al Strobel's performance, Lynch made the character an inseparable part of the show's mythology and gave Strobel a recurring role. At the time the series aired, Spelling Entertainment held the rights to The Fugitive.
- #439
Don S. Davis, who played Major Garland Briggs, described the show as the biggest break of his career. When he went to meet David Lynch, he did not have to read for the part; they simply met. Lynch liked Davis after the meeting and wrote the role based on his chemistry with the other actors. Davis said that thanks to the show he developed lifelong friendships with the cast and crew. Davis and Lynch initially portrayed Briggs as an arrogant fool; Lynch took Davis aside and told him the character was more than his first appearance suggested, and Davis adjusted his performance accordingly.
- #440
- #441
At an X-Files panel with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi at Wizard World New Orleans on January 7, 2017, Duchovny was asked about the role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He explained that the role was actually written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader, but Spader had to turn it down due to a scheduling conflict, so the role was offered to young, new actors and he got it. His only regret about the show's first two seasons is that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
- #442
Dale Cooper's secretary Diane, the person to whom he records many tapes on the show, is never seen on screen. In Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), there was almost a moment where she would be seen talking to him in his FBI office, but she was in another room and was not visible. Diane finally appeared physically in the 2017 continuation series, played by Laura Dern.
- #443
- #444
- #445
At the start of filming the second season, Sherilyn Fenn came down with a severe case of pneumonia, which led to reports that production might be affected or that she might have to leave the show. Writer/producer Harley Peyton said in an interview, "It could have created serious problems for us... She was magnificent and recovered quickly, returning sooner than she should have. Different directors were shooting every day, and sometimes there were two directors in one day; we completed all her scenes."
- #446
- #447
In one episode of the second season, the small role of social worker Judy Swain was played by the then-unknown Molly Shannon (who later became a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975)). In her 2022 memoir Hello Molly!, Shannon recounts that she tricked her way into setting up a reading for the role. She says that she and her friend Eugene Pack posed as playwright David Mamet's assistant to call agencies in order to make Hollywood connections: "We started meeting everyone--agents at ICM, William Morris. I wanted to be on 'Twin Peaks,' Eugene called casting director Johanna Ray, and I actually got the part. Thanks to the Mamet Scam." Shannon met with Ray and set up her next meeting with David Lynch: "That was exactly what I wanted. Because as I drove past [Ray's] office in my junk car, I'd say, 'Oh, I really want to be on 'Twin Peaks,' I love that show!'"
- #448
Many of the show's actors had worked with David Lynch before. Jack Nance (Pete Martell) starred in Eraserhead (1977) and took small roles in Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986); Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) had leading roles in Dune and Blue Velvet; Frank Silva (Bob) worked on the sets of Dune, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990); Catherine E. Coulson (Log Lady) worked as a camera assistant on the set of Eraserhead. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) and Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) also took small roles in Lynch's early work.
- #449
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn played Tony and Riff, respectively, in the film adaptation of West Side Story (1961). However, they were cast independently of each other as Ben Horne and Lawrence Jacoby, and the coincidence was noticed only later. In fact, they shared few scenes until Horne's American Civil War hallucination in the second season.
- #450
- #451
- #452
- #453
- #454
Many actors later took on memorable roles on Seinfeld (1989). Warren Frost (Dr. Will Hayward) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) played the Ross family, the parents of George Costanza's fiancée Susan. Frances Bay (Mrs. Tremond/Mrs. Chalfont) played Mrs. Choate, the old woman from whom Jerry steals a rye bread; that episode also featured small roles by Frost, Zabriskie and Don Amendolia (Emory Battis). Brenda Strong (Jones) played Elaine's rival Sue Ellen Mishke. Ian Abercrombie, who appeared as Tom Brockman in a single episode, had his biggest role on Seinfeld as Elaine's wealthy and eccentric boss Justin Pitt. Frost, Zabriskie, Bay and Abercrombie also appeared in the Seinfeld finale.
- #455
- #456
This show is the third project Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn worked on together, and all of their projects have a connection to Natalie Wood. The three appeared together in West Side Story (1961). Beymer and Tamblyn later appeared in Scream Free! (1969) alongside Natalie's sister, Lana Wood. Neither of the sisters appears in this show, but Lana appeared in an episode of The Fugitive (1963), which is referenced here with the one-armed man Philip Gerard. Natalie appeared in Rebel Without a Cause (1955); the characters in that film inspired the characters of Donna and James in this show.
- #457
- #458
- #459
- #460
- #461
- #462
Piper Laurie's character has the maiden name Packard, the same surname as her character in The Hustler (1961). Her next film was Carrie (1976), in which David Lynch worked with two of his other actors: Priscilla Pointer (Blue Velvet (1986)) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)), who was then Lynch's sister-in-law.
- #463
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn had previously appeared together in West Side Story (1961), the film that made Rita Moreno the second Puerto Rico-born actor to win an Academy Award. The first was José Ferrer, the father of cast member Miguel Ferrer; Ferrer later appeared in Traffic (2000), which won the Academy Award for Puerto Rico-born actor Benicio Del Toro.
- #464
- #465
- #466
- #467
The one-armed man character was initially meant to appear only in the pilot episode, in a brief role as a tribute to the 1963 production The Fugitive. However, after David Lynch wrote a closed ending for the European version of the pilot, he decided to use the character to recite the famous "Fire Walk with Me" poem. So impressed by Al Strobel's performance, Lynch made the character an inseparable part of the show's mythology and gave Strobel a recurring role. At the time the series aired, the production company Spelling Entertainment held the rights to The Fugitive.
- #468
Don S. Davis, who played Major Garland Briggs, described the show as the biggest break of his career. When he went to meet David Lynch, he did not even audition, he simply met him; Lynch liked him and wrote the role according to his chemistry with the other actors. Davis said that thanks to the show he formed lifelong friendships with the cast and crew. Lynch and Davis initially played Briggs as an arrogant fool, but Lynch took Davis aside and told him there was more to the character than what was visible, and Davis adjusted his acting accordingly.
- #469
- #470
On January 7, 2017, at an X-Files panel with David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi at Wizard World New Orleans, Duchovny answered a question about the role of DEA agent Denise Bryson. He explained that the role was actually written for Mark Frost's friend, cult actor James Spader, but that Spader had to turn it down due to a scheduling conflict with another shoot, and that the role was offered to young, up-and-coming actors, which is how he got it. His only regret about the show's first two seasons was that none of his scenes were directed by Lynch.
- #471
Many cast and crew members' children later became film and television stars: Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby) is the father of Amber Tamblyn; Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward) and series director Caleb Deschanel are the parents of Zoey and Emily Deschanel; Peggy Lipton is the mother of Rashida Jones; and series director Stephen Gyllenhaal is the father of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.
- #472
Dale Cooper's secretary Diane, the character to whom Cooper records many tapes on the show, never appeared on screen. Although in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) Cooper is seen talking to her in his FBI office, Diane is in another room and remains unseen. Diane finally appeared physically in the 2017 Twin Peaks continuation series, played by Laura Dern.
- #473
- #474
- #475
In one episode of season 2, the small role of social worker Judy Swain was played by the then-unknown Molly Shannon (who later became a regular on Saturday Night Live (1975)). In her 2022 memoir Hello Molly!, Shannon describes how she tricked her way into reading for the role. She says that she and her friend Eugene Pack called talent agencies pretending to be playwright David Mamet's assistant in order to make Hollywood connections: "We started meeting everyone – agencies at ICM, William Morris. I wanted to be on 'Twin Peaks,' so Eugene called casting director Johanna Ray and I actually got cast on 'Twin Peaks.' Thanks to the Mamet Scam." Shannon met with Ray, and Ray set up the next meeting with David Lynch: "That was exactly what I wanted. Because as I drove past [Ray's] office in my junk car, I'd say, 'Oh, I really want to be on 'Twin Peaks.' I love this show!'"
- #476
Many of the show's actors had worked with David Lynch before. Jack Nance (Pete Martell) starred in Eraserhead (1977) and took small roles in Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986). Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) had leading roles in Dune and Blue Velvet. Frank Silva (Bob) worked on the sets of Dune, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990). Catherine E. Coulson (Log Lady) worked as an assistant camera operator on the set of Eraserhead. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) and Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs) also took small roles in Lynch's early work.
- #477
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn played Tony and Riff, respectively, in the film adaptation of West Side Story (1961). However, they were cast as Ben Horne and Lawrence Jacoby independently of each other, and this coincidence was only noticed later. In fact, they shared few scenes until Horne's Civil War delirium.
- #478
Before the role of Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan played a young FBI agent assigned to a strange murder squad in The Hidden (1987). The Hidden revolves around alien activity (specifically beings that can possess others), a subject also explored in the series. Chris Mulkey also has a small role in that film.
- #479
- #480
- #481
- #482
Many cast members later took on memorable roles on Seinfeld (1989). Warren Frost (Dr. Will Hayward) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) played the Ross family, the parents of George Costanza's fiancée Susan. Frances Bay (Mrs. Tremond/Mrs. Chalfont) played Mrs. Choate, the elderly woman from whom Jerry steals a marble rye; that episode also featured Frost, Zabriskie and Don Amendolia (Emory Battis) in small roles. Brenda Strong (Jones) played Elaine's rival Sue Ellen Mishke. Ian Abercrombie, who appeared as Tom Brockman in a single episode, had his biggest role on Seinfeld as Elaine's wealthy and eccentric boss Justin Pitt. Frost, Zabriskie, Bay and Abercrombie also appeared in the Seinfeld finale.
- #483
- #484
This series is the third project Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn worked on together, and all of their projects have a connection to Natalie Wood. The three appeared together in West Side Story (1961). Beymer and Tamblyn later appeared in Scream Free! (1969) alongside Natalie's sister, Lana Wood. Neither sister appears in this series, but Lana appeared in an episode of The Fugitive (1963), a series referenced through the one-armed man Philip Gerard. Natalie appeared in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), whose characters inspired the roles of Donna and James.
- #485
- #486
- #487
- #488
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- #490
- #491
- #492
Piper Laurie's character's maiden name is Packard, the same as her character's surname in The Hustler (1961). Her next film was Carrie (1976), in which she worked with two other David Lynch actors: Priscilla Pointer (Blue Velvet (1986)) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)); Spacek was Lynch's sister-in-law at the time.
- #493
Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn had previously appeared together in West Side Story (1961), with which Rita Moreno became the second Puerto Rico-born actress to win an Academy Award. The first was José Ferrer, the father of actor Miguel Ferrer; Ferrer later appeared in Traffic (2000), with which Puerto Rico-born actor Benicio Del Toro won an Academy Award.
Easter Eggs & References (27)
- #494
- #495
- #496
Dr. Jacoby is based on the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearance is strikingly similar, their dress style is similar and they are both in the liberal arts professions. Dr. Jacoby holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife, while McKenna lived in Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a notable mushroom-shaped lamp, and McKenna studied and wrote widely on psychedelic mushroom culture. The tie-in book written by Mark Frost for the third season makes the link even more explicit with an excerpt from a book "written" by Jacoby on the therapeutic uses of psychotropic drugs.
- #497
- #498
The maiden name of Piper Laurie's character is Packard, which was also her character's last name in The Hustler (1961). Her next film after that was Carrie (1976), in which she worked with two other David Lynch alumni: Priscilla Pointer (Blue Velvet (1986)) and Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story (1999)), who was also Lynch's sister-in-law at the time.
- #499
- #500
Several actors went on to have memorable roles on Seinfeld (1989). Warren Frost (Dr. Will Hayward) and Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer) played the Rosses, the parents of George Costanza's fiancee Susan. Frances Bay (Mrs. Tremond/Mrs. Chalfont) played Mrs. Choate, the old woman Jerry robs for her marble rye in an episode that also featured Frost and Zabriskie as well as Don Amendolia (Emory Battis) in a small role. Brenda Strong (Jones) played Elaine's nemesis Sue Ellen Mishke. Ian Abercrombie, who appeared in a single episode as Tom Brockman, had the largest role on Seinfeld as Justin Pitt, Elaine's wealthy and eccentric boss. Frost, Zabriskie, Bay and Abercrombie all appeared in the Seinfeld series finale.
- #501
- #502
- #503
David Lynch's character, Gordon Cole, was named after a person mentioned in Sunset Boulevard (1950). Gordon Cole was actually a real person, a senior property master at Paramount Studios who really did work with Cecil B. DeMille on many movie productions (the context in which he is mentioned in Sunset Boulevard). The real Cole died in August 1990, meaning he was still alive when a character named after him first appeared on Twin Peaks.
- #504
- #505
Agent Cooper expresses skepticism over the official version of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Grace Zabriskie's sister worked in the New Orleans office of Jim Garrison, the district attorney who prosecuted the unsuccessful case against Clay Shaw for conspiracy to assassinate the president. As well, Zabriskie knew Kerry Thornley, an author of several counterculture books who appeared before the Warren Commission due to his acquaintanceship with Lee Harvey Oswald.
- #506
- #507
- #508
- #509
This series is the third time that Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn have worked together, and all of their projects have had a connection to Natalie Wood. The three of them appeared together in West Side Story (1961). Beymer and Tamblyn then appeared together in Scream Free! (1969) with her sister Lana Wood. Neither sister appears in this series, however, Lana did appear on an episode of The Fugitive (1963), which is referenced here with the one-armed man named Philip Gerard. Natalie appeared in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which her and James Dean's characters inspired the roles of Donna and James in this series.
- #510
Sheryl Lee plays two characters: blonde Laura Palmer and her brunette cousin. In Vertigo (1958) Kim Novak plays two characters, a blonde and a brunette. One character is called Madeleine, and James Stewart's character is called John Ferguson. The name of Laura Palmer's cousin is an amalgamation of these two names: Madeleine Ferguson.
- #511
- #512
- #513
The pilot received so much positive buzz that it may have inspired an homage before it even aired. A story arc of the series Wiseguy (1987) centered around a number of murders in a small town in Washington state and even featured a sheriff who cries at the discovery of a dead body. The town's name was Lynchboro. The deputy was played by David Straithairn, who was considered for the part of Sheriff Truman.
- #514
The pattern on the floor of the Black Lodge is an enlarged version of the pattern on the floor of the lobby of Henry's house in Eraserhead (1977), also directed by David Lynch. The pattern also appears on Leland Palmer's sport coat as he dances with Laura's picture in a scene from the first season.
- #515
"Twin Peaks" takes place in and was filmed in Washington state. Two major characters in the series share the names of two legendary figures in Washington state history. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares the last name and first initials of D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker and extortionist who disappeared after jumping out of a plane over the Washington-Oregon borderlands in 1971. (Factual sticklers will note that the man called himself Dan Cooper, not D. B. Cooper, which was a name given to him by an inaccurate press report.) Sheriff Harry Truman shares his name not only with the US president, Harry S. Truman, but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old lodge owner who was killed in the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens after refusing to evacuate his lodge at the foot of the volcano.
- #516
- #517
Contains a major spoiler — show
Prior to his role as Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan played a young FBI agent assigned to a strange murder detail in The Hidden (1987). The Hidden revolves around extraterrestrial activity (in particular alien entities that can possess others), a plot point similar to one explored in the series. Chris Mulkey has a small role in that film as well.
- #518
Contains a major spoiler — show
John Justice Wheeler shares a first and last name with John Archibald Wheeler, an American theoretical physicist. Wheeler was involved in two phenomena which influenced The Return: Wheeler was involved in the Manhattan Project to developed the atomic bomb, as well as popularizing the theory of multiple universes.
- #519
The series' and the previous film's great popularity in Japan led to a series of commercials advertising Georgia canned coffee. The commercials starred Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Catherine E. Coulson, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse and Kimmy Robertson, along with a new agent, "Ken," played by a Japanese actor. The spots presented a new mystery and even referenced the Black Lodge.
- #520
Deeper Meaning (109)
- #521
The section of the woods that is a focus of Cooper's investigation and a site of mysterious, supernatural activity is called Glastonbury Grove. It is named after Glastonbury, England, which for centuries has been the subject of legends about its supposed mystical and mythical properties. The Glastonbury region, and an abbey founded there in the 8th century, have long been tied to legends of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur; in some Arthurian legend, Glastonbury is supposed to be Arthur's burial site.
- #522
Glastonbury Grove is the name given to a part of the woods in Twin Peaks that has been the focus of local folklore and Native American legend for some time. The Giant tells Agent Cooper, "The owls are not what they seem." Additionally, the location of Owl Cave in the series presents yet another connection to owls. Interestingly, the Bohemian Grove, a private gentleman's club in Monte Rio, California, also features a giant statue of an owl. It has been the focus of conspiracy theories, and is also referred to in Mark Frost's tie-in book for the third season.
- #523
- #524
The character of Bob came about when David Lynch had a sudden image of set decorator Frank Silva hidden in Laura Palmer's room. Lynch filmed the infamous shot of Silva hiding behind Laura's bed without any idea of what he would use it for. Later, when filming a shot of Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) sitting up and screaming, Lynch noticed that Silva's reflection was visible in the shot, purely by accident. Lynch then came up with the idea of Bob as an other-worldly spirit, giving birth to the series mythology.
- #525
Sherilyn Fenn's character Audrey Horne was planned to be spun off into her own series, but the production never began. Audrey apparently became David Lynch's inspiration for Naomi Watts's character in Mulholland Drive (2001). In a 1997 interview about the Audrey Horne spin-off, Fenn said: "David was talking about Mulholland Drive, he was talking like 'Audrey goes to Hollywood.' She drives along Mulholland in this convertible… But it didn't happen."
- #526
- #527
Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman / the Log Lady) died in 2015. Her gravestone bears, alongside the expected information: her English name (Catherine Elizabeth Coulson), her Hebrew name (Chana Elisheva), her birth and death years (1943-2015) and the words 'Daughter, Sister, Mother, Friend'. Above all of this is a drawing of two hands embracing a log – a tribute to her iconic role in Twin Peaks.
- #528
The series and the prequel film gained great popularity in Japan, and a series of commercials was shot for the Georgia brand of canned coffee. The ads featured Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Catherine E. Coulson, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse and Kimmy Robertson, as well as a new agent, 'Ken', played by a Japanese actor. The spots presented a new mystery and even referenced the Black Lodge.
- #529
- #530
- #531
Dr. Jacoby was inspired by the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearances and clothing styles are similar; both are in liberal arts professions. Dr. Jacoby spends his holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife; McKenna also lived in Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a striking mushroom-shaped lamp; McKenna, meanwhile, studied and wrote about psychedelic mushroom culture. The tie-in book Mark Frost wrote for the third season makes this connection even more explicit with a quotation from a book Jacoby 'wrote' on the therapeutic use of psychotropic drugs.
- #532
- #533
Twin Peaks is set in and was filmed in the state of Washington. Two main characters in the series share their names with two legendary figures in Washington state history. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares his surname and initials with D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker and extortionist who disappeared after parachuting from a plane over the Washington-Oregon border in 1971. (It should be noted that he called himself Dan Cooper, while D. B. Cooper came from an erroneous press report.) Sheriff Harry Truman, meanwhile, shares his name not only with US President Harry S. Truman but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old lodge owner who died on 18 May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted, after refusing to evacuate from his lodge at the foot of the mountain.
- #534
Lynch himself plays the character Gordon Cole; the name is taken from a minor character (and real Paramount studio employee) in Sunset Boulevard (1950), a film whose influence Lynch has acknowledged. That influence is especially evident in his similarly titled film Mulholland Drive (2001).
- #535
- #536
- #537
- #538
Sheryl Lee plays two characters: blonde Laura Palmer and her brunette cousin. In Vertigo (1958), Kim Novak also plays two characters, one blonde and one brunette. One of the characters is named Madeleine, and James Stewart's character is John Ferguson. Laura Palmer's cousin's name is a combination of these two names: Madeleine Ferguson.
- #539
- #540
A parallel with Marilyn Monroe's life, probably unintentional: Monroe was a friend of Rosemary Clooney and was invited to a party at her home in 1955. Clooney had a newborn baby and took Monroe upstairs to see it. The baby began to cry when Monroe picked it up, until it opened its eyes and saw Monroe; then it simply stared at her. Monroe spent the entire party upstairs with the baby. That newborn was none other than series actor Miguel Ferrer.
- #541
The pilot episode received such a positive response that it may have inspired a tribute before it even aired. A storyline in the series Wiseguy (1987) revolved around a series of murders in a small town in Washington state and even included a sheriff who cried when a body was found. The town was called Lynchboro. The deputy sheriff was played by David Straithairn, who was considered for the role of Sheriff Truman.
- #542
- #543
- #544
- #545
- #546
David Lynch's character Gordon Cole takes his name from a person mentioned in Sunset Boulevard (1950). Gordon Cole was a real person, a senior prop man at Paramount Studios who had worked with Cecil B. DeMille on many film productions (in the context in which he is mentioned in Sunset Boulevard). The real Cole died in August 1990, meaning he was still alive when the character bearing his name first appeared in Twin Peaks.
- #547
- #548
The wooded area that is the focus of Cooper's investigation and the site of mysterious, supernatural events is called Glastonbury Grove. It takes its name from Glastonbury in England, which has been the subject of legends about its mystical and mythical properties for centuries. The Glastonbury area and the abbey founded in the 8th century have long been associated with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur; in some Arthurian legends, Glastonbury is regarded as Arthur's burial place.
- #549
- #550
- #551
- #552
It premiered as a mid-season series in the 1989-1990 season; The Simpsons (1989) also first aired in the same season. Although their fates were very different — Twin Peaks lasted only two seasons while The Simpsons has been running for thirty years — both series were extremely influential. The Simpsons has paid tribute to Twin Peaks at least twice; however, to date only Kimmy Robertson from the original cast has done voice work as a guest star on The Simpsons.
- #553
- #554
- #555
- #556
Agent Cooper is skeptical of the official version of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Grace Zabriskie's sister worked in the New Orleans office of district attorney Jim Garrison, who brought the failed case against Clay Shaw, accused of conspiring to kill the president. Zabriskie also knew Kerry Thornley, author of counterculture books who testified before the Warren Commission because of his acquaintance with Lee Harvey Oswald.
- #557
- #558
Glastonbury Grove is the name given to a part of the wooded area in Twin Peaks and has long been a focus of local folklore and Native American legends. The Giant tells Agent Cooper, 'Owls are not what they seem.' The location of the Owl Cave in the series also offers another connection to owls. Interestingly, Bohemian Grove, a private gentlemen's club in Monte Rio, California, also features a giant owl statue. The place has been the focus of conspiracy theories and is also mentioned in Mark Frost's companion book written for the third season.
- #559
Just before the first season's finale aired, the cast appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. The producers polled the audience on who killed Laura Palmer. The most popular choice was Dr. Jacoby with 31%, followed by Leo Johnson with 17%. Only 3% guessed Leland Palmer. (However, one viewer, noting Leland Palmer's excessive reaction at the funeral, suggested it might be incest.)
- #560
- #561
- #562
- #563
Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman / Log Lady) died in 2015. Her headstone carries most of the usual information one would expect: her English name (Catherine Elizabeth Coulson), her Hebrew name (Chana Elisheva), her birth and death years (1943-2015) and the words 'Daughter, Sister, Mother, Friend.' Above all of this is an engraving of two hands embracing a log – a tribute to her iconic role as Margaret Lanterman / Log Lady in Twin Peaks.
- #564
- #565
The pattern on the floor of the Black Lodge is an enlarged version of the pattern in the lobby of Henry's home in Eraserhead (1977), also directed by David Lynch. The same pattern also appears on the jacket Leland Palmer wears while dancing with Laura's photograph in a first-season scene.
- #566
Dr. Jacoby was inspired by the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearances are strikingly similar, their clothing styles are alike, and both are in liberal arts professions. Dr. Jacoby spends his holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife, while McKenna lived in Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a striking mushroom-shaped lamp, and McKenna studied and wrote extensively on psychedelic mushroom culture. The companion book written by Mark Frost for the third season makes this connection even more explicit with a quote from a book Jacoby 'wrote' on the therapeutic uses of psychotropic drugs.
- #567
- #568
Twin Peaks is set in and filmed in the state of Washington. Two main characters in the series share their names with two legendary figures in Washington state history. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares his surname and initials with D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker and extortionist who disappeared after jumping from a plane over the Washington-Oregon border region in 1971. (Pedants will note that the man called himself Dan Cooper, and that D. B. Cooper was a name given through an erroneous press report.) Sheriff Harry Truman shares his name not only with US President Harry S. Truman but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old lodge owner who died on May 18, 1980, in the eruption of Mount St. Helens after refusing to leave his lodge on the volcano's slope.
- #569
Lynch himself plays the character Gordon Cole. The character takes his name from a minor character (and a real Paramount Studios employee) in Sunset Boulevard (1950), a film Lynch acknowledges as a major influence on his filmography, especially the similarly titled Mulholland Drive (2001).
- #570
- #571
Sheryl Lee plays two characters: the blonde Laura Palmer and her brunette cousin. In Vertigo (1958), Kim Novak plays two characters, one blonde and one brunette. One of the characters is named Madeleine, and James Stewart's character is named John Ferguson. Laura Palmer's cousin's name is a combination of these two names: Madeleine Ferguson.
- #572
Possibly unintentionally, there is a parallel with Marilyn Monroe's life: Monroe was a friend of Rosemary Clooney and was invited to a party at her home in 1955. Clooney had recently had a baby, and she took Monroe upstairs to see her. When Monroe first held the baby, the baby began to cry, until she opened her eyes and saw Monroe; then she just stared at her, eyes wide open. Monroe spent the entire party upstairs with the baby. That newborn was none other than series actor Miguel Ferrer.
- #573
- #574
- #575
David Lynch's character Gordon Cole takes his name from a person mentioned in Sunset Boulevard (1950). Gordon Cole was in fact a real person, a senior property manager at Paramount Studios who had worked on many film productions with Cecil B. DeMille (the context in which he is mentioned in Sunset Boulevard). The real Cole died in August 1990, meaning he was still alive when the character bearing his name first appeared in Twin Peaks.
- #576
- #577
The wooded area that is the focus of Cooper's investigation and the site of mysterious, supernatural events is called Glastonbury Grove. It takes its name from Glastonbury in England, which for centuries has been the subject of legends about its supposed mystical and mythical properties. The Glastonbury area and a monastery founded there in the 8th century have long been associated with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur; in some Arthurian legends, Glastonbury is said to be Arthur's burial place.
- #578
- #579
- #580
Agent Cooper is skeptical of the official version of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Grace Zabriskie's sister worked in the New Orleans office of district attorney Jim Garrison, who brought the failed case against Clay Shaw for conspiring to kill the president. Zabriskie also knew Kerry Thornley, the author of several counterculture books who testified before the Warren Commission because of his acquaintance with Lee Harvey Oswald.
- #581
- #582
Glastonbury Grove is the name given to a part of the wooded area in Twin Peaks and has long been the focus of local folklore and Native American legends. The Giant tells Agent Cooper, 'Owls are not what they seem.' In addition, the location of the Owl Cave in the series offers another connection to owls. Interestingly, a giant owl statue is also found at Bohemian Grove, a private gentlemen's club in Monte Rio, California. It has been the focus of conspiracy theories and is also mentioned in Mark Frost's companion book written for the third season.
- #583
- #584
- #585
Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman / Log Lady) died in 2015. Her gravestone bears, alongside the expected information: her English name (Catherine Elizabeth Coulson), her Hebrew name (Chana Elisheva), her birth and death years (1943-2015) and the words 'Daughter, Sister, Mother, Friend'. Above all of this is a drawing of two hands embracing a log – a tribute to her iconic role as the Log Lady in Twin Peaks.
- #586
- #587
- #588
Dr. Jacoby was inspired by the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearance and style of dress are strikingly similar; both are in liberal arts professions. Dr. Jacoby spends his holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife; McKenna also lived in Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a striking mushroom-shaped lamp, while McKenna studied and wrote about psychedelic mushroom culture. The tie-in book Mark Frost wrote for the third season makes this connection even more explicit with a quotation from a book Jacoby 'wrote' on the therapeutic use of psychotropic drugs.
- #589
- #590
Twin Peaks is set in the state of Washington and was filmed there. Two main characters in the series share their names with two legendary figures in Washington state history. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares his surname and initials with D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker and extortionist who disappeared after jumping from a plane over the Washington-Oregon border in 1971. (Sticklers note that the man called himself Dan Cooper, and that D. B. Cooper was the result of an erroneous press report.) Sheriff Harry Truman, meanwhile, shares his name not only with US President Harry S. Truman but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old cabin owner who died on 18 May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted after refusing to leave his lodge.
- #591
- #592
- #593
- #594
Sheryl Lee plays two characters: the blonde Laura Palmer and her brunette cousin. In Vertigo (1958), Kim Novak also plays two characters, one blonde and one brunette. One of the characters is named Madeleine, and James Stewart's character is John Ferguson. Laura Palmer's cousin's name is a combination of these two names: Madeleine Ferguson.
- #595
- #596
A possibly unintentional parallel with Marilyn Monroe's life: Monroe was a friend of Rosemary Clooney and was invited to a party at her home in 1955. Clooney had just given birth, and she took Monroe upstairs to see her baby. When Monroe took the baby in her arms, the baby began to cry, then opened its eyes, saw Monroe and simply stared at her. Monroe spent the entire party upstairs with the baby. That newborn was none other than series actor Miguel Ferrer.
- #597
- #598
- #599
- #600
David Lynch's character Gordon Cole takes his name from a person mentioned in Sunset Boulevard (1950). Gordon Cole was a real person, a senior prop man at Paramount Studios who had worked on many film productions with Cecil B. DeMille (in the context in which he is mentioned in Sunset Boulevard). The real Cole died in August 1990, meaning he was still alive when the character bearing his name first appeared in Twin Peaks.
- #601
The wooded area that is the focus of Cooper's investigation and the site of mysterious, supernatural events is called Glastonbury Grove. It takes its name from Glastonbury in England, which has been the subject of legends about its mystical and mythical properties for centuries. The Glastonbury area and an abbey founded there in the 8th century have long been associated with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur; in some Arthurian legends, Glastonbury is regarded as Arthur's burial place.
- #602
- #603
- #604
- #605
Agent Cooper is skeptical of the official version of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Grace Zabriskie's sister worked in the New Orleans office of prosecutor Jim Garrison, who brought the failed case against Clay Shaw, accused of conspiring to kill the president. Zabriskie also knew counterculture writer Kerry Thornley, who testified before the Warren Commission because of his acquaintance with Lee Harvey Oswald.
- #606
- #607
Glastonbury Grove is the name given to a part of the Twin Peaks woods and has long been a focus of local folklore and Native American legends. The Giant tells Agent Cooper, 'Owls are not what they seem.' The location of the Owl Cave in the series also offers another connection to owls. Interestingly, a giant owl statue also stands at Bohemian Grove, a private gentlemen's club in Monte Rio, California. This place, a focus of conspiracy theories, also appears in the companion book Mark Frost wrote for the third season.
- #608
Sheriff Harry S. Truman takes his name from the former US president, while also recalling Harry R. Truman, who refused to leave his home at Spirit Lake, Washington, during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The name evokes both a political figure and a folk hero who stood his ground in the face of natural disaster.
- #609
John Justice Wheeler takes his name from the American theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler. Wheeler played a role in two events that influenced The Return: he took part in the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb, and he popularized the theory of multiple universes. This connection emphasizes the scientific and historical depth of the character's name.
- #610
- #611
- #612
- #613
Dr. Jacoby was inspired by the late ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. Their physical appearance, style of dress and dedication to liberal arts professions are strikingly similar. Jacoby spends his holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife; McKenna also lived in Hawaii. Jacoby has a striking mushroom-shaped lamp, while McKenna studied and wrote about psychedelic mushroom culture. Mark Frost's tie-in book for the third season makes this link even more explicit with a quotation from a book Jacoby 'wrote' on the therapeutic use of psychotropic drugs.
- #614
- #615
Twin Peaks is set in and filmed in the state of Washington. Two main characters in the series share their names with two legendary figures in the history of the state of Washington. FBI agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper shares his surname and initials with D. B. Cooper, the mysterious hijacker who disappeared after parachuting from a plane over the Washington-Oregon border in 1971. (Sticklers note that the man called himself Dan Cooper, and that the name D. B. Cooper came from an erroneous press report.) Sheriff Harry Truman, meanwhile, shares his name not only with US President Harry S. Truman but also with Harry R. Truman, the 83-year-old cabin owner who died on 18 May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted after refusing to leave his lodge.
- #616
Lynch himself plays the character Gordon Cole. The name is taken from a minor character (and real Paramount employee) in Sunset Boulevard (1950), a film Lynch has acknowledged had a major influence on his filmography; that influence is especially visible in his similarly titled Mulholland Drive (2001).
- #617
Sheryl Lee plays two characters: the blonde Laura Palmer and her brunette cousin. In Vertigo (1958), Kim Novak also plays two characters, one blonde and one brunette. One of the characters is named Madeleine, and James Stewart's character is John Ferguson. The name of Laura Palmer's cousin is a combination of these two names: Madeleine Ferguson.
- #618
A parallel with Marilyn Monroe's life, probably unintentional: Monroe was a friend of Rosemary Clooney and was invited to a party at her home in 1955. Clooney had a newborn baby and took Monroe upstairs to show her the baby. When Monroe took the baby in her arms, the baby began to cry, but on opening its eyes and seeing Monroe, it simply stared at her. Monroe spent the entire party upstairs with the baby. That newborn was none other than series actor Miguel Ferrer.
- #619
- #620
- #621
- #622
David Lynch's character Gordon Cole was inspired by a person named in Sunset Boulevard (1950). Gordon Cole was a real person, a senior prop man at Paramount Studios who had worked on many film productions with Cecil B. DeMille (he is mentioned in that context in Sunset Boulevard). The real Cole died in August 1990, meaning he was still alive when the character bearing his name first appeared in Twin Peaks.
- #623
The wooded area that is the focus of Cooper's investigation and the site of mysterious, supernatural events is called Glastonbury Grove. It takes its name from Glastonbury in England, which has been the subject of legends about its mystical and mythical properties for centuries. The Glastonbury area and a monastery founded there in the 8th century have long been associated with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur; in some Arthurian legends, Glastonbury is regarded as Arthur's burial place.
- #624
- #625
- #626
Agent Cooper is skeptical of the official version of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Grace Zabriskie's sister worked in the New Orleans office of district attorney Jim Garrison, who pursued the failed case against Clay Shaw for conspiring to kill the president. Zabriskie also knew counterculture writer Kerry Thornley, who appeared before the Warren Commission because of his acquaintance with Lee Harvey Oswald.
- #627
Glastonbury Grove is the name given to a part of the wooded area in Twin Peaks and has long been the focus of local folklore and Native American legends. The Giant tells Agent Cooper, 'Owls are not what they seem.' The location of the Owl Cave in the series also offers another connection to owls. Interestingly, Bohemian Grove, a private men's club in Monte Rio, California, also features a giant owl statue. This place has been the focus of conspiracy theories and is also mentioned in Mark Frost's third-season companion book.
- #628
- #629
Career & Awards (9)
- #630
- #631
- #632
Debuted as a mid-season replacement during the 1989-1990 season - the same season in which The Simpsons (1989) debuted. While the series had very different fates -- Twin Peaks lasted for only two seasons while The Simpsons has lasted for three decades -- both shows have proven highly influential. The Simpsons has in fact paid homage to Twin Peaks at least twice; however, to date, Kimmy Robertson is the only original cast member to provide a guest voice in The Simpsons.
- #633
- #634
- #635
- #636
- #637
- #638
Life & Family (8)
- #639
- #640
The children of several cast and crew members have since become film and television stars: Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby) is the father of Amber Tamblyn; Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward) and series director Caleb Deschanel are the parents of Zoey and Emily Deschanel; Peggy Lipton is the mother of Rashida Jones; finally, series director Stephen Gyllenhaal is the father of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.
- #641
In a parallel with the life of Marilyn Monroe, though probably unintentional, Monroe was a friend of Rosemary Clooney and was invited to a party at her house in 1955. Clooney had recently had a baby, and took Monroe upstairs to see him. He burst into tears when Monroe first cradled him, until he opened his eyes and saw Monroe, then simply stared back at her, wide-eyed. Monroe ended up spending the entire party upstairs with the baby. That newborn was none other than cast member Miguel Ferrer.
- #642
- #643
Catherine E. Coulson (Margaret Lanterman/The Log Lady) died in 2015. Her gravestone has much of the usual material that one would expect to find on a cemetery marker: her English name (Catherine Elizabeth Coulson), her Hebrew name (Chana Elisheva), her birth and death years (1943-2015) and the words "Daughter, Sister, Mother, Friend." Also appearing above all of that information is an engraved line art image of two hands cradling a log - a tribute to her iconic role as Margaret Lanterman / The Log Lady in Twin Peaks.
- #644
- #645
- #646
The children of many cast and crew members have since become film and television stars: Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby) is the father of Amber Tamblyn; Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward) and series director Caleb Deschanel are the parents of Zoey and Emily Deschanel; Peggy Lipton is the mother of Rashida Jones; and finally, series director Stephen Gyllenhaal is the father of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work