TWIN PEAKS (1990) | David Lynch: Absurd Encounters

Cinema Shock

"Diane, 11:30 AM, February 24th. Entering the town of Twin Peaks, five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line. I’ve never seen so many trees in my life. As W. C. Fields would say, I’d rather be here than Philadelphia."

While BLUE VELVET's success (and its Academy Award nominations) helped to cement David Lynch as a director to watch out for, he still wasn't quite on Hollywood's A-list, mostly due to his disinterest in playing by Hollywood's rules post-DUNE.

But he had several offers for a follow-up to that film, some that he pursued which were never made, and some that he flat turned down. And through this process, he was put in direct contact with an experienced television writer named Mark Frost.

Little did he know that Frost would soon become one of his most important collaborators, and within a couple of years, they’d work together to create one of the most influential TV series of all time, TWIN PEAKS.

In this episode, we'll be taking a deep dive into Lynch's journey to TWIN PEAKS, giving you a full look at the development of the show and the filming of its pilot episode, otherwise known as "Northwest Passage." We also discuss our own thoughts on the pilot and TWIN PEAKS's position in the history of episode television.
This episode also acts as the pilot episode to our own TWIN PEAKS watchalong series, Fire Shock With Me, which will be debuting a few weeks exclusively on CinemaShock+. In this limited series, we'll be walking through every single episode of Lynch's iconic television series, and designing it to be enjoyed by both seasoned TWIN PEAKS fans and newcomers alike (meaning there will be no spoilers for future episodes). If you'd like to join us on this journey, subscribe to CinemaShock+ now at cinemashock.net/plus.

Up Next: David Lynch: Episode 7: WILD AT HEART.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS:

Andy Lancaster | Benjamin Yates | curtcake5k | Elton Novara | Jvance325 | MagicBloat | Nate Izod | Nathan Kelley | Robert Stinson

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop & Todd A. Davis.

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