A quote from the time of Twin Peaks, 1990, explains what Twin Peaks was to television:
“American network television has long been considered the home of the bland, the cautious and the predictable, so it was with some trepidation that the ABC network recently launched a new series that was none of those things.
“Twin Peaks, which began airing in America two weeks ago, has already been described by one critic as ‘the series that will change TV.'” – Tracey Macleod, BBC2’s The Late Show
One season later, the show was almost cancelled. It carried on for one more season.
The show began on a high note. Talk about Twin Peaks being “unlike anything else on TV” brought viewers enough to make it the highest-rating show on ABC’s spring season. And this interest caused Twin Peaks to become one of the top-rated shows in 1990. But after a number of time-slot changes and the resolution of the one of the story’s most important questions, ratings plummeted during the second season, and the network put it on indefinite hiatus. It was brought back after an organized letter-writing campaign, but ratings did not improve.
Lynch himself enjoyed the making his only TV series:
“The beautiful thing about television,” the director said after the show began to air, “is you have the chance to do a continuing story, and that’s pretty neat to me. That’s the main reason for doing it.” – David Lynch 1990
Lynch co-wrote the show, “weaving the stories over the weeks” as he referred to it, with Hill Street Blues Story Editor Mark Frost.
As for the upcoming (originally 9- but now perhaps 18-episode) third series, Lynch walked away from it once already after reporting that Showtime, the network that will air the new Twin Peaks, was not willing to spend enough on the script the way Lynch thought it should be done, which may have had to do with issues around the original cast. After much public discussion and a series of self-made videos by as-yet-unsigned former Twin Peaks cast members about the necessity of having Lynch on for the new show (Showtime had considered going on with the project without the director), Lynch stated publicly that he was back on.
The third series will be notably different from the first two because it will be filmed all at once like a movie, and Lynch and David Frost will decide where to cut the story into episodes (which could be various lengths in minutes).
And on January 9, 2017, it was finally revealed that Twin Peaks’ all-important return date will be Sunday, May 21, with a two-hour premiere. It will also go on Showtime’s streaming services on May 21 – along with episodes three and four.
Twin Peaks 2017 Cast
Twin Peaks Discussion (We’ll post these questions, and if you have more, let us know, and you guys can comment on them)
So far, many Twin Peaks original cast members have confirmed that they are in the third season (airing early 2017):
FBI and Cops:
Special Agent Dale Cooper
Yes, signed and the only one who has seen the entire script, reportedly.
Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Uncertain, he may be replaced by another actor.
Deputy Andy Brennan
Uncertain.
Deputy Hawk
Uncertain.
Lucy Moran, Secretary
Maybe.
Special Agent Albert Rosenfield
Yes.
Special Agent Gordon Cole
Yes.
Denise Bryson, FBI Agent
Possibly.
The Twin Peaks girls:
Laura Palmer/Maddy Ferguson
Yes.
Audrey Horne
Yes.
Donna Hayward
No. (But Fire Walk With Me’s Donna, Moira Kelly maybe.)
Shelly Johnson
Yes.
Annie Blackburn
Uncertain.
Josie Packard
Uncertain.
The Families:
Leland Palmer
Died in the show, but might be in 2017.
Sarah Palmer
Yes.
Ben Horne and Jerry Horne
Yes.
Norma Jennings
Uncertain.
Hank Jennings
Uncertain.
Nadine Hurley
Possibly.
Catherine Martell
Uncertain.
Betty Briggs
Possibly.
Guys in Town:
Bobby Briggs
Possibly.
Mike Nelson, Bobby’s Friend
Possibly.
James Hurley, Biker
Uncertain.
Twin Peaks Characters:
The Giant
Uncertain.
Mike, the One-Armed Man (Phillip Gerard)
Possibly.
The Log Lady
Deceased.
Bob
Bob’s actor is dead, although Leland’s actor is a possibility.
Later on, a full cast list for the 2017 series was announced. 217 members on it. Some are returning, some are new:
Returning (alphabetical):
Mädchen Amick – Shelly Johnson
Dana Ashbrook – Bobby Briggs
Phoebe Augustine – Ronette Pulaski
Richard Beymer – Ben Horne
Scott Coffey
Catherine E Coulson – The Log Lady
Julee Cruise – Roadhouse Singer
Jan D’Arcy – Sylvia Horne
David Duchovny – Denise/Dennis Bryson
Sherilyn Fenn – Audrey Horne
Miguel Ferrer – Albert Rosenfield
Warren Frost – Doctor William Hayward
Harry Goaz – Deputy Andy Brennan
Andrea Hays – Heidi
Gary Hershberger – Mike Nelson
Michael Horse – Deputy Tommy ‘Hawk’ Hill
David Patrick Kelly – Jerry Horne
Sheryl Lee – Laura Palmer/Maddy Ferguson
Peggy Lipton – Norma Jennings
Bellina Martin Logan – Louie ‘Birdsong’ Budway
David Lynch – GORDON COLE
Kyle MacLachlan – Special Agent Dale Cooper
James Marshall – James Hurley
Everett McGill – ‘Big’ Ed Hurley
Walter Olkewicz – Jacques Renault
Kimmy Robertson – Lucy Moran
Wendy Robie – Nadine Hurley
Marv Rosand – Cook at the Double R Diner
Carlton Lee Russell – Jumping Man
Harry Dean Stanton – Carl Rodd
Charlotte Stewart – Betty Briggs
Al Strobel – Philip Gerard/ ‘Mike’ The One-Armed Man
Carel Struycken – The Giant
Russ Tamblyn – Dr Lawrence Jacoby
Ray Wise – Leland Palmer
Alicia Witt – Gersten Hayward
Grace Zabriskie – Sarah Palmer
New actors (alphabetical):
Jay Aaseng
Alon Aboutboul
Jane Adams
Joe Adler
Kate Alden
Stephanie Allynne
Eric Ray Anderson
Finn Andrews
Elizabeth Anwies
Joe Auger
Melissa Bailey
Tammie Baird
Matt Battaglia
Chrysta Bell
Monica Bellucci
Jim Belushi
Leslie Berger
John Billingsley
Michael Bisping
Ronnie Gene Blevins
Kelsey Bohlen
Sean Bolger
Rachael Bower
Brent Briscoe
Robert Broski
Wes Brown
Richard Bucher
Page Burkum
Scott Cameron
Juan Carlos Cantu
Gia Carides
Vincent Castellanos
Michael Cera
Richard Chamberlain
Bailey Chase
Johnny Chavez
Candy Clark
Larry Clarke
Frank Collison
Lisa Coronado
Grace Victoria Cox
Jonny Coyne
James Croak
Heather D’Angelo
David Dastmalchian
Jeremy Davies
Owain Rhys Davies
Ana de la Reguera
Rebekah Del Rio
Laura Dern
Neil Dickson
Hugh Dillon
Cullen Douglas
Edward “Ted” Dowlin
Judith Drake
Christopher Durbin
Francesca Eastwood
Eric Edelstein
John Ennis
Josh Fadem
Tikaeni Faircrest
Eamon Farren
Jay R Ferguson
Sky Ferreira
Rebecca Field
Robin Finck
Brian Finney
Patrick Fischler
Erika Forster
Robert Forster
Meg Foster
Travis Frost
Pierce Gagnon
Allen Galli
Hailey Gates
Brett Gelman
Ivy George
Balthazar Getty
James Giordano
Grant Goodeve
George Griffith
Tad Griffith
James Grixoni
Cornelia Guest
Travis Hammer
Hank Harris
Annie Hart
Stephen Heath
Heath Hensley
Ernie Hudson
Jay Jee
Jesse Johnson
Caleb Landry Jones
Ashley Judd
Luke Judy
Stephen Kearin
Laura Kenny
Dep Kirkland
Robert Knepper
David Koechner
Virginia Kull
Nicole LaLiberte
Jay Larson
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jane Levy
Matthew Lillard
Jeremy Lindholm
Sarah Jean Long
Riley Lynch
Shane Lynch
Mark Mahoney
Karl Makinen
Malone
Xolo Maridueña
Berenice Marlohe
Rob Mars
Elisabeth Maurus
Josh McDermitt
Zoe McLane
Derek Mears
Clark Middleton
Greg Mills
James Morrison
Christopher Murray
Don Murray
Joy Nash
Priya Diane Niehaus
Bill O’Dell
Casey O’Neill
Johnny Ochsner
Charity Parenzini
Elias Nelson Parenzini
John Paulsen
Sara Paxton
Max Perlich
Linas Phillips
Tracy Phillips
John Pirruccello
Linda Porter
Jelani Quinn
Ruth Radelet
Mary Reber
Adele René
Mariqueen Reznor
Trent Reznor
Carolyn P. Riggs
Erik L. Rondell
Ben Rosenfield
Tim Roth
Rod Rowland
Elena Satine
John Savage
Amanda Seyfried
Amy Shiels
Sawyer Shipman
Tom Sizemore
Sara Sohn
Malachy Sreenan
J.R. Starr
Bob Stephenson
Emily Stofle
Ethan Suplee
Sabrina S. Sutherland
Jessica Szohr
Bill Tangradi
Cynthia Lauren Tewes
Jodee Thelen
Jack Torrey
Sharon Van Etten
Eddie Vedder
Greg Vrotsos
Jake Wardle
Naomi Watts
Nafessa Williams
Karolina Wydra
Charlyne Yi
Nae Yuuki
Christophe Zajac-Denek
Madeline Zima
Blake Zingale