Twin Peaks may be coming back, currently scheduled to air on Showtime in 2016. However, it appears that if it returns, it will do so without its Creator/Director David Lynch.
Twin Peaks debuted in 1990. It was originally made as a 2-hour TV Movie with Lynch writing and directing, and Mark Frost serving as Executive Producer. Early response to the finished product prompted the network to forgo airing the movie, and instead create a budget to convert it to a 10-episode mini-series.
The ending was changed to accommodate the mini-series, and when ratings were unexpectedly strong, the ending of the mini-series was changed again in order to air a season as a regular series with 22 episodes.
Critical reception of Twin Peaks was extremely strong at the time of the original mini-series. As the show transitioned to a regular series with no set ending, skepticism grew as to whether the quirky, dark story set in a small rural township would work in that format.
What followed is largely regarded as one of the most precipitous drops in television quality ever seen on American network TV. The series opened well, and at first it looked as though the quality might be sustained. Fairly quickly, though, the show began to cycle writers and directors, and it was clear that the creative inconsistency was not serving it well. This was compounded by a sudden decline in ratings, which prompted the network to panic, making one of the worst decisions in network executive history:
There was much speculation about creative differences between Lynch and the network, and there's no doubt that he resisted the decision, prompting him to ultimately leave the Twin Peaks franchise behind, vowing that he was forever done with it.
The show struggled on after the decision, but other behind-the-scenes issues prompted story changes and upheavals. According to rumours,
The audience continued to dwindle until Twin Peaks was cancelled at the end of its only regular season, leaving the remaining audience with an unresolved cliffhanger.
I had abandoned the show after about 7 episodes, due to the declining quality. I recently went back and watched through the entire season, mostly out of curiosity. I was stunned by how suddenly the quality of the show dropped after a few episodes. It was largely as I had remembered it, opening very strong, and then fading fast. I had to force myself through the second half of the season.
Not long after rewatching it, I read about the plans to bring it back, and was honestly surprised, given Lynch's comments in the special features that made it clear he had no intention of returning to the franchise. His more recent interviews on the subject seemed to indicate that he, along with several cast members, were eager to return and resolve the lingering questions left by the show's cliffhanger ending.
I personally have doubts that they'll do the project justice at this late stage, especially given that the quality of the show plummeted while stile under David Lynch's direction, and before the ill-fated decision by the network that ultimately resulted in its cancellation.
I will probably watch the first episode of whatever they do, just to see if they manage to capture the show's qualities, and leave its shortcomings behind.
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