“Twin Peaks” Has Returned to Haunt Me

Itamp8217s good for Twin Peaks that Dirty Dancing came along when it did because the latter was so jawonthefloor terrible that it stopped me from dismissing the former as the worst new series of 2017 so far despite its celebration of unfettered imagination though Starzamp8217 American Gods is far superior in that regardI thought my thorough disgust with the new Dancing might be more about me than about it given my personal connection to the original filmamp160 I was part of its publicity team I wrote some of the press materials assisted with its premiere in Los Angeles and with various promotional duties connected to its release in theaters and eventually on video and I was the official studio escort for Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey at the 1988 Academy Awardsamp160 Dancing won an Oscar for its theme song amp8220Iamp8217ve Had The Time of My Lifeamp8221As was true for everyone else involved with the original movie Dancing actually changed my life and the afterglow of its titanic success has been with me ever sinceamp160 Nobody involved with it back in the amp821680s had any idea that it would become a timeless classicamp160 Thatamp8217s why I admittedly didnamp8217t approach the remake with my usual objectivityamp160 Watching it only reinforced my initial suspicion that it would suck out loudamp160 But I knew I couldnamp8217t be and wouldnamp8217t be impartialamp160 So I felt much better when it was universally trashed by every TV critic who mattersThen came Twin Peaks which I allowed myself to anticipate with something approximating feverish enthusiasm even though I seemed to be the only member of the media who remembered how truly disappointing it became in its second season when its ratings sank so low that ABC yanked the allimportant final four episodes off of its 1991 inseason schedule and burned them off in Juneamp160 And then there was the little matter of a conversation I had with Peaks executive producer Mark Frost in 1992 when he was promoting another series he created with Lynch the comedy On the Air a shortlived failureamp160 When I asked him about Peaks Frost frankly confessed that he and Lynch hadamp160no idea what they had been doing or were making it up as they went along or words to that effect Iamp8217m paraphrasing from distant memory but I recall being stunned by his candid admissionTwin Peaks mattered to meamp160 It still does in fact because like Dirty Dancing it turned my world aroundamp160 I was only a few months into my gig as a reporter for the late trade magazine Inside Media at the time of the seriesamp8217 April 1990 premiere and like everyone else I thought its first eighthour season changed every perception and longheld belief and practical possibility of what broadcast television could beamp160 I talked about it so much and with such euphoria in the office that my editor suggested I write a reviewamp160 I didamp160 It was my firstamp160 My career as a television critic was bornThat old adage is true amp160You never forget your firstamp160 You never get over your first eitherThe two seasons of Twin Peaks on ABC made me laugh cry shudder and contemplate the meaning of life sometimes all at onceamp160 It scared me and thrilled me and made me care so deeply about its characters that even when it defied its own bizarre internal logic and in its second season went completely off the rails I couldnamp8217t stop watchingamp160 Remember when Joan Chenamp8217s tormented sawmill owner Josie Packard was trapped inside a wooden drawer knobEven at its wacky worst Peaks back then had heart soul and a pulsing emotional resonance throughoutamp160 The first four hours of the continuation on Showtime Iamp8217m sorry to say have none of these and it showsamp160 Itamp8217s weird only for the sake of being such and so unrestrained it has already become tediousamp160 I wasnamp8217t even moved when Bobby Briggs Dana Ashbrook one of the many original cast members who have returned to their onceinteresting roles but been given precious little to do at least so far broke down after coming across a photo of Lauraamp160 She looks more alive next to the young man in the old Polaroid photo at top recently discovered in a dark corner of the Black LodgeThis Peaks is so far removed from its original story about the murder of a young woman with more secrets than Walter White that it is hard to connect the sluggish intermittently gross goingson within the title town and other locations today with what went on in the early amp821690s even though the narrative seeks to do exactly thatamp160 When they were last together in amp8220finalamp8221 episode that aired in June of 1991 Laura Palmer then deceased said to Agent Dale Cooper then trapped in the puzzling Black Lodge amp8220Iamp8217ll see you in 25 yearsamp8221Put another way there has been absolutely nothing to care about during the first four hours of this continuationamp160 The old characters seem played out and are barely seen at all and the new characters simply do not registeramp160 That doesnamp8217t bode wellamp160 The only moments of emotional stirring and nostalgic satisfaction have come from the late Catherine Coulson as Margaret Lanterman better known as The Log Ladyamp160 She chillingly warned Deputy Chief Tommy amp8220Hawkamp8221 Hill Michael Horse that something was missingShe was talking about the investigation into the quartercentury disappearance of Special Agent Dale Cooper Kyle MacLachlan pictured above as Cooper39s evil doppelganger amp160But in my opinion she could have been referring to everything that made Twin Peaks so wonderful during its entire first season and for much of its secondAnd yet I will never stop watching and hoping that Iamp8217ll become transfixed all over again amp8230 because most of the happenings in this series amp8211 like the owls in the forest surrounding the title town amp8211 are not what they seemClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends 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“Twin Peaks” Has Returned to Haunt Me

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Ed Martin

About That with Carl Mayer: Danny Senor (Episode 7: Sports Survey) - By Carl Mayer

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Ed Martin

About That with Carl Mayer: Danny Senor (Episode 7: Sports Survey) - By Carl Mayer

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