Shows and TV

In the coming days and weeks, much will be made about David Lynch’s gargantuan contribution to cinema. This will be undeniable and well deserved. However, there is the argument to be made that in actual fact David Lynch was able to master every medium in which he chose to work. His music, for instance, sounded like music that only he could make. And, sincerely, in both his daily weather report and his Today’s Number Is lottery draw, he deserves to be remembered as a pioneering YouTuber.

However, in terms of pure influence, it might end up being the case that Lynch’s most important realm was television. In his lifetime, Lynch only ever worked on four TV projects. Two of them were cancelled after just three episodes. But the other two were Twin Peaks. And the impact both Twin Peaks series had on TV as a medium is hard to overstate.

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To say Twin Peaks was a sensation would be to do it a huge disservice. The show seemed to have something for everyone. Those raised on the tropes of traditional TV found themselves invested in the murder of Laura Palmer, but a younger and hipper generation saw the game behind the story. This was Lynch stretching his legs, getting to explore the dark underbelly of America in more depth than ever before, and having fun with it. Twin Peaks riffed on tired old genre beats in an irresistible way. Some of it was affectionate, some of it scornful. And in Bob, played by the show’s malevolent-looking set dresser Frank Silva, he hit upon what might be the most genuinely terrifying character ever to reach network television.

The first two episodes, broadcast together as a pilot, qualified as the highest-rated movie on television that year. The next gave ABC its highest ratings for four years. It was nominated for 14 Emmy awards. It has a 91% Rotten Tomatoes ratings – which, for a show broadcast in an era where every show was reviewed by every publication, is huge.