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  • Editors’ Introduction
  • Ross P. Garner (bio) and Karra Shimabukuro (bio)

Twin Peaks (1990–1991) debuted on the ABC network on April 8, 1990. The pilot episode, which was directed by David Lynch and cowritten by Lynch and Mark Frost, garnered the highest viewing figures for a TV movie for the 1989–1990 season, and the series quickly became a cultural phenomenon of the early 1990s. The show was infamously received by critics as “the series that will change TV” and actively promoted under similar terms by ABC, while also sparking a national demand for cherry pie and coffee and raising many of its offbeat characters (such as the Log Lady, played by Catherine E. Coulson), and the stars who played them, to widespread recognition.1 Outside of the United States, Twin Peaks also attracted a small but dedicated following in many of the countries where it became distributed, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, [End Page 118] and Australia.2 Yet Twin Peaks ultimately ran for just thirty episodes, succumbing to cancelation in June 1991 as a result of poor domestic ratings. This was despite seemingly having set itself up for a third series when it ended on an unresolved (and heartbreaking) cliff-hanger in which lead character, and continual beacon of purity, Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) had become possessed by the murderous evil spirit BOB (Frank Silva) as a result of his journey into the otherworldly Black Lodge.3 In 1992, a prequel movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch), was released to negativity (unfair, in the view of these editors) and seemed to signal the end. Lynch carried on directing unnerving cinematic masterpieces, Frost continued to work as a screenwriter for both film and television, and members of the cast had varying degrees of visibility and success in the screen industries.4

Then, unexpectedly, October 6, 2014, brought the announcement that Twin Peaks would return as a limited episode series for the premium-rate subscription cable network Showtime. Although the show has gone through a tumultuous preproduction phase during which Lynch departed from, and then returned to, the revival, this period has demonstrated two noteworthy points. First, the nostalgia for the show was signified by the cast-produced video “Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like …,” which generated many shares and reactions from fans across different digital platforms (a point Dana Och also alludes to at the start of her essay). Second, elements such as the additional “No Lynch, No Peaks” campaign and the Official Twin Peaks cast-run site on Facebook indicate the continued centrality of Lynch-as-auteur to the show in both production and fan interpretive communities. However, with these behind-the-scenes issues resolved, it seems certain that audiences will soon be revisiting the Twin Peaks inhabitants among the branches that blow in the breeze.

The years between the cancelation of Twin Peaks and its revival have seen it build and maintain a dedicated fan community through a variety of practices.5 These have included early fanzines (Wrapped in Plastic), long-running conventions on both sides of the Atlantic (e.g., Twin Peaks Festival and the Twin Peaks UK Festival), and, as Rebecca Williams discusses here, social media forms.6 Twin Peaks has also remained a highly visible program within the academic study of television. Although this has partly occurred because of an ongoing interest in Lynch’s oeuvre and perspectives indebted to differing inflections of auteur criticism within film studies, the show has also accrued a pivotal position in TV studies debates.7 Although postmodernist readings of the series have waned, the program’s status as a point of reference in analyses [End Page 119] of both quality and cult forms continues, and its reputation has been enshrined among television scholars and beyond.8

Recognizing these trajectories, this In Focus section uses Twin Peaks to examine wider issues regarding how the legacy of an iconic TV program becomes constructed. In considering this, two areas of focus arise. First, an ongoing interest in the text of Twin Peaks is demonstrated as scholars return to the series from emergent or hitherto-overlooked perspectives to provide new insights. Karra Shimabukuro begins this...

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