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Twin Peaks - Wikipedia

Twin Peaks

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Twin Peaks is an American surrealist mystery horror drama television series created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for a third season on Showtime.

Set in the fictional Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks, the series follows an investigation led by FBI special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the murder of local teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). The show’s narrative draws on the characteristics of detective fiction, but its uncanny tone, supernatural elements, and campy, melodramatic portrayal of eccentric characters also draw from American horror and soap opera tropes.1234 Like much of Lynch’s work, it is distinguished by surrealism, distinctive cinematography, and offbeat humor.5 The musical score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti with Lynch.6

The original run was followed by the 1992 feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, which serves as a prequel to the series. The success of the series sparked a media franchise, leading to the release of several tie-in books, starting with The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. Under Lynch’s direction, the show’s 2017 revival included much of the original cast.

In the years following the first two seasons, the show has gained a devoted cult following and been referenced in a wide variety of media, earning widespread critical acclaim and various accolades including a Golden Globe Award and nominations for 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning two.7893 Twin Peaks is considered a landmark turning point in television drama and often listed among the greatest television series of all time. The 2017 revival also received widespread critical acclaim; film journal Cahiers du Cinéma named it the best film of the 2010s.101112

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. O’Connor, Tom (December 1, 2004). “Bourgeois Myth versus Media Poetry in Prime-time: Re-visiting Mark Frost and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks”. Social Semiotics. 14 (3): 309–333. doi:10.1080/10350330408629682. ISSN 1035-0330. S2CID 145369643. ↩

  2. Lacey, Stephen (June 3, 2016). “Just Plain Odd: Some Thoughts on Performance Styles in Twin Peaks”. Cinema Journal. 55 (3): 126–131. doi:10.1353/cj.2016.0026. ISSN 1527-2087. S2CID 147831181. ↩

  3. Crouch, Ian (October 7, 2014). “Some Thoughts on the Planned Return of Twin Peaks”. The New Yorker. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017. ↩ ↩2

  4. Dean, Michelle (June 10, 2016). “Twin Peaks’ final scene: 25 years on, it’s as disturbing as ever”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017. ↩

  5. Mariani, Mike (January 23, 2016). “The Remarkable Influence of David Lynch”. The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017. ↩

  6. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (March 25, 2010). “Twin Peaks stills marks the summit of TV soundtracks | Music”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2012. ↩

  7. Moldovan, Raluca (June 1, 2015). “‘That Show You Like Might Be Coming Back in Style’: How Twin Peaks Changed the Face of Contemporary Television”. American, British and Canadian Studies Journal. 24 (1): 44–68. doi:10.1515/abcsj-2015-0003 (inactive July 12, 2025). ISSN 1841-964X. ↩

  8. Williams, Rebecca (June 3, 2016). “Ontological Security, Authorship, and Resurrection: Exploring Twin Peaks’ Social Media Afterlife”. Cinema Journal. 55 (3): 143–147. doi:10.1353/cj.2016.0029. ISSN 1527-2087. S2CID 148453761. ↩

  9. Garner, Ross P. (June 3, 2016). ""The Series That Changed Television”?: Twin Peaks,“Classic”Status, and Temporal Capital” (PDF). Cinema Journal. 55 (3): 137–142. doi:10.1353/cj.2016.0020. ISSN 1527-2087. S2CID 147908744. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018. ↩

  10. Goldberg, Matt (December 6, 2019). “Cahiers du Cinema Says Twin Peaks Is the Decade’s Best Movie”. Collider. Retrieved March 28, 2025. ↩

  11. “The 100 greatest TV series of the 21st Century”. BBC. October 18, 2021. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2023. ↩

  12. “Twin Peaks: The Return”. Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023. ↩

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