"Twin Peaks": The Mother of "Lost"?

'Twin Peaks' 20 Years Later: How the Show Changed Television - Inside TV

Yet another opportunity to feel really old. Twenty years ago--that being during my freshman year of college!--the original tv freak show, Twin Peaks debuted. Can you believe it was 20 years ago?! When I saw this article (see link above), I had to read it because I worshipped at the altar of TP (shorthand for Peaks; I'm not referring to toilet paper). I remember my floormates mocking my unreasonable attachment to that weird show. It was so out there, so unlike any other show and so...entrancing.

I've always watched a lot of tv, and I was adamant about never missing an episode of every show I watched. I had "appointment tv" long before the term ever existed. But TP was different than my other shows. You really had to watch it every week. You wanted to anyway because it was appealing, but you also felt compelled to watch. Miss an episode, miss a lot. Funny enough, that's the kind of show I still live for. I guess TP spoiled me for "episode in a box" procedurals. I appreciate labyrinthine, intricate stories with tons of characters and a long-term, overarching theme. You know, the kind of shows most people hate b/c they don't want that kind of commitment or time investment. Conversely, I thrive on it. I welcome it. I seek it out. And I repeatedly mourn its loss, after complicated serial after complicated serial falls prey to the ax. Clearly the mystery folks with the Nielsen boxes loooove procedurals and hate serialized shows. The Nielsen people are all idiots that must die! But I digress...

I don't remember why was drawn to TP in the first place, but I remember how immediately I became obsessed. With the Log Lady and the dancing dwarf and the cherry pie at the diner and Agent Cooper and, of course, who the hell killed Laura Palmer. The "Who Killed Laura Palmer" question was probably the biggest thing since "Who Shot JR?" back in the early 80s.

How deep was the obsession? So deep that my friends bought me The Diary of Laura Palmer and the Agent Cooper tapes (both mentioned in the article linked above). Seriously, I gotta wonder how many shows before TP had "merchandise" such as that. What a goofy concept for the early 90's. Of course it's virtually de rigueur for shows nowadays. I also bought the TP soundtrack. I still listen to it occasionally. It's mostly instrumental, but there is one eerily, hauntingly beautiful song with words. I loved that soundtrack from day 1, and I still think it's awesome.

This my favorite excerpt from the article: What the creators of 'Twin Peaks' proved, which persists to this day, was that television no longer had to be cinema's slower and simpler cousin. It took more than an hour to sort this show out; if you missed one episode, subsequent episodes could be virtually indecipherable (though sometimes they were even if you saw them all). Consequently, viewers reveled in the mystery, ending each episode more frustrated and perplexed than they began but always returning the next week. Sound familiar, 'Lost' fans?

Can I get an AMEN?! I am a Lost disciple, just as I was a TP fanatic. If TP begat Lost, then God bless David Lynch for getting his crazy on, and for sharing it with us. And God bless JJ Abrams for picking up that gauntlet and running with it. I was pissed when Twin Peaks went off, and I'm distraught about Lost (only what, 5 more eps?!). Sidenote: the only reason I'm not pissed about Lost is because the show is going out on its own terms, not being forced off the air like TP.

I recorded a marathon of season one of TP (all glorious 8 eps) over Christmas break, but I didn't get around to reliving the magic before I was forced to delete them (I'm in a constant battle with dvr--it ain't easy keeping up with my tv schedule. More on that later...). As I mourn the passing of Lost this summer, I will reminisce with its mother show this summer. Back to where it all began. I can't wait for summer (for a lot of reasons, but this is the newest one!)