The pilot episode of the
surrealist
Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
mystery-
horror drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
television series ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
'', also known as "Northwest Passage", premiered on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
on Sunday, April 8, 1990. It was written by series creators
Mark Frost
Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery-horror television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and was a writer and executiv ...
and
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
, and directed by Lynch. The pilot follows the characters of
Dale Cooper
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the ABC and Showtime television series ''Twin Peaks'', and plays a supporting role in the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
and
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
as they investigate the death of popular high school student
Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is a fictional character in the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise and the primary focus of the series. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee and was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. She first appears in the ABC origin ...
; Cooper believes the murder has connections to a murder case that occurred a year earlier. In addition to setting the tone for the show, the episode sets up several character and story arcs and marked the appearance of several recurring characters. The episode received a strong
Nielsen household rating compared to other season one episodes, and was well received by fans and critics alike. The original title for the series was ''Northwest Passage'', but this was later changed.
Plot overview
The small northwest town of Twin Peaks, Washington is shaken when the body of
Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is a fictional character in the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise and the primary focus of the series. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee and was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. She first appears in the ABC origin ...
is discovered washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic.
FBI Special Agent
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is a member of ...
Dale Cooper
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the ABC and Showtime television series ''Twin Peaks'', and plays a supporting role in the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
(
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan ( ; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
) is called in when Ronnette Pulaski, who attended the same high school as Palmer, is found wandering on a bridge before lapsing into a coma. Cooper believes there is a connection between Palmer's death and the death of another girl named Teresa Banks that happened a year earlier. Cooper discovers a small piece of paper with the letter "R" on it shoved under Laura's fingernail. He tells Sheriff
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
(
Michael Ontkean) that under Banks's nail he found a "T". Meanwhile, the Palmer family and friends struggle to come to terms with her death, and wonder how it might have come about.
Believing that this is the same killer who struck the previous year, Cooper starts an official investigation. Meanwhile, the rebellious
Audrey Horne
Audrey Horne is a fictional character from the ABC television series ''Twin Peaks'', played by Sherilyn Fenn. The character was created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. She was introduced in the pilot. The daughter of Ben and Sylvia Horne, siste ...
(
Sherilyn Fenn
Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn; February 1, 1965) is an American actress. She played Audrey Horne on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.
She als ...
) ruins a business deal for her father
Benjamin Horne (
Richard Beymer
George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who played the roles of Tony in the 1961 film adaptation of ''West Side Story'', Peter van Daan in '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and Ben Horn ...
); Sheriff Truman arrests Palmer's boyfriend
Bobby Briggs
Bobby Briggs is a fictional main character in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017), created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. He appears in both seasons of the show, the 2017 '' revival series'', as well as the prequel feature-len ...
(
Dana Ashbrook
Dana Vernon Ashbrook (born May 24, 1967) is an American actor, best known for playing Bobby Briggs on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its 1992 prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me''.
Early life
Ashbrook was ...
), who is secretly seeing a married waitress named Shelly; Palmer's best friend
Donna Hayward (
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World (film), Wayne's World'' (1 ...
) and Palmer's secret boyfriend
James Hurley James Hurley may refer to:
* James Hurley (Twin Peaks), a fictional character from the television show ''Twin Peaks''
* James Francis Hurley (born 1962), English murderer
* James R. Hurley (born 1932), Southern New Jersey politician and gambling ...
(
James Marshall) discover a mutual attraction; and Laura's mother is terrified by a vision.
The episode has two different endings, depending on which version of the episode one is watching. The American version ends with the above events, concluded by Sarah Palmer's nightmare of a hand digging into the ground and grabbing James's half of a necklace that belonged to Laura.
The international version was filmed with 20 extra minutes of footage in case the series was not picked up by the networks, rather allowing them to release it as a television movie. It contains scenes from episode one, where Sarah realises that there was a man hiding in Laura's room when she checked in it the previous day. It also contains the ending to episode two, when Cooper dreams of meeting Laura and a mysterious man who speaks to him in a disjointed voice. It also reveals who Laura's killers were.
Production
Conception and writing
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
and
Mark Frost
Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery-horror television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and was a writer and executiv ...
pitched the idea to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
during the time of the
Writers Guild of America, East
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.
The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...
strike in 1988 in a ten-minute meeting with the network's drama head, Chad Hoffman, with nothing more than this image and a concept. According to the director, the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer was initially going to be in the foreground, but would recede gradually as viewers got to know the other townsfolk and the problems they were having. Lynch and Frost wanted to mix a police investigation with a soap opera.
ABC liked the idea, and asked Lynch and Frost to write a screenplay for the pilot episode. Frost wrote more verbal characters, like
Benjamin Horne, while Lynch was responsible for Agent
Dale Cooper
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the ABC and Showtime television series ''Twin Peaks'', and plays a supporting role in the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
. According to the director, "He says a lot of the things I say".
Originally, the show was entitled ''Northwest Passage'' and set in
North Dakota
North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...
, but the fact that a town called Northwest Passage really exists prompted a revision in the script. They filmed the pilot for $1.8 million
with an agreement with ABC that they would shoot an additional "ending" to it so that it could be sold directly to video in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
as a feature if the TV show was not picked up.
However, even though ABC's
Bob Iger
Robert Alan Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American media executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and p ...
liked the pilot, he had a tough time persuading the rest of the network brass. Iger suggested showing it to a more diverse, younger group, who liked it, and the executive subsequently convinced ABC to buy seven episodes at $1.1 million apiece.
Some executives figured that the show would never get on the air, believing it would meet negative reviews from viewers and critics alike.
However, Iger planned to schedule it for the spring. The final showdown occurred during a bi-coastal conference call between Iger and a room full of New York executives; Iger won, and ''Twin Peaks'' was on the air.
Improvised elements
At several points during the filming of the pilot episode,
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
improvised by incorporating on-set accidents into the story. The most notable of these occurred when set decorator
Frank Silva was being told to be careful to not get stuck in a room while furniture was being moved around. Lynch heard this and he says that the image of Silva being stuck intrigued him. Lynch then shot some footage of Silva perching behind Laura Palmer's bed, but was unsure as to what he would do with it. Silva was then accidentally filmed in a mirror during
Sarah Palmer's vision at the end of the pilot. The camera operator insisted that Lynch do another take because of the mistake, but he liked it so much he kept it in the show, and cast Silva as
Killer BOB, the mysterious tormentor of
Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is a fictional character in the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise and the primary focus of the series. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee and was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. She first appears in the ABC origin ...
.
During the filming of the scene in which
Dale Cooper
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the ABC and Showtime television series ''Twin Peaks'', and plays a supporting role in the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
first examines Laura's body, a malfunctioning
fluorescent light
A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor, to produce ultraviolet and make a phosphor ...
above the table flickered constantly, but Lynch decided not to replace it, since he liked the disconcerting effect that it created. Also, during the take, one of the minor actors misheard a line and, thinking he was being asked his name, he told Cooper his real name instead of saying his line, briefly throwing everyone off balance. Lynch was reportedly pleased with the lifelike, unscripted moment in dialogue, and kept the mistake in the final cut.
Previews
The pilot was first shown in September 1989 at the
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...
. That same month, ''Connoisseur'' ran a cover story calling ''Twin Peaks'' "the series that will change TV forever." After viewing the episode,
Tom Shales
Thomas William Shales (November 3, 1944 – January 13, 2024) was an American writer and television critic.
He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1 ...
of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' wrote: "''Twin Peaks'' isn’t just a visit to another town; it’s a visit to another planet. Maybe it will go down in history as a brief and brave experiment. But as can be said of few other TV shows in the near or immediate future: This You Gotta See."
On February 10, 1990, it was shown as part of the
Miami Film Festival. ''
Sun-Sentinel
The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...
'' writer Robert Hurlburt wrote: "the Lynchian sense of impending danger and kinky sexual undercurrents, coupled with excellent music, makes the ''Twin Peaks'' pilot work almost too well. You'll want to see the entire package in one sitting. But the series may lay an egg on television because of its drawn-out and deliberate pacing, brutality, sex with violence and a hint of something else ... something deadly, yet unseen and probably repulsive."
In April, a screening was also held at the
Museum of Broadcasting in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
.
Media analyst and advertising executive Paul Schulman said: "I don't think it has a chance of succeeding. It is not commercial, it is radically different from what we as viewers are accustomed to seeing, there's no one in the show to root for."
Release
Ratings and awards
The two-hour pilot was the highest-rated movie for the
1989–1990 season with a 21.7 rating and was viewed by 34.6 million people. In
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
'' became the seventh most-watched show of the week earning 29% of viewers, the most-watched show being ''
Married... with Children'' which gathered 34% of viewers. The following episode, "
Traces to Nowhere" would start with a significant drop in ratings with only 23.2 million people tuning in. Various media such as ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and local radio stations announced that the show had managed to grow a
cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
.
For the
42nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 16, 1990. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. Two networks, The Family Channel and The Disney Channel, received their firs ...
, the pilot episode was nominated six times, including "
Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series" for
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
, "
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" for
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan ( ; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
as
Dale Cooper
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the ABC and Showtime television series ''Twin Peaks'', and plays a supporting role in the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...
, and "
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series" for
Mark Frost
Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery-horror television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and was a writer and executiv ...
and Lynch. The pilot won two awards, with
frequent Lynch collaborator Patricia Norris winning for "Outstanding Costume Design for a Series" and
Duwayne Dunham winning the "Outstanding Editing for a Series - Single Camera Production". The pilot also received a
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
in 1990.
The pilot's
international release tells the story of the series in a self-contained manner, and includes 20 minutes of additional footage.
Critical reception
Initially, the show's Thursday night time slot was not a good one for soap operas as both ''
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
H ...
'' and its short-lived spin-off ''
The Colbys
''The Colbys'' (originally titled ''Dynasty II: The Colbys'') is an American prime time soap opera that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from November 20, 1985, to March 26, 1987. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and E ...
'' did poorly.
''Twin Peaks'' was also up against the hugely successful sitcom ''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...
''. But the show received an initial positive response from TV critics.
Tom Shales
Thomas William Shales (November 3, 1944 – January 13, 2024) was an American writer and television critic.
He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1 ...
, in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', wrote: "''Twin Peaks'' disorients you in ways that small-screen productions seldom attempt. It's a pleasurable sensation, the floor dropping out and leaving one dangling."
In ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', John J. O'Connor wrote: "''Twin Peaks'' is not a sendup of the form. Mr. Lynch clearly savors the standard ingredients...but then the director adds his own peculiar touches, small passing details that suddenly, and often hilariously, thrust the commonplace out of kilter."
Many critics saw the pilot as "the movie that will change TV" history, according to Diana White from ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''. Ken Tucker from ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' was strongly positive about the episode, giving it a A+. While liking the story, and calling Lynch's directing beautiful, he said "
here isnot a chance in hell" the show could become a ratings hit, because of its "unsettling" story.
David Zurawik from ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'' compared the pilot to the work of
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
. He also said its cinematography was "about as close as prime-time television gets to art." Jen Chaney from ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' called the pilot "one of the most finely crafted series kick-offs in broadcast history".
In 1997, ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media
In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'' ranked the pilot #25 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. In 2013, it was mentioned in the
WGA's list of the 101 best written TV series where ''Twin Peaks'' came 35. In 2024, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' listed it as the 13th best TV episode of all time.
Michael Ontkean later recalled,
Home video release/Alternative Extended European Pilot
Due to rights issues, the American pilot (94 minutes long) was not released in the United States
home video market until 2007. The alternative extended European pilot (116 minutes) had been released on VHS and
laser disc years earlier. This alternate version of the pilot was aired in Europe as a stand-alone television movie. The European version is identical to the United States-aired version up until the last several scenes, when the killer of
Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is a fictional character in the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise and the primary focus of the series. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee and was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. She first appears in the ABC origin ...
is revealed. Both versions of the pilot are included in the ''Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition'' DVD set, released in the US on October 30, 2007. Lynch was so pleased with the footage shot for the European ending that he later incorporated some of it into Cooper's dream sequences that aired in the subsequent acclaimed
Episode 2.
References
External links
*
{{Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks season 1 episodes
1990 American television episodes
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
Television episodes directed by David Lynch
Television episodes written by David Lynch
Television episodes written by Mark Frost
Peabody Award–winning broadcasts
Fiction with multiple endings
Television episodes about murder