As most of you know, I was raised on a diet of cornflakes, Eric Clapton 45′s and David Lynch movies.
And though “The Elephant Man”, “Blue Velvet”, “Dune” and “Wild at Heart” all played their part, it was TV’s “Twin Peaks” that really captured my attention and ignited my interest in the arts – possibly even spurring my decision later in life to pursue filmmaking.
The show, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, only lasted two seasons (the first season of which was relatively shorted). It was abruptly canceled due to low ratings (you can blame a number of factors on it’s unfortunate demise – Lynch’s absence from much of the second season, the lack of TiVo and DVD at the time, or the pure and simple fact that it was a show that was just too ahead of it’s time) – leaving quite a few loose threads dangling.
As part of my ongoing “Caffeinated Clint Greats -Interview Series“, in which I speak to those behind some of my favourite movies (one of which is “Twin Peaks :Fire Walk With Me”), I got to speak with Bob Engels, one of “Peaks” writers. It’s a good little chat, and you can read it all here, but basically we chat about the show’s longevity and increasingly popularity (despite being canceled twenty-years ago), the many script changes that “Fire Walk With Me” went through, what might have occurred story-wise in “Twin Peaks” had a third season happened, and whether or not, what with the success of show’s like “Lost”, if anyone’s ever suggested bringing back the show….
…and seems they have.
Engels said he has had phone calls from execs asking whether or not he’d be interested in bringing back “Twin Peaks”.
Here’s that part of the interview
Caffeinated Clint : Would you ever like to return to ”Twin Peaks”?
Bob Engels : Oh sure. It’s a funny thing… I think if we could figure out a way to do it, I think everybody would have fun going back. You just don’t want to do Return to Mayberry. It’d be a miracle to get the whole group back together again but I think, all things being equal, they’d say ‘I’m in’. I certainly would.
Caffeinated Clint : I know David has said in interviews that ‘Twin Peaks is still there’ and that he still thinks of it, so that’s what makes me think one day he might..
Bob Engels : Completely. I get a call once every six months or so from someone asking, ‘What do you think about doing Twin Peaks again?’ but it’s not my call. If David and Mark are in, then yes.
Caffeinated Clint : So these people calling – are they fans? Studio execs?
Bob Engels : Both fans and the network. The network will come to me and say ‘What do you think about this?’ Thing is, all the writers and directors from the show have gone to have nice careers, and none of them will want to come back and do, as I said, Return to Mayberry.
So there you have it – there’s a network out there, or a producer of some sort, interested in resurrecting “Twin Peaks”. But as Engel said, it comes down to Lynch and Frost agreeing to do it first.
