Editorial Staff
Ahead of the series’ finale episode on Sunday, interesting to note that the same trades that considered Showtime’s “Twin Peaks” a ratings fizzer, suggesting it’s as ‘done’ as Ed and Nadine, are now citing new industry figures that suggest the assignment might have been a successful one after all.
Lynch & Frost’s supernatural gem average 2 million viewers a week once time-shifting, encores and streaming plays were tallied, says THR. While that’s not brilliant, and the numbers for “Twin Peaks” aren’t as high as say the viewer digits that “Ray Donovan” and “Homeland” snare, Showtime still consider the show a financial and commercial success. It’s May premiere drove the greatest number of free trial sign-ups since Showtime’s launch, the viewing numbers have held steady and most of those subscribers have also opted to keep their subscriptions. The cabler is also confident more people will discover this season digitally, in turn potentially solidifying another round of episodes for the drama. The best part? Showtime say the show has “exceeded expectations”, suggesting they knew it’d only be a lukewarm rater but pay off later, in potentially other ways.
More fuel to the fire that walks with me? Further suggesting there “may” be more from Agent Dale Cooper down the road, actor Kyle MacLachlan recently partook in a Q&A in which he was asked whether he got to keep his signature suit after wrapping the current season. MacLachlan said he wasn’t allowed to, because the costume department wanted to keep it for later on – suggesting there’s indeed a shot at a fourth season (otherwise, if they knew the show was dead in the water, they’d likely just throw MacLachlan his requested memento to keep.).
So, with Showtime considering the show a “success”, a digital release likely to snag more viewers post-finale (and not to mention a DVD/BD release down the road), network bosses open to more if David Lynch is, and the cast all wanting to reprise their roles (If a fourth season does come to be, actress Heather Graham – who played Cooper’s love interest Annie on the original run – has expressed interest in returning), there’s no real serious roadblocks in the way of a fourth season of “Twin Peaks”. Hopefully Showtime just continue seeing the show as a success, even if a slower-building hit.
The two -part finale of “Twin Peaks” airs Sunday 8pm ET on Showtime.
