We've been talking about Twin Peaks recently in my media arts class- and how its ultimate demise came when it moved to Saturday night, one of the worst nights for a television show to air during the week. Mostly saved for movies and repeats, it seems as though the only show to do well during that time slot is... Saturday Night Live- an entirely different genre.
So why do shows do terribly on Saturday night? Is it that no one wants to see a well-scripted, good acting television show late at night while they are probably intoxicated?
when I tried researching successful scripted television shows that aired on saturday night and pretty much got nothing. Just repeats, WWE wrestling, and of course, Saturday Night Live.
So why did ABC place Twin Peaks, an unbelievable popular show at the time to the worst time slot in television history?
Heres my opinion: it was entirely experimental. ABC tried desperately to change the face of television to have one of the first scripted television shows do well in a saturday night time slot. Of course, it failed, and for some reason that is beyond me, they didn't try to save a sinking ship.
Twin Peaks led the way for Lost, so I felt as during the last few episodes we had of this groundbreaking show, we'd honor its predecessor. It only lasted two seasons, so its worth watching. David Lynch was brilliant, being one of the first television producers to respect the audience enough to think they were smart enough to understand a complex storyline.
It's demise, like many great shows, was too soon. Plus, who knew Kyle MacLachlan was so hilarious?
This video is part of Agent Cooper's (MacLachlan) dream sequence- leading him to believe he knew who killed Laura Palmer, a central theme of the show. It became infamous, and thrusting Twin Peaks into the spotlight of not being a "normal" television show.
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