The 'Twin Peaks' revival has a premiere date, and will be 'pure heroin'
Mark your calendars and grab a coffee, Twin Peaks faithful, Showtime's long-awaited revival finally has a premiere date: Sunday, May 21 at 9 p.m.
The mysterious sequel series will debut with a two-hour premiere, after which Showtime will preview the third and fourth episodes online early through its streaming service, Showtime Anytime, and through Showtime On Demand.
The revival will be 18 hours in length, Showtime CEO and president David Nevins announced Monday at the premium cable network's Television Critics Association press tour presentation.
For fans worrying that the potency of Twin Peaks might've diminished in the 25 years since the show went off air, Nevins assured reporters that "the version of Twin Peaks you're going to see is the pure heroin version of David Lynch."
Nevins also revealed that the revival "rewards close watching," noting that in many ways the series was "the original discussion show, before any of the tools of social media and fan engagement existed. That’s why David is so particular about secrecy."
When asked about the future of the series beyond this season, Nevins may have shattered our dreams before the show even returns, revealing: "It’s designed to be a closed-ended, one-time event."
Lynch, however, offered a different perspective on the future of the series when he made an unexpected appearance at TCA to answer reporters' questions (or at least respond to them in typically enigmatic fashion) later in the day: "Before, I said I wasn’t going to revisit it and I did, so you never say no," he pointed out. "But right now there’s no plans for anything more."
Lynch directed all 18 hours of the revival and admitted that he viewed the new season as one long story, similar to how he approaches a movie.
Though Lynch avoided discussing any plot or character details (the closest he got was in admitting that the 1992 Twin Peaks movie, Fire Walk with Me, is "very much important for this") he admitted that the town and its characters had been on his mind many times over the past 25 years.
"I love this world of Twin Peaks; I often thought about what might be happening," he said. "I always felt, even if it only happened mentally and emotionally, the story goes on."
Lynch also weighed in on why the show ended after only two seasons: "What killed Twin Peaks originally... who killed Laura Palmer was a question that we did not ever really want to answer. That Laura Palmer mystery was the goose that laid these little golden eggs, and at a certain point we were told to wrap that up, and we never really got going again after that," he said.
When asked about the intense fan expectations for the new season, Lynch offered, "This word 'expect' is a magical word. People expect things, and their expectations are met hopefully when they see the thing."
He did admit that he manages to avoid focusing on the speculation surrounding the project because, "I'm too in the middle [of production] and I don't go out much."
