NON SPOILERS: Twin Peaks: Season 3 on Showtime Thread

[Gabriel]

The ending of Season 2 never bothered me. Artistically, Twin Peaks ended on a high note. Episode 29 took chances and broke new ground in television. How many other series endings are as memorable as Twin Peaks?

Oh, I don't dislike Episode 29 at all – I admire the sheer ballsiness of anyone who could put that out on a TV network – but I never considered it an ending. It was always the end of a season, as far as I was concerned. FWWM picked up some of the threads from that episode, making it feel a bit like the first X-Files film, in that another next season could follow it directly. I love the episode, but, like I say, never considered it to be anything close to a final word or a series ending.

Also, wee very nearly had Josie trapped in a drawer knob as the series ending. For me, Episode 29 redeemed all the bad storylines we had to sit through in the latter part of Season 2.

Being British, I only discovered the existence of COoP late in the day. Season two, for us in the U.K., went largely unbroken except for the mandatory three week break caused by snooker coverage, which was a depressingly regular occurrence back then.

[dronerstone]

If there's an exclusive premiere of the first two S3 episodes on May 17, I suppose those 4 days off remaining wait for "normal" viewers shouldn't be too hard after all those months and years counting.

[baxter]

I make allowances for snooker. Any other sport can f**k off, but snooker is the best hangover sport in the world.

It struck me the other day actually that the original Twin Peaks S3 might have been rubbish compared to what we're getting. They would have wrapped up the cliffhanger, then gone off somewhere else which could have been great, but may have continued the S2 craziness (not having Lynch and Frost fully on board).

What we have instead is a brilliant 25 year wait for resolution, coupled with a much more mature Lynch and Frost who have no choice but to tackle it from a bizarre direction. It simply cannot pick up where it left off.

[dronerstone]

What we have instead is a brilliant 25 year wait for resolution

That sounds as if you're marketing a good old whiskey. Fits well!

[kitty666cats]

I make allowances for snooker. Any other sport can f**k off, but snooker is the best hangover sport in the world.

It struck me the other day actually that the original Twin Peaks S3 might have been rubbish compared to what we're getting. They would have wrapped up the cliffhanger, then gone off somewhere else which could have been great, but may have continued the S2 craziness (not having Lynch and Frost fully on board).

What we have instead is a brilliant 25 year wait for resolution, coupled with a much more mature Lynch and Frost who have no choice but to tackle it from a bizarre direction. It simply cannot pick up where it left off.

I feel the exact same way. I know original S3 plans involved Major Briggs organizing a rescue mission into the Black Lodge to save Cooper, which sounds amazing and I'm very sad we won't see that (RIP Don Davis), but then there's also the hearsay about Ted Raimi's character returning as an evil zombie controlled by Windom Earle Whatever we're getting is going to blow any possible 1991 Season 3 out of the water, tenfold!

[baxter]

Yikes- haven't heard about the evil zombie idea before. I'm sufficiently uncritical that I probably would have lapped it up anyway, but it sounds terrible!

I remember an article when the new show was announced saying that it would be terrible, and what fans really want if they are honest is the original continuation from the 90s. I couldn't disagree more!

[Rudagger]

I feel the exact same way. I know original S3 plans involved Major Briggs organizing a rescue mission into the Black Lodge to save Cooper, which sounds amazing and I'm very sad we won't see that (RIP Don Davis), but then there's also the hearsay about Ted Raimi's character returning as an evil zombie controlled by Windom Earle Whatever we're getting is going to blow any possible 1991 Season 3 out of the water, tenfold!

I physically shudder at the thought. Heavy Metal Youth (or whatever he's called), to me, is the perfect physical representation of Twin Peaks at it's absolute worst, silly, cheap, slack jawed .. Ted Raimi. (I mean, I like the guy, I like him in Sam Raimi's stuff, and when he popped up in Ash Vs Evil Dead, but, having him play any role in Twin Peaks just so completely shatters the illusion for me, maybe because it feels so .. 'inside baseball', "hey, we're a ground breaking show, we can get one of the Raimi brothers to do a cameo!")

But, I do think that as people said, I think S3 is going to be better than it could've been, especially as it won't conform to network television standards anymore (I mean, I would also say 'and it won't have to be 22 episodes', but, the fact that Lynch/Frost seem to have choose to make it this long makes me think that aspect won't matter). I think also that the technology allows them to be much more agile in how they shoot, so, I expect it'll look far more cinematic (I mean, today's single-camera dramatic television tends to be gorgeous, so- Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Fargo, Halt and Catch Fire, etc.)

[dronerstone]

Btw, I just saw that Fargo's next season will also air without interruption EACH Wednesday, starting 4/19, it's 10 episodes though.

[N. Needleman]

Btw, I just saw that Fargo's next season will also air without interruption EACH Wednesday, starting 4/19, it's 10 episodes though.

That's typical these days. A cable season going beyond 13 episodes, however, is not, and it's almost certainly Lynch insisting on it.

[madeleineferguson]

I think once it's airing, there will be an insane amount of publicity. I honestly believe it's going to be overwhelming.

I still think its a mistake not promoting it more. Hopefully that will ramp up. If they can't show footage, there are still plenty they can do. I think a lot of people still have no idea it starts back in May. I know a lot of people say who cares, this is for the fans. But Showtime, and Lynch/Frost, and everyone else involved wants this to be a success. The good news is that times are different this time around, and those who miss the first episode(s) can easily catch up.

[mtwentz]

How are PayTV shows typically promoted? To be honest, I've never really noticed any promotion for cable or streaming shows except for ads on IMDB.

Would they advertise an HBO show on one of the networks, for example?

[adl345]

How are PayTV shows typically promoted? To be honest, I've never really noticed any promotion for cable or streaming shows except for ads on IMDB.

Would they advertise an HBO show on one of the networks, for example?

Generally speaking, what's going on Twin Peaks isn't appreciably different from how most premium cable shows are launched. They put out a handful of videos, then air them semi-frequently between programs on their network. In the final couple of weeks leading to the premiere, they'll go on a bit of a media blitz (interviews, profiles, some traditional TV ads) but nothing huge. If the show's crazy expensive and you have a lot riding on it, then there'll probably be a bit more.

For example, HBO has new seasons of The Leftovers, Veep, and Silicon Valley premiering in a month, but they only started putting out teaser videos a couple of weeks ago, and Veep's the only one that has a full trailer as of now. Showtime has a miniseries starring Idris Elba premiering in a month and the only thing they've put out is a TCA trailer and couple of teasers on their YouTube channel. When Big Little Lies was two months from premiere, they had just put out their first full trailer. Westworld & Vinyl, on the other hand, were things that HBO had spent over $100 million on so they started pushing them sooner.

The only thing unusual in Twin Peaks case is that a new show premiering would usually have a full trailer by now, but it's seeming more and more likely that they're quite deliberately not doing that.

[Gabriel]

I make allowances for snooker. Any other sport can f**k off, but snooker is the best hangover sport in the world.

Ha Ha! So true, as long as the volume's turned down. The 'clack-clack' of snooker balls sets my hungover stomach on edge!!!

[Mordeen]

I found myself stuck in front of the TV last night, during which Showtime had a pretty good variety in the queue across their multiple channels, including FFWM. Literally every break between shows had a Twin Peaks ad of some kind. There may not be a lot of variety in the ads, but they're saturating the channels with them. SXSW will be another attention grabber geared toward the younger crowd. Then I think they'll go full blitz around mid April.

The younger stars that are new to Twin Peaks will likely be showcased at the last minute (if at all). Damn near everything about this is unconventional. Just like David likes it.

-Mordeen

[Gabriel]

I feel the exact same way. I know original S3 plans involved Major Briggs organizing a rescue mission into the Black Lodge to save Cooper, which sounds amazing and I'm very sad we won't see that (RIP Don Davis), but then there's also the hearsay about Ted Raimi's character returning as an evil zombie controlled by Windom Earle Whatever we're getting is going to blow any possible 1991 Season 3 out of the water, tenfold!

I said for years that I reckoned Lynch would wait 25 years because of the ending of the European pilot and Laura's remark in the final episode of season two (I love having to add 'of season two' to that sentence!!) I just can't believe we've passed 25 years now! I was 15-16 when the original show ran and now am in my 40s and hitting middle age!