Wow. What can I say that hasn’t already been said before? Has it really been 20 years since Twin Peaks first premiered on Television? I remember it like it was yesterday. The first time I watched the Pilot was off a VHS taped copy of the original broadcast. Commercials and all. I didn’t watch it live, as by the time I had gotten the VHS copy in my hands, the Series was well into the Second Season. However, that was not my first exposure to Twin Peaks.
I have vague recollections of being at a party and everyone that was at the party decided to stop what they were doing to watch the Episode where Bob kills Maddy. I saw a frame or two out of the corner of my eye, but was more interested in smoking a cigarette with the boys outside. I remember one of the girls from the party coming outside and saying something about how scary this “Bob” character was. But even that wasn’t my first real exposure.
The high school I went to was trying out a new program called SSR. Sustained Silent Reading. The school mandated that for 15 minutes each day before the recess break, students were to bring a book to class and be completely silent for the duration of the class. A friend of mine that sat behind me asked me if I watched Twin Peaks. I said no. Then he said, take this. He handed me a copy of Laura Palmer’s Diary. At first I resisted. He looked at me and said “Trust me… you won’t be disappointed.”
Needless to say, I spent those 15 minutes in my SSR class completely transfixed. When I got home that night,I devoured the entire book. I was just so mesmerized by this story. This tragic character. I had to know more. BOB, Donna, Troy. WTF?! I begged my friend for more but he didn’t have copies of the Series on VHS. I asked another friend who knew a friend of his mothers that had taped the entire series up to where it was at.
Reading the Diary was an experience like no other. It was like door that I never knew existed had opened up, but only just a crack. The Pilot swung that door wide open and I fell right in. What was it about this beautiful yet tragic world that ha unfolded before my very eyes? Music like I had never heard before. Visuals that I had never seen before. Storytelling at its best, completely sucking me in. From that day forward, my life had changed. Not sure how to describe it, but it opened my eyes to worlds that I had never seen before. Never would I have thought in a million years would a Television show completely alter my perception of the world and what it had to offer. Only three other things have done this for me since then. Episode 29 of Twin Peaks, seeing Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in the theater, and the birth of my daughter this year.
In any case, rather than continue to go on and on, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank David Lynch, Mark Frost, Ron Garcia, Angelo Badalamenti, and the entire cast and crew of Twin Peaks for creating one of the most powerful pieces of art I have ever experienced. If it weren’t for their works, I would not be the person I am today.
Twin Peaks 1990 – 2010
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