We're entering a golden age of TV revivals, and not all of them live on Netflix. While the streaming conglomerate brought us Fuller House and recent addition Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Fox rebooted The X-Files just last year. Now, Showtime is taking on the onus of rebooting another cult 90s classic, Twin Peaks. The network announced revival plans way back in 2014, when the 21st century update was expected to premiere early last year. Now, with filming complete and an official spring 2017 premiere date, it's almost time for impatient fans to finally see how things are going up in their favorite Washington town.
The notoriously enigmatic series has confounded viewers both on and off screen for decades, and its reboot is no exception. As is typical for creator David Lynch, the entire reboot has been surrounded with a certain air of mystery, and essentially no plot details are known. Recently, however, Showtime president David Nevins offered fans some teasing information that speaks volumes about the upcoming revival.
During the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Nevins revealed that both he and programming president Gary Levine have already seen all 18 episodes of the upcoming series, fueled by donuts and coffee from Lynch before each screening. The network president had the following to say about the rebooted drama:
"The core of it is Agent Cooper’s odyssey back to Twin Peaks...This version of Twin Peaks is the ‘pure heroin’ version of David Lynch, and I’m very excited to be putting that out...It will reward close watching."
According to Nevins, the series will come out about once a week, with all 18 episodes resulting in a "close-ended, one-time event." He also acquiesced that, "expectations are high, but it is what it is. I feel very confident in what David has done."
Though these comments show an ardent dedication to the original Twin Peaks, it's not as if nothing has changed since the show's original 1990 premiere on ABC. Nevins also took the opportunity to play up the revival's streaming potential on the Showtime app. The president hopes to rope in new users with the reboot, as its first four episodes will be available online following the show's two-hour premiere on May 21. The show will roll out as a serial after that, though, per Lynch's request.
With a number of '90s regulars returning to their Twin Peaks posts, especially star Kyle MacLachlan as Agent Dale Cooper, it will be interesting to see how the series blends homage and progress. It's unlikely this will be a bland rehashing of the show's old dynamics, given David Lynch's bold directorial strokes, but certainly must have been difficult to condense years off-screen into just one new season. Along a similar vein, fans will either be delighted or saddened to know that this revival will likely only last for 18 episodes. On the one hand, this likely indicates a satisfying end to the Twin Peaks universe, free from the restraints of TV repetition. On the other, if this reboot doesn't conclude just right, it may leave fans itching for more material they will never get.
Most fans trust Lynch just as implicitly as Showtime's David Nevins does, though. It's likely all we'll have to do in May is grab a slice of pie, sit back, and enjoy the new material.
Twin Peaks premieres May 21st at 9 pm on Showtime.