TV Peaks, 9

In 1990, American television was in the midst of a transition, but the three major networks still dominated the American TV landscape: CBS, NBC, and ABC. CBS and NBC had a financial stronghold, and ABC was languishing in last place. The crisis of ABC called for something new, for something that would break the mold and reposition the network. Executives like Robert Iger were willing to take a risk, even if network television was largely conservative, and the willingness to push the envelope made way for a new and edgier type of television drama. Meanwhile, producer and agent Tony Krantz had talked to David Lynch, the director of Eraserhead (1977) and Blue Velvet (1986), about going into television. This was the beginning of the show Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990-1991), a drama series which was created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, and which would come to push the boundaries of TV drama in many different ways. This book explores the last 25 years of American and Scandinavian television and argues that Twin Peaks was a game changer, pointing to a more transgressive, genre-bending, and serialized type of TV drama. Structural changes in the TV landscape were an important factor, as were the rise of new outlets, new media, and new modes of viewing. The way we watch TV has, indeed, changed during the last 25 years, but so has the way we view television, and, in this context, Twin Peaks has been a small but important factor. Based on interviews with numerous TV scholars, fans, and cast/crew members, TV Peaks investigates the recent changes in television, at a time when Twin Peaks might be coming back. *** A wonderful account of Twin Peaks and its place in the history of television. -- Angelo Badalamenti, composer (Twin Peaks, Fire Walk with Me, Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr.) *** For anyone interested in Twin Peaks, the history of television, and how a band of artists came to the Pacific Northwest in the fall of 1989 and changed that history, Andreas Halskov's new book, TV Peaks: Twin Peaks and Modern Television Drama, will be a must-read. -- Wendy Robie, actor (Nadine Hurley in Twin Peaks) *** Once upon a time, television was an insular, geographically-bound medium. Then, as TV increased exponentially in quality, many of its greatest series jumped borders and became international phenomena. David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks was one of the first to obsess the world. Now Denmark's Andreas Halskov has turned his fascination with Lynch and Twin Peaks into an extraordinary book, one that not only sets the scene for the cultural and industry context that produced Peaks but the endless intricacies of the series itself. With Peaks now likely to return to TV after a twenty five year hiatus, Halskov's sustained visit to our favorite TV town will yield dividends for old and new viewers all over the world for many years to come. -- David Lavery, editor of Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks (1995) and co-editor of Twin Peaks in the Rearview Mirror (2012) *** Andreas Halskov has written a thoughtfully analytic look at how the seminal television series Twin Peaks contributed to the paradigm shift in televised storytelling. He presents a well-supported argument for the show's game-changing position, which led to future breakthrough shows. A must read for fans and students of the medium. -- Paul Trejo, editor (Twin Peaks and Black Sails) (Series: University of Southern Denmark Studies in Art History - Vol. 9) [Subject: Television, Media Studies, Popular Culture]