How the TV series "Twin Peaks" was filmed

Do you remember the time when the question "Who killed Laura Palmer?" did not leave the covers of periodicals and excited the minds of hundreds of thousands of viewers? The cult TV series "Twin Peaks" began with the story of another beauty who also died under rather mysterious circumstances…

In 1986, Warner Bros. She turned to David Lynch with a proposal to make a film about Marilyn Monroe, based on the book "The Goddess: The Secrets of Marilyn Monroe's Life." David's agent, Tony Krantz, put him in touch with his friend and client, screenwriter Mark Frost. David and Mark surprisingly easily found a common language and very soon began work on the script of "Goddess".

This film is Warner Bros. I never decided to shoot, but Mark and David struck up a friendship, and since then they have made several attempts to do something together. As a result, they decided to shoot something like the movie "Peyton Place".

David Lynch on the set of the TV series "Twin Peaks"

Lynch and Frost sat down to the script. The first version of it was titled as "The North-Western Road". While working on the script, Mark insisted on making a map to represent the geography of the city. According to the map, the city was bordered by two mountains on the sides. And so the name was born — Twin Peaks.

While working on the script, Mark and David almost did not expect that ABC would decide to shoot. The story was not at all like the series that were shown on television at that time. She was gloomy, strange and extravagant. But, contrary to all expectations, representatives of the ABC channel, having familiarized themselves with the script, wanted to shoot a pilot series.

The budget of the pilot series was $1,800,000. Filming took place in 1989, in Washington State.

Mark Frost said that when, after a long search, he and David found this region, they were simply amazed at how exactly it corresponded to what was described in the script: everything was here — from a gas station and a sawmill, ending with a small cafe and a hotel, next to which there was a waterfall. Thus, all the filming of the pilot series took place on real objects. There was a feeling that this region was literally created in order to shoot "Twin Peaks" in it.

Everyone who worked on "Twin Peaks" felt: this is a very unusual series. Extraordinary, eccentric, amazing. Therefore, the crew did not believe that ABC would like the pilot episode and that Twin Peaks would ever be aired.

In this regard, David was even asked to make, just in case, a version of the pilot series in which the storylines would be complete, so that it could be sold as an independent work. This variant was called the "European Pilot". In it, after the original ending of the pilot series, about twenty minutes of alternative events are added, and everything ends with a surreal episode from the red room, which then turned into Cooper's dream in the second series.

The preview of the pilot series caused the ABC management a flurry of emotions. "Who allowed Lynch to shoot at all?!" the channel's executives were indignant. The pre-premiere screening for critics, which took place a little later at the Hollywood Broadcasting Museum, however, did not cause the rejection that could have been expected. However, television critic Paul Shulman, who was present at the screening, said that the series could not count on success.

The series premiered on April 8, 1990. The day of the premiere was not chosen very well — Thursday. In parallel with "Twin Peaks" that evening, the then popular comedy series "Your Health!" was shown. But on the night of the premiere, Twin Peaks had 33% of the audience, which can be safely called a phenomenal success.

We made a decision: the series should be.

Naturally, it would be very impractical to shoot everything further "on the road", and therefore the rest of the first season was filmed in Los Angeles. Mostly in the pavilions, where all the rooms from the pilot series were carefully restored in the scenery. Full-scale filming was also carried out in the vicinity of Los Angeles.

Young talented directors were invited to work on the series. Lynch and Frost's agreement with ABC was still in force — the creative process was independent, and therefore the creators were constantly experimenting and using the craziest, most extraordinary ideas and finds.

The basis of the series was, of course, the investigation of the murder of Laura Palmer. Initially, the creators had no desire to solve the murder. At least until the series is over. However, over time, the ABC management, influenced by fans of the series, who insisted that the mystery of Laura Palmer's death be solved as soon as possible, began to put pressure on Lynch and Frost.

The creators were forced to follow the lead of the public, although they tried to keep the intrigue to the last. The finale of the investigation, as the authors tried to achieve, came out unexpected and unpredictable. However… After the mystery of Laura Palmer's death was revealed, public interest in the series naturally weakened.

The audience liked the unusual series. "Twin Peaks" became the most popular TV series of 1990. They talked about him, praised him, discussed him. In 1991, the series won three Golden Globes at once (as the best series and for the roles of Kyle McLachlan and Piper Laurie), was nominated for an Emmy, and the soundtrack of the series was nominated for a Grammy Music Award.