Twin Peaks: the suspense continues

The much-awaited premiere of TV´s strangest show hits the air tonight

Stephen Nicholls
Canadian Press

LOS ANGELES - Click. Testing one, two.

Diane: It´s 8:47 a.m., Los Angeles, Calif. I´m standing outside the Century Plaza Hotel, where directly ahead of me is a table full of gooey doughnuts. From the way they´ve been stacked so meticulously, I´d say I´m about to enter the realm of Twin Peaks.

That´s not a town, Diane. Not a real one, anyway. It´s a TV show. Sort of a murder-mystery soap-opera spoof.

Really blew away the critics this past spring. Not to mention millions of viewers who were left asking, "Who killed Laura Palmer?"

Bit strange, though. Might even say, it´s a new benchmark for that overused adjective, quirky.

Check out the season premiere tonight at 9 on WVNY-22.

If you haven´t watched the show, Diane, you´ve surely seen the volumes of press about it; analysis on the rampant duality, magazine layouts with complex character charts. Been think-peaced to death.

Now they´ve got Twin Peaks T-shirts and coffee mugs, a soundtrack album, a line of cherry pies, a published version of Palmer´s diary.

There´s even a cassette of the show´s FBI agent, Dale Cooper, making tape-recorded memos to his unseen secretary.

Next thing, folks will be stealing Cooper´s style.

Oh well, Diane, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, plagiariasm must be homage.

On to the news conference.

Click.

9:42, Diane. Session´s over. Executive producer Mark Frost was characteristically coy about what will happen this year.

He said the writers never intended to reveal Palmer´s killer last season. If the show hadn´t been renewed this season, theyßd have made a movie to conclude the series.

He insisted they knew all along who the murderer was, despite rumors to the contrary.

He also said that even after the Palmer murder is solved, Cooper will be hanging around Twin Peaks to work on other crimes.

Click.

Diane, I´m entering a hotel dining room for what´s billed as breakfast with the Twin Peaks cast. The room has been decorated with a woodsy motif - bearskin rug, a chair made from animal horns.

Cast members are scattered at tables throughout the room. Reporters are milling around doing off-the-cuff interviews.

You know, Diane, a good indication of how hot a star is is how many reporters he or she can draw.

Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Agent Cooper, is being swarmed.

No surprise there. There´s also a knot of male reporters around sultry Sherilyn Fenn, who plays Audrey Horne. Curious, nobody is talking to Piper Laurie.

Click.

Diane, I´m standing directly behind MacLachlan´s left shoulder. His head is bobbing back and forth as questions fly at him from all sides.

He hasn´t touched his breakfast - scrambled eggs and hash browns - and his coffee looks cold. Pity. He´s fiddling with something - a pack of Marlboros.

Looks younger than Cooper, from what I can see of his face. Round, wire-rimmed glasses. A bookish but decidedly boyish look.

Let me see if I can sneak in a question.

Mr. MacLachlan, Agent Cooper seems almost like a superhero. Does he have a tragic flaw?

"It´s there. It may take its time coming out. It´s starting around the edges there a little bit, I think. Not exactly sure what direction it´s going to go, but I think it´s going to come out this season."

The mystery builds.

Click.

Diane, I´ve spotted Frost. Not hard really. With white pants and a peacock-coloured floral shirt, he stands out against the woodsy grain like a neon palm among northwest pines.

Mr. Frost, a lot of people felt betrayed and even angry by the ending last year when Laura Palmer´s murder wasn´t solved. Did you expect that reaction?

"No. If I had, I might have done something different. That people cared that much to feel those kinds of emotions was kind of amazing. And I also think they´ll get over it."

Click.

I´m talking to Bob Iger now, the big cheese at ABC.

Mr. Iger, one problem with Twin Peaks was that it was hard to jump in if you weren´t watching from the beginning.

"One of the things that will be addressed in this coming season is to tailor it to make it a little bit more accessible to the non-regular viewer. There will be shows where there will be some closure to the story line. Certain story lines will stretch over two or three episodes instead of seven or eight."

But is there then a danger of losing its cultish following?

"No, it´s never going to lose its personality."

Here, here.

Click.