Hester Riches, Twin Peaks´ best friend

From day one, Twin Peaks has been on a roller coaster ride to ratings Hell, despite media hype and the frantic worship of an ever-dwindling body of fans. Debuting April 8 1990, at an impressive weekly ranking of fifth out of 90-odd shows on the U.S. Nielsen list, it sunk to 72nd by December 1.

Unwatched doesn´t mean bad - but don´t take our word on that. The queen of local Twin Peaks boosters is Vancouver Sun TV columnist Hester Riches. In 1990, after the pilot, Riches devoted about one in six of her columns to a show that represented but .245 percent of the more than 400 hours of television available for criticism during a week. Let´s review a reviewer´s Twin Peaks romance.

April 7, 1990. After previewing, Riches is excited. "But do people sitting comfortably in their living rooms want to be spun around, 180 degrees, in their La-Z-Boy recliners? ... It´s doubtful."

April 12. Twin Peaks slips eight notches to a rank of 13 on the show´s second outing.

April 17. Riches on people still uninitiated into Twin Peaks-speak: "All those people couldn´t have mistimed their VCRs - they just didn´t believe the preview reports in the first place. My preview reports. It wasn´t until they heard the Monday morning chit-chat at the water cooler that they realized they´d missed the best new show of the 89-90 TV season."

April 26. Ratings are down but hype is in supernova. The Sun has set up a Twin Peaks hotline. Riches quotes caller Ross Crockford: "The very fact that you have a Twin Peaks hotline confirms my worst fears that Twin Peaks will become corrupted because of its staggering popularity."

April 27. No need to fear, Ross: the ratings from the previous night´s episode show a drop in viewers to a ranking of 45th, puttinh it between Rescue 911 and The Marshall Chronicles for the week.

May 23. Season finale. Will Laura Palmer´s killer be revealed? Riches: "Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks. Get the message?" The show climbs to 23rd before its summer hiatus.

Sept. 17. Despite the fuss, Twin Peaks strikes out at the the Emmy Awards. Riches: "1990 will be remembered as the year David Lynch and Mark Frost changed television with Twin Peaks, even if it´s best forgotten as the year Twin Peaks got snubbed by the Academy of TV Arts and (hah!) Sciences."

Sept. 19. "Three days later and I´m still steamed about the Emmy Awards."

Sept. 30. The Twin Peaks second debut. New episode rallies to 41st before beginning its fall plunge.

Sept. 31. Riches describes the previous night´s episode, directed by Lynch, as having "dry, gallows hilarity for a stretching 15 minutes," and adds, "When characters get horizontal on TV, usually the audience hopes for some great sex scene. Not so with Twin Peaks. When they lie down, we´re rooting for a really hot dream sequence. So Lynch decided to pump ´em out like crazy."

Oct. 6 - Dec. 1. Twin Peaks ranks 68th on Oct. 6, 72nd by Dec. 1.

Dec. 17. Riches on the Big Picture: "I was chatting with a former TV critic at this paper and I mentioned, I´d been a little slow getting around to some of the big shows this fall. He nodded. He agreed. He nodded again, vigorously, went wide-eyed and said 'I know!' Hey, I only meant it as a passing comment."

Dec. 24. Riches gives Twin Peaks her own awards, including "Best Coffee," "Best Hype," and "Winner for All Around Excellence."

Dec. 31. "What is Saturday night these days without Twin Peaks? Even a rerun would have been a treat this weekend."

Jan. 7, 1991. Riches suggests again that her readers may have problems dealing with their home entertainment equipment. "Those who purchased new VCRs over the holiday season have five more days [before the next TP episode] to learn how to program the timer."

Jan. 12. Ranking of 81st is new low for Twin Peaks.

Jan. 14. Riches spots a trend: "Due to the 'Wild-in-Part' succes of Twin Peaks, cult TV is back in style."