Just one more thought on Lynch & Co.'s refusal to make a fan-friendly show: Did we ever hear the particulars on Lynch's dispute with Showtime, and could this have been it? I'm imagining a dialogue sort of like this:
Showtime: So we're envisioning a show that will really pull in fans of the old Twin Peaks with a lot of fun callbacks and nostalgia. Is that what you're thinking?
David Lynch: Not really; no.
ST: Okay... but you're going to tie up some loose ends from the old story, right?
DL: Probably not.
ST: But... seriously... I mean... I know you don't want to promise anything... but this is all about Agent Cooper, right? Coffee? Pie? Crime-solving? Tibet?
DL: Mmmmm............ No.
ST: ...........
DL: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah I hate to say it, but I'd have to look at him and say, okay, your doing a follow up to a 27 year old show but your not going to focus on the town, characters (for the most part), or the unanswered questions from it?
Well its been great talking, I think you should approach Oprah about airing this show on her network. I think they need a few thousand more viewers and this would be great for that station.
Yeah, okay this was a bit dark for me, as I did enjoy the show, but I know some friends that didn't watch past the first couple of episodes because of this exact feeling. I really feel this time art did overreach a critical mass audience.
Remember George Carlin's words on the intelligence - or lack thereof - of the average person:
"Think of how stupid the average person is and realize half of 'em are stupider than that".
Anothrr think to note, is the drop from Ep 1 to Ep 18 can be framed to suggest that people stopped because it wasn't good.
The sporadic schedule (double episodes, skipped weeks), while pleasing several could very well have "lost" others.
Even with DVRs and streaming I was two episodes begind a couple times, and had to wait an hour to the reshowing of Ep 17 for the finale (the DVR was punished), yet I'm cycling through watching all 18 again (and almost done)
Alsi consider the original finale also had bad ratings, but went on to become almost everyone's favorite of a series ABC scrapped that has grown to have one of the biggest and longest followings in TV history
TP will make most of it value in streaming ratings and the Blu Ray releases (which we can betthere will be several sets of).
Unlke in the 90s when we had to wait for Bravo to reair the series, or for the whole set to come out on VHS, viewers now have more options and accessibility to begin or rewatch the series which is could generate a long term consistant revenue stream that other shows simply can not
Anothrr think to note, is the drop from Ep 1 to Ep 18 can be framed to suggest that people stopped because it wasn't good.
The sporadic schedule (double episodes, skipped weeks), while pleasing several could very well have "lost" others.
Even with DVRs and streaming I was two episodes begind a couple times, and had to wait an hour to the reshowing of Ep 17 for the finale (the DVR was punished), yet I'm cycling through watching all 18 again (and almost done)
Alsi consider the original finale also had bad ratings, but went on to become almost everyone's favorite of a series ABC scrapped that has grown to have one of the biggest and longest followings in TV history
TP will make most of it value in streaming ratings and the Blu Ray releases (which we can betthere will be several sets of).
Unlke in the 90s when we had to wait for Bravo to reair the series, or for the whole set to come out on VHS, viewers now have more options and accessibility to begin or rewatch the series which is could generate a long term consistant revenue stream that other shows simply can not
Bad DVR. Bad bad DVR.
Anothrr think to note, is the drop from Ep 1 to Ep 18 can be framed to suggest that people stopped because it wasn't good.
The sporadic schedule (double episodes, skipped weeks), while pleasing several could very well have "lost" others.
Even with DVRs and streaming I was two episodes begind a couple times, and had to wait an hour to the reshowing of Ep 17 for the finale (the DVR was punished), yet I'm cycling through watching all 18 again (and almost done)
Alsi consider the original finale also had bad ratings, but went on to become almost everyone's favorite of a series ABC scrapped that has grown to have one of the biggest and longest followings in TV history
TP will make most of it value in streaming ratings and the Blu Ray releases (which we can betthere will be several sets of).
Unlke in the 90s when we had to wait for Bravo to reair the series, or for the whole set to come out on VHS, viewers now have more options and accessibility to begin or rewatch the series which is could generate a long term consistant revenue stream that other shows simply can not
I don't doubt that The Return will make more revenue over time. The OP, if I understood correctly, was simply observing that the 17/18 audience (reported in the link above) was way smaller than one might have anticipated (had there been widespread anticipation for it of the sort the participants in this forum felt)... That, plus the sharp drop in viewership after the first episodes and the declining trend across the course of The Return, remains intriguing.... I wish we had other credible numbers to compare with the original source!
Suffice it to say this is more of a niche or cult thing than I realized/anticipated.
To me, the Return wasn't grounded in anything solid. I loved that about it. Without having a strong emotional connection to characters or a clear narrative, it would be hard for any casual viewer to stick with it.
I think Chrysta Bell said the original TP was based on emotions and TR is based on experiences. That sums it up pretty well to me.
Hmmm, honestly that would be more enlightening to me if it hadn't come from Bell.
Sadly, fan hatred of a main new character likely doesn't help with Season 4 considerations.
I don't get the Tammy-hate myself. I actually liked her. I sort of get why some were not impressed, but it's not like she really dominated the show (though she kinda looks like that could be her thing...... kidding, kidding). She shared pretty much all her scenes with Gordon and Albert, so you could always focus on them. Diane even told her to go fuck herself for you; what more could you ask? 😉
My wife thought Tammy alternatively acted dumb or ridiculous. She guffawed nearly every scene she was in. She did not grasp the meta approach of Lynch casting his own real life protégée as Gordon Cole's protégée. She did not care that Tammy Preston had successfully analyzed the secret history Dossier and, therefore, could not be dumb. She cared not to hear Chrysta Bell's rendition of Falling.
Alas, Chrysta is no Anna Torv or Jodie Foster.
My wife thought Tammy alternatively acted dumb or ridiculous. She guffawed nearly every scene she was in. She did not grasp the meta approach of Lynch casting his own real life protégée as Gordon Cole's protégée. She did not care that Tammy Preston had successfully analyzed the secret history Dossier and, therefore, could not be dumb. She cared not to hear Chrysta Bell's rendition of Falling.
Alas, Chrysta is no Anna Torv or Jodie Foster.
I only VERY recently discovered the whole Chrysta Bell as Lynch's muse thing....but is she a protege? That I did not know.
Very big difference between Tammy Preston analyzing the dossier and Chrysta Bell playing Tammy. 🙂
Personally, I thought her acting was atrocious and that she just couldn't be still, seemed to "pose" a lot, and appeared to me as generally awkward and out of place as well as highly unprofessional as a special agent. I was sooooo hoping they would go somewhere with this, like it was all intentional (possessed by David Bowie/Phillip Jeffries), 🙂
but to briefly quote you Jeffrey, "alas" they did not.
**please keep in mind that this is my opinion and I am aware that it is only opinion. Not lookin to fight unless we get to join up at the pub thereafter. 😉
My wife thought Tammy alternatively acted dumb or ridiculous. She guffawed nearly every scene she was in. She did not grasp the meta approach of Lynch casting his own real life protégée as Gordon Cole's protégée. She did not care that Tammy Preston had successfully analyzed the secret history Dossier and, therefore, could not be dumb. She cared not to hear Chrysta Bell's rendition of Falling.
Alas, Chrysta is no Anna Torv or Jodie Foster.
I had never heard of Chrysta Bell before I saw her at the red carpet premiere. Her mannerisms and way of speaking came across to me as being overly pretentious, self-important, and extremely fake. I disliked her intensely based on that impression, was disappointed when I found out that she was Tammy Preston, and sad that therefore would have a larger role in the Return. Her performance did not change my opinion of her one iota, and the way she was filmed at times gave me the impression TBH that she was chosen because Lynch has the hots for her.
My wife thought Tammy alternatively acted dumb or ridiculous. She guffawed nearly every scene she was in. She did not grasp the meta approach of Lynch casting his own real life protégée as Gordon Cole's protégée. She did not care that Tammy Preston had successfully analyzed the secret history Dossier and, therefore, could not be dumb. She cared not to hear Chrysta Bell's rendition of Falling.
Alas, Chrysta is no Anna Torv or Jodie Foster.
I had never heard of Chrysta Bell before I saw her at the red carpet premiere. Her mannerisms and way of speaking came across to me as being overly pretentious, self-important, and extremely fake. I disliked her intensely based on that impression, was disappointed when I found out that she was Tammy Preston, and sad that therefore would have a larger role in the Return. Her performance did not change my opinion of her one iota, and the way she was filmed at times gave me the impression TBH that she was chosen because Lynch has the hots for her.
SEE! I"m not the only one.
My spouse kept asking if DL was "doing her" or something cuz he could not imagine why else she would be cast. I kept telling him to wait, all will be revealed.
Made a liar out of me.
This doesn't include the 2 million people who streamed it online
Source? Part 17/18, or other parts? [See the link in the OP. ]
Thanks for sharing this. But stats without sources ...
http://screenrant.com/twin-peaks-season-3-revival-ratings-success/
People have been tracking this for a while. There's plenty of articles about it if you just use goolge. Long story short, the Neilsen ratings have been poor, but viewership is changing as subscription models which aren't factored into the ratings become more important. According to David Nevins Twin Peaks has been the single biggest driver of subscriptions Showtime has ever had. That matters quite a bit in the evolving television market.
I wonder if the lesson learned for Showtime is to develop other limited event series for other fringe/cult shows. Die hard fans of those shows will subscribe to streaming and then Showtime can try to hook them. They likely won't profit as much (assuming there was some profit) from another TP series or film.
I'm surprised Showtime did not offer the full David Lynch filmography during the last three months - or introduce additional Lynch films now that folks will be dropping.
I wonder if the lesson learned for Showtime is to develop other limited event series for other fringe/cult shows. Die hard fans of those shows will subscribe to streaming and then Showtime can try to hook them. They likely won't profit as much (assuming there was some profit) from another TP series or film.
I'm surprised Showtime did not offer the full David Lynch filmography during the last three months - or introduce additional Lynch films now that folks will be dropping.
Hmmm, interesting. What others do you think they would make? (I'm drawing a complete blank here)
I wonder how/why 14,000 people tuned in for Part 17-- but not Part 18? Maybe they were satisfied with Part 17 as "The Return?"
Does anyone have a sense of how to adjust such a figure to account for streaming? For torrents?
I recall hearing that 17 million viewers "attended" the Game of Thrones Season 6 premiere... It's amazing (and strangely hard to recall what it was like, these days) to consider that the Twin Peaks pilot received fully twice as many viewers as the GoT Season 6 premiere...
I suspect that's not actually a valid comparison, given changes in distribution models and techniques for measuring/sampling audiences.
Agree that we can't compare the viewership in the 1990s with today. Back then people had fewer options. No online streaming, no Netflix, cable options not as extensive, binge watching and so on.
If GOT premiered in 1991, who knows how many would have tuned in? Or if the original TP aired today, how it would fare. And how long it would take for people to figure out who killed Laura Palmer.
The cast is probably too old, but Moonlighting was very similar to Peaks with regard to impact and how quickly and spectacularly it flamed out.
Firefly, Angel or Buffy.
Tales from the Darkside.
Fire walk with