On February 24, 1989, the body of murdered homecoming queen Laura Palmer washed up on shore, initiating the events of David Lynch’s groundbreaking cult series Twin Peaks. In modern-day social media, February 24 has become #TwinPeaksDay—a day when folks celebrate the beloved cult TV show with memes, fan art, and more. But how did Twin Peaks go from a cultural phenomenon to a canceled series, to an enduring classic? The Secret Galaxy YouTube channel explains the rise, fall, and rise again of Twin Peaks in this comprehensive video essay.
We give special props to the Secret Galaxy guys for going the extra mile on this one. They even recreated the infamous Red Room itself. Although the history of Twin Peaks has been covered before, this video reveals things many casual fans probably didn’t know. Things like how Lynch’s box office failure with the original Dune, a film he turned down Return of the Jedi to make, ultimately led him to make the thriller Blue Velvet. And that’s where the seeds of Twin Peaks were planted.
It was the success of Blue Velvet, exploring darkness in rural America, that led ABC to roll the dice on Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost’s series. Many older execs at ABC didn’t get Lynch’s surreal, weird show, but one younger exec named Bob Iger championed it. You might have heard of him, he went on to some things of note. Without Iger, Twin Peaks would likely have never made it to air.
Although they cover the movie prequel Fire Walk With Me and the 2017 revival series, this video essay mostly focuses on the original show. But since Secret Galaxy began as Toy Galaxy, they also cover the countless merchandise the series spawned over the decades. This 35-minute video journey really left no log unturned. So we suggest you grab a donut or two and some hot coffee and have a watch.