Pilot 

Undercurrents of passion, greed, jealousy and intrigue surface in a seemingly respectable town when a high school homecoming queen is found murdered.

Director:

David Lynch

Writers:

Mark Frost, David Lynch

Stars:

Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Kyle MacLachlan	...	Special Agent Dale Cooper
Michael Ontkean	...	Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Mädchen Amick	...	Shelly Johnson (as Madchen Amick)
Dana Ashbrook	...	Bobby Briggs
Richard Beymer	...	Benjamin Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Donna Hayward
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Audrey Horne
Warren Frost	...	Dr. Will Hayward
Peggy Lipton	...	Norma Jennings
James Marshall	...	James Hurley
Everett McGill	...	Big Ed Hurley
Jack Nance	...	Pete Martell
Ray Wise	...	Leland Palmer
Joan Chen	...	Jocelyn Packard
Piper Laurie	...	Catherine Martell

Storyline

When beautiful, young Laura Palmer is found brutally savaged, murdered, and wrapped in plastic, the death of the Twin Peaks Homecoming Queen is big news in the small town. As the news spreads, FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper travels to the Northern Washington State town to solve this and other related cases.

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Plot Keywords:

investigation | murder | murder investigation | pacific northwest | looking at oneself in a mirror | 

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Taglines:

A Mystery That Holds Its Secret To The Very End

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Norwegian

Release Date:

8 April 1990 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Kiana Lodge - 14976 Sandy Hook Road Northeast, Poulsbo, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lynch Entertainment, Lynch/Frost Productions, Spelling Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 113 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Robert Fischer's German Book "David Lynch - Die dunkle Seite der Seele" ("The Dark Side of the Soul") the pilot (the "series version") cost 3.8 million dollars, was shoot in March/April 1989 on location and at City Studios in Los Angeles and had its premiere on the Telluride Film Festival, Colorado in September 1989.

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Goofs

Joey Paulsen takes Donna out of the Roadhouse brawl to go meet James, driving away and being followed by Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman. When a shot establishes the bar brawl is continuing, Joey and Donna are seen sneaking out past the bartender again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pete Martell: Gone fishing.

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Alternate Versions

There was a theatrical release in Europe with nearly 20 minutes of extra footage which was never broadcast in the TV network version which features an extended surreal sequence of the confrontation with the One-Armed Man and Killer Bob as well as the dream-like sequence in the Red Room all of which was shown in parts in the second episode of "Twin Peaks" as a dream sequence. It is also available on video. Intended to be a standalone film, the movie version has a new ending that reveals the identity of the killer of Laura Palmer. The film version eliminates most of the supernatural aspects of the series, too, with the exception of a dream sequence at the end. Michael J. Anderson appears as "The Man from Another Place" and Frank Silva appears as Bob only in this extended version; they were introduced to the series later.

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Connections

Referenced in Le son de Lynch (2007)

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Soundtracks

The Nightingale
Lyric by David Lynch
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Performed by Julee Cruise
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

TV phenomenon of 1990

Laura palmer (Sheryl Lee) is found dead--nude and wrapped in plastic. She was born, raised and killed in the town of Twin Peaks. The town sheriff (Michael Ontkean) and FBI Ageny Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) try to find out who killed her...and why. We are then introduced to the interesting...and very bizarre...residents of the town.

Absolutely fascinating. This exploded on TV in 1990 and was a huge hit. It led to the series which (unfortunately) was buried in bad time slots and mismanaged by the network (for instance, director/co-writer David Lynch was never going to tell who killed Laura but the network forced him to come up with a killer leading to a REAL stupid unmasking). Still, it was well ahead of its time and absolutely fascinating. It's like Peyton Place on drugs--or Peyton Place as done by David Lynch.

The opening pilot (which has an alternate ending) was released in Europe as a movie. It's just incredible--beautifully directed with a now classic movie score that perfectly fits the material. It's full of fascinating characters and images and--like most Lynch movies--has plenty of purposely strange moments--but it's never TOO obscure or disgusting (he DID have to keep in TV standards). The characters are full 3-dimensional people--weird perhaps but full characters. Also there are teenagers who (for once) are treated with respect and ACT like teenagers.

The acting is almost great across the board--but Dana Ashbrook, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sherilyn Finn, Ray Wise and James Marshall are especially good. The only bad performances are by Kyle MacLachlan (TOO strange) and Micheal Ontkean (TOO emotionless). Still this is great. Never dull and just beautifully done. A must-see. But if you don't like Lynch you might want to steer clear of this. A 10.