source 'Twin Peaks' Returns As Showtime Limited Series From David Lynch & Mark Frost DEADLINE: David Lynch had said that we had seen the last of Twin Peaks. When did that change, and how did the new series come together?
FROST: It was something I guess we had to leave alone for a while. David and I stayed good friends over the years, we’d see each other every now and then. When the gold box DVD set came out in 2007, that’s when I think we both started thinking separately about it. And then about three years ago — we meet for lunch once in awhile, often at Musso and Frank just because we both like old Hollywood stuff — we just found ourselves talking over lunch and some ideas popped up about the show. So many people had enjoyed the gold box set. We found ourselves drifting back to that town, realizing that there were more things we wanted to know about it. And everything flew from that point forward. That was I think three years ago in August.
DEADLINE: The series is still called Twin Peaks. Will it be set in Twin Peaks?
FROST: It’s safe to say that things will happen in Twin Peaks that you’ll see. Not necessarily all will be there but yeah, we are going to call it Twin Peaks, so I think that speaks for itself.
DEADLINE: Which characters from the original series will make a return?
FROST: I think the fans would like to see and we would like to see as many of the old familiar faces as possible and a lot of new faces as well. We are going to keep that in mind as we start to work and hopefully everybody’s story will get some attention.
DEADLINE: What about Kyle MacLachlan’s Agent Cooper who was at the heart of the ABC series?
FROST: We hope to have more to say about that soon. I think you’ll have the answer to that sooner rather than later.
DEADLINE: The original series ended with a cliffhanger. Will we find out what happened to Agent Cooper in the woods?
FROST: One of the things we always did when talking about the series is, we didn’t tell people what to think about it or say that there was one definite way to interpret anything. We always felt it was best to let the story speak for itself and also let the intelligence of the viewer contribute to what they thought was going on. So I never like to answer questions too specifically, David is sort of the same way. Having said that, I think there will be a lot of things that people have wanted to know over the years that if they pay close attention, they are going to be satisfied.
DEADLINE: Will the limited series revisit the Laura Palmer murder or that case is closed?
FROST: I think you can safely say that the mystery in Twin Peaks as we started to explore more is very large, there are many aspects to it and the hope is that people will find things that they are interested in in all sorts of things related to the larger mystery. And that will include all the storylines we’ve dealt with up until now.
DEADLINE: Will there be a crime, a new case at the center of the series?
FROST: There will be a very strong central storyline.
DEADLINE: Is the limited series close to what you and David envisioned as a third season of the ABC series or this is a brand new storyline?
FROST: We realized we were talking about the third season so long ago, when we actually sat down to start thinking about (the limited series), there were some things we thought we thought back then but if you put me in court I’m not sure I’ll be able to testify to it. Everything we are talking about feels very fresh and very right given where we’ve been, I’ll put it that way.
DEADLINE: Angelo Badalamenti’s music was such a key part of the original series. Will he be back and will he write new music for the limited series?
FROST: I can’t confirm that yet, I’d have to talk to David and see if he feels confident about that.
DEADLINE: How did the project end up at Showtime?
FROST: We had a really good feeling about Showtime from the very beginning. (EVP Original Programming) Gary Levine, who is the second in command there, was actually the ABC executive in charge of the show when we did it 25 years ago. (President) David Nevins was a big fan of the show, we had a great meeting with them, and David Lynch loved the artwork that David Nevins had in his office, that seemed to get him excited. We feel it’s the perfect home for the show now, and we’re very happy to be there.
DEADLINE: Are you surprised by how lasting the show’s popularity has been?
FROST: For that, we just have to be express our gratitude to the fans who have been so incredibly passionate and tenacious about the show over the years. When you are sitting down to do work, you don’t really ever think about what kind of impact it might have, at least we didn’t. You just try to do the best of what’s in front of you. The fact that this is still alive and kicking 25 years later is a great joy for everybody involved in it, and I’m just glad we are able to bring something back to the people who really have been the most instrumental in keeping it alive all this time.
DEADLINE: Is the limited series definitely the end of the Twin Peaks franchise or you would be open for more?
FROST: That’s sort of what we thought the last time, and look what happened. I wouldn’t think it will take us 25 years to decide the next time around — I hope it wouldn’t because it would be a lot harder to do the work then — but I think anything’s possible to be honest, given that this is happening.