25. Twin Peaks
April 8, 1990
A bird cocks its head. Smokestacks belch exhaust. A sawmill's blades shoot sparks. A guitar plays a dreamy, sensuous adagio as white water crashes over the falls and then gently flows to Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee, right), the golden girl of Twin Peaks, washed up dead onshore, wrapped in plastic. This is how the self-titled premiere episode ushered us into the shocking, surreal, sui generis world of Twin Peaks, a piney realm populated with bizarre characters - barking teens, a mystical FBI agent, a finger-snapping, dancing midget. Director David Lynch's risky, murky, over-the-top amalgam of murder mystery, soap opera, and phantas-magoria left an indelible impression on the medium.
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"The town, Snoqualmie, Washington, didn't like us being there," recalls Madchen Amick (Shelly) of the show's location. "But when we went back to do the film, they greeted us with open arms."
Copyright 1997 News America Publications Inc.
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