Twin Peaks 1990-91, ABC What Its About: A surreal and sprawling soap set in a logging town woolly with kinky secrets, quirky locals, and otherworldly creeps, Twin Peaks was a midnight movie stretched into a prime-time serial. Put too simply, the story tracked endearingly odd FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) on his quest to nab the killer of troubled teen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). It was also about many other things. And coffee. Why Its Cult: Because of its co-creator, director David Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet), whose alt-and-arty sensibility is pure fringe. The show itself was only fitfully brilliant and ultimately unfulfilling, but the cult lives, fueled by nostalgia for the extraordinary pop phenomenon it inspired, for its significance to the medium (behold the big bang of auteur TV!), and for a sensuous strangeness that possesses you and never lets you go. Secret Handshake: Damn good coffee — and hot! —Jeff Jensen
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 09:24:14 +0000