Twin Peaks, the cult show that blended horror and soap opera, will return with nine new episodes in 2016, say co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. The co-creators teased fans the return just a few days ago by tweeting this at the exact same time:

Today, however, it was announced that Showtime not only had adopted the rights to the series, but that they would air reruns leading up to the revival in early 2016 (ostensibly also to air on the channel). The network released this statement along with the following video:

“Series creators and executive producers David Lynch and Mark Frost will write and produce all nine episodes of the limited series, and Lynch will direct every episode. Set in the present day, TWIN PEAKS will continue the lore of the original series, providing long-awaited answers and a satisfying conclusion for the series’ passionate fan base.”

The Rise And Fall Of Twin Peaks

The series initially ran from 1990-1991, and was a serialized murder mystery that had everyone in the country asking “Who killed Laura Palmer?” It ran on ABC for two seasons, though the studio had its reservations. The series was deeply surreal and densely plotted. There were paranormal on-goings throughout the town, and each episode represented a single day of the investigation. This deeply scared ABC as the show required much of its viewers and they were afraid the audience wouldn’t remain for the long haul.

Lynch and Frost were forced to reveal the central mystery, leaving them scrambling to come up with a way to solve the mystery while creating a new one. The work was a patch job, and while the mystery to who killed Laura Palmer was solved rather organically, the following plots weren’t enough to keep viewers and ABC cancelled the series.

In 1992, fans were excited for the release of the feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, believing that it would answer the lingering questions of the series and hopefully answer the massive cliffhanger that involved Agent Dale Cooper’s (Kyle MacLachlan) capture in The Black Lodge and his possession by the entity BOB. Unfortunately, Frost and Lynch had a falling out, and the film was singularly written and directed by Lynch. Fire Walk With Me became a prequel that explored the week leading up to Laura Palmer’s murder, and only hinted slightly at what happened to Cooper. While the story of Laura Palmer was an engaging one, the film as a whole was impenetrable and bombed both critically and financially. Lynch had brought the surreal to Twin Peaks but Frost had given its characters life.

Over the years, largely through lawsuits and contract disputes, only the first season was available on DVD (though it quickly became a hard item to come by). Lynch went on to create more films, and Frost became a novelist. Eventually, the two mended fences and were able to get ABC to lighten up and releases the entire series in a “golden edition.”

Despite the brief run of the series, its half-life remained strong and steady; Twin Peaks helped launch the concept of a more novelistic approach to television, while shows like The X-Files, Millennium, The Killing, True Detective, and Hannibal were clearly influenced by the bizarre creation of Lynch and Frost.

Twin Peaks Fan Response

News of the revival was met with immediate fan reaction. As with any cult show, the reaction on social media was measured, calm and reserved.

The Twin Peaks Revival

Lynch and Frost have made clear that the nine episodes airing in 2016 will be a limited engagement meant to answer the questions and end the franchise entirely. It is not a reboot or a re-launch. It’s an ending. Some fans long expected this, as in its final episodes, it was stated that Dale Cooper wouldn’t see Laura again for 25 years. Given the series took place in real-time, 2016 makes, well, 26 years but it's close enough.

“For those followers of the show who felt bereft when the show ended where it did all those years ago are going to like where it goes from here,” Frost said. “And we hope that a lot of people who haven’t been to Twin Peaks yet are going to be equally interested in where the story goes from where we left off.”

Lynch and Frost will have their work cut out for them. While they have not commented on the casting, it’s clear that since this is a continuation many of the old cast is expected to return. However, over the last 25 years, some of its actors—Jack Nance and Frank Silva have passed away, while Everett McGill Richard Beymer are long retired.

Lynch will direct all nine episodes himself, and will co-write each episode alongside Frost. It is assumed that the score will again be handled Angelo Badalamenti.