Network: ABC

Air Date: 1990

Writer: David Lynch and Mark Frost

Creator: David Lynch and Mark Frost

Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Richard Beymer, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joan Chen, Eric Da Re, Sherilyn Fenn

Premise: An FBI agent arrives in the town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of high school student Laura Palmer.

"She's dead, wrapped in plastic."

And so begins David Lynch and Mark Frost's small-town murder mystery Twin Peaks, the likes of which we will never again seen on network television. We'll never see it again because now this kind of show—off-kilter, with a slippery tone and bizarre subject matter that's hilarious and revolting all at once—would be made on cable or a premium station. Likely the series would become even more violent, sexual, and profane on, say, HBO, but watching Lynch work his singular magic within the confines of network standards is what makes Twin Peaks so great. Because he can't be as fucked up as he normally would, he pulls different tricks from his bag.

The tricks are the characters, and the pilot brings out the entire town in the wake of the murder. Laura Palmer, high school sweetheart, has been found dead. And yes, wrapped in plastic. FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is the strange in town handling the case. What comes next is a strange joy. —RS