By: History.com Editors

1990

“Twin Peaks” premieres on ABC

History.com Editors

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: January 24, 2025

On April 8, 1990, David Lynch’s surreal television drama "Twin Peaks" premieres on ABC, launching the question “Who killed Laura Palmer?” into the cultural zeitgeist. The naked body of the blonde homecoming queen was found washed up on the shore wrapped in plastic in the show’s opening episode, throwing the residents of the small Pacific Northwestern town of Twin Peaks into a tailspin and kicking off the central plotline of the series.

Shot in and around the logging town of Snoqualmie, Washington, "Twin Peaks" starred Kyle MacLachlan as the relentlessly quirky Agent Dale Cooper, an FBI agent who arrives in Twin Peaks to help the local police (led by Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman) unravel the mystery of Palmer’s murder. He soon discovers that she was not the golden girl she seemed, but in fact had hidden vices such as drug abuse and promiscuity. As the story unfolds, Laura’s boyfriend Bobby (Dana Ashcroft), secret lover James (James Marshall), good-girl best friend Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle), grieving father Leland (Ray Wise) and look-alike cousin Maddy (Sheryl Lee, who also played Palmer in flashbacks) become some of the pivotal supporting characters in a large ensemble cast.

Before developing "Twin Peaks" with his partner, Mark Frost, Lynch gained notice for films such as The Elephant Man (1980) and Blue Velvet (1986), which also starred MacLachlan. ABC brass commissioned Lynch and Frost to create "Twin Peaks" as part of a larger strategy to turn the network’s reputation and profit margin around by putting new and original shows on TV. A soap opera mixed with a police investigation, plus a healthy dash of Lynchian weirdness, Twin Peaks was hyped even before its debut for its movie-quality directing, including cinematic pacing, complex themes and character development and eccentric humor.

Preceded by an avalanche of publicity, the two-hour "Twin Peaks" pilot aired on April 8, 1990, and was seen by 33 percent of the television audience, a season high for a TV movie. When the show began airing as a regular one-hour drama on Thursday nights, it earned the network’s highest ratings in several years and was able to cut into the huge audience of NBC’s long-running hit "Cheers." Though ratings soon began dropping, the buzz surrounding the series remained strong, as critics called it the best new show in years. The show received eight Emmy nominations for its first season, more than any other series, but won only two awards.

Lynch retained tight control over the show for the eight-episode run of its first season, handpicking directors that he had worked with before or knew through other colleagues. During the second season, the myriad cryptic plot twists had audiences tuning out in droves, however, and the quality of the show was generally believed to have deteriorated. When ABC pulled the plug on the show in mid-1991, Lynch was forced to reveal the identity of Palmer’s killer, a mystery he had wanted to spin out over a number of years, according to an interview he later gave Entertainment Weekly. After the show ended its run in June 1991, Lynch directed a big-screen prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), which was poorly received at the time but went on to become a cult classic.

In 2017, the third season of "Twin Peaks," written and directed by Lynch, premiered on Showtime. Set 25 years after the events of the original broadcast, the new season featured much of the same cast, and earned critical acclaimed.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on April 8th

1904

Britain and France sign Entente Cordiale

On April 8, 1904, with war in Europe a decade away, Britain and France sign an agreement, later known as the Entente Cordiale, resolving long-standing colonial disputes in North Africa and establishing a diplomatic understanding between the two countries.

1935

Works Progress Administration established by Congress as part of FDR’s “New Deal”

On April 8, 1935, Congress votes to approve the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a central part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

1944

Russians attack Germans in drive to expel them from Crimea

On April 8, 1944, Russian forces led by Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin attack the German army in an attempt to win back Crimea, in the southern Ukraine, occupied by the Axis power. The attack would result in the breaking of German defensive lines in just four days, eventually sending the Germans retreating.

1953

Jomo Kenyatta jailed for Mau Mau uprising in Kenya

Jomo Kenyatta, leader of the Kenyan independence movement, is convicted by Kenya’s British rulers of leading the extremist Mau Mau in their violence against white settlers and the colonial government. An advocate of nonviolence and conservatism, he pleaded innocent in the highly politicized trial.

1974

Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record

On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Al Downing. However, as Aaron was an African American who had received death threats and racist hate mail during his pursuit of one of baseball’s most distinguished records, the achievement was bittersweet.

Hank Aaron - Atlanta Braves

1975

Frank Robinson makes debut as first Black manager in MLB

On April 8, 1975, against the New York Yankees in Cleveland, the Indians' Frank Robinson becomes the first African American to manage a game in Major League Baseball. Robinson, who also bats second, homers in his first at-bat in Cleveland's 5-3 win. Nearly 28 years earlier, the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson—no relation to Frank—became the first African American to play in the big leagues.

1987

U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz condemns Soviet spying

Just days before he is to travel to Moscow for talks on arms control and other issues, U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz states that he is “damned upset” about possible Soviet spy activity in the American embassy in the Soviet Union. Soviet officials indignantly replied that the espionage charges were “dirty fabrications.”

1989

Pitcher Jim Abbott, born without right hand, makes MLB debut

On April 8, 1989, California Angels rookie pitcher Jim Abbott, who was born without a right hand, makes his Major League Baseball debut in a 7-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners. His debut generates a buzz throughout the sports world. "Maybe I was unnerved by all the attention," Abbott tells reporters afterward.

1990

Eighteen-year-old Ryan White, national symbol of the AIDS crisis, dies

On April 8, 1990, 18-year-old Ryan White dies of pneumonia, due to having contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion. He had been given six months to live in December of 1984 but defied expectations and lived for five more years, during which time his story helped educate the public and dispel widespread misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.

1993

Astronaut Ellen Ochoa becomes the first Hispanic woman in space

On April 8, 1993, the space shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center. On board is astronaut Ellen Ochoa, soon to become the first Hispanic woman in space.

1994

Grunge icon Kurt Cobain is found dead three days after his suicide

On April 8, 1994, rock star Kurt Cobain is found dead in his home in Seattle, Washington, with fresh injection marks in both arms and a fatal wound to the head from the 20-gauge shotgun found between his knees.

Kurt Cobain

2005

Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty

Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty to a series of bombings, including the fatal bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, in order to avoid the death penalty. He later cited his anti-abortion and anti-homosexual views as motivation for the bombings.

2009

Somali pirates hijack Maersk Alabama ship

On April 8, 2009, the MV Maersk Alabama is hijacked off the coast of Somalia. The high-profile incident drew worldwide attention to the problem of piracy, commonly believed to be a thing of the past, in the waters off the Horn of Africa. Pirates had not captured a ship sailing under the American flag since the 1820s.

2013

Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, dies

Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom, dies in London at age 87 from a stroke on April 8, 2013. Serving from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. She curbed the power of Britain’s labor unions, privatized state-owned industries, led her nation to victory in the Falklands War and as a close ally of U.S. President Ronald Reagan played a pivotal role in ending the Cold War. A polarizing figure, Thatcher, nicknamed the Iron Lady, was credited by her admirers with championing free-market, conservative policies that revitalized the British economy, while critics charged these initiatives hurt the nation’s lower classes.

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Citation Information

Article title
“Twin Peaks” premieres on ABC
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 22, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 24, 2025
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009

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