Excitement hung in the air leading up to the debut of Twin Peaks on the ABC Television Network on April 8, 1990. Critics reviews of the show looked promising and the general buzz was the series would be “must see” television. The week before the pilot aired, ABC ran four print ads in the TV Guide for March 31 to April 6, 1990. Thanks to a tip from fellow Twin Peaks Blog author and long-time fan Jason McMahan, I recently acquired a copy of this issue that featured the late comedian Bob Saget on the cover.
TTWIN PEAKS IN TV GUIDE FROM MARCH 31 TO APRIL 6, 1990
The cover story to Issue #1931 of “TV Guide” (Vol. 38 No. 13) for March 31 to April 6, 1990 featured Bob Saget holding a video camera. He was the host of ABC Television’s surprise hit, Amercia’s Funniest Home Videos. The show was based on Tokyo Broadcasting’s Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan which aired from 1986 to 1992). ABC’s version first aired as a special on Sunday, November 26, 1989. It debuted as a regular weekly series on January 14, 1990. Comdeian Saget spent eight seasons as the host before stepping down in 1997.
TWIN PEAKS PRINT ADS IN TV GUIDE FROM MARCH 31 TO APRIL 6, 1990
The four black and white print ads for Twin Peaks teased the show by asking four questions. They were found on pages with TV listings for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday that week.
The first ad on page 87 asked the question the entire nation would soon ask – “Who killed Laura Palmer?” The small rectangular ad also included one of my favorite versions of the Twin Peaks logo which contained two small triangles.
While the print ad logo was stacked, ABC also presented the Twin Peaks logo with two triangles as a singular line. It’s simple and effective.
The second ad was found on page 113 for the Monday television show listings.
This ad presented the question – “What’s the FBI doing here?” – which was a nod to Special Agent Dale Cooper’s arrival into the small town.
The third ad was located on page 131 with a nod to an iconic food item from the show – doughnuts!
Doughnuts, coffee and cherry pie would soon become synonymous with David Lynch and Mark Frost’s show. The television series even sparked a renewed interest (and sales) of the circular treat.
On September 26, 1990, Frank DeCaro wrote about the renewed interest in doughnuts as a result of Twin Peaks.
“It’s become somewhat trendy again to eat doughnuts. It has kind of pushed the croissant aside,” said Sheila Lukins, the co-author and illustrator of “The New Basics” and two “Silver Palate” cookbooks. DeCaro said Lukins was an “avid Twin Peaks fan” who was impressed with how doughnuts were treated as a “design element” in the show.
Who could forget the iconic “policeman’s dream” from the Twin Peaks pilot?
The final of four print ads appeared on page 177 for the Thursday television listings.
This ad asked the question, “Who videotaped Donna and Laura in the woods?’ This was a nod to the picnic video which was recorded by James Hurley, not Bob Saget who is seen holding a video camera on the front cover of this magazine.
The four questions would be repeated again in a double page ad for the series in the next issue of “TV Guide” for April 7-13, 1990.
The Twin Peaks pilot had already been shown at a number of film festivals since September 1989 and a VHS was released of this first episode in the United Kingdom. This March 31-April 6, 1990 issue, however, was like the calm before the cherry pie and coffee-infused storm that would soon have millions of people asking, “Who killed Laura Palmer?”
See high-resolution images from this issue of TV Guide on my Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720322138203
