Poster with Julee Cruise from Sacred Bones Records

Twin Peaks Publicity – Joan Chen and Michael Ontkean at Blue Pine Lodge

For the second season of Twin Peaks, ABC Television commissioned additional publicity photos such as these images of Joan Chen and Michael Ontkean. Based on research, it appears the image was captured on the Blue Pine Lodge set in Van Nuys, California around the time episode 2.004 was shot in August 1990.

JOAN CHEN AND MICHAEL ONTKEAN AT BLUE PINE LODGE

Joan Chen and Michel Ontkean
Original as scanned

I acquired a small collection of color transparencies via an online auction which contained this stunning shot of Chen and Ontkean. The image above is from the original high resolution scan via my Epson V600 scanner. I scanned the image in halves since this Epson scanner doesn’t contain a large transparency scanning window. I then combined the parts via Adobe Lightroom’s photo merge feature.

With the scan complete, I cleaned up the dust and scratches, yet the image felt unnaturally red. This could be a result of the transparency’s age or perhaps this is what the original photographer intended.

Joan Chen and Michel Ontkean – Color Corrected

I adjusted the overall color for a second option to provide more natural skin tones for Chen and Ontkean. I’m torn as I like both versions, but I’m assuming the latter is closer to what was originally shared with media based on a second image I found from this shoot.

Blurb about publicity photo

The color transparency contained a small paper blurb about the photo and noted Twin Peaks would air on Saturdays from 10:00 – 11:00 pm, ET:

Michael Ontkean stars as Sheriff Harry S. Truman and Joan Chen as Jocelyn Packard, the beautiful and imperious owner of a sawmill in a seemingly typical small town in the Pacific Northwest, on “TWIN PEAKS,” an hour-long dramatic series airing on the ABC Television Network. 

Michael Ontkean and Joan Chen

The second image from this shoot shows the actors’ profiles. This is a low-resolution image from eBay as the original 8-inch by 10-inch hasn’t arrived in the mail (I’ll have an updated image once received).

WHERE WAS THE JOAN CHEN AND MICHAEL ONTKEAN IMAGE TAKEN?

Joan Chen and Michael Ontkean
The Mauve Zone

I figured these photos were taken on the Blue Pine Lodge set similar to this iconic image from the first season. Since the paper blurb mentioned Twin Peaks airing on Saturdays, I the new Chen and Ontkean shots were captured during second season production. Josie’s red outfit, however, didn’t seem familiar so I searched scenes where Sheriff Truman and Josie Packard were together at the Blue Pine Lodge.

Inside of Blue Pine Lodge with Sheriff Truman sitting on the edge of a chair
Episode 2.004

In episode 2.004, Josie models her latest acquisitions from a shopping trip to Seattle for her lover Truman. Look carefully at the bottom right side of the image and you’ll spot Josie’s red dress draped over the chair used in the publicity shot.

Perhaps there was additional footage captured with her in the red dress, yet the script written by Jerry Stahl, Mark Frost, Harley Peyton and Robert Engels makes no mention of additional scenes.

Unfortunately, the publicity photos also are not properly credited but I’m assuming it was an ABC Television photographer like Craig Sjodin who could have captured the couple.

JOAN CHEN AND MICHAEL ONTKEAN PUBLICITY PHOTOS IN PRESS

Newspaper article about Twin Peaks with image of Joan Chen and Michael Ontkean
The Statesman Journal, Nov. 15, 1990

I found a handful of newspapers that carried these publicity photos including this article from Associated Press reporter Jay Sharbutt. It was published in The Statesman Journal around Nov. 15, 1990, which would have been after episode 2.007 aired.

Television listings with image of Joan Chen and Michael Ontkean
Tulsa World, April 9, 1995

A second appearance of the Chen and Ontkean chair photo appeared in the television program listings published in Tulsa World on April 9, 1995. By this time, Bravo TV was airing David Lynch and Mark Frost’s show weeknights at 10:00 p.m.

Newspaper article about Twin Peaks
The Tampa Tribune, Feb. 22, 1991

Walter Belcher from The Tampa Tribune used the second photo of Ontkean and Chen in his commentary on Feb. 22, 1991. Belcher was a big fan of the series and even held a Look-A-Like contest for the Florida paper in summer 1990.

You can find more high-resolution scans of these and other publicity images on my Flickr account – https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720325607231

Author

  • Steven Miller at Twede's Cafe enjoying cherry pie and coffee

    A "Twin Peaks" fan since October 1993, Steven Miller launched Twin Peaks Blog in February 2018 to document his decades-long fascination with David Lynch and Mark Frost's wonderful and strange show. With his Canon camera in hand, he's visited numerous film locations, attended Twin Peaks events and conducted extensive historical research about this groundbreaking series. Along with fellow Bookhouse Boys, he dreams of creating a complete Twin Peaks Archive of the series and feature film. Steven currently resides in Central Florida.

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One thought on “Twin Peaks Publicity – Joan Chen and Michael Ontkean at Blue Pine Lodge

  1. Wow these are beautiful and very romantic. Rewatching Twin Peaks this year, it struck my sister and I how much Harry did truly love Josie. Even the fact that he went to Catherine to try to understand why she was the way she was and did the things she did spoke volumes about the way he felt for her.

    Funnily enough, to coincide with these photos, I actually had a dream last night where Harry got his happy ending with Josie. There was a fire at the Great Northern, but they managed to put it out and then Harry was keeping Josie safe there and her problems with the Packards were all solved. It ended with them smiling at each other, as Josie was lying in bed. Much better than where she really ended up inside of the Great Northern!

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