Saturday Night Live’s vintage sketch on Twin Peaks is damn fine. It’s fair to say Twin Peaks had a major impact on the TV landscape following its 1990 debut. The show was co-created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, with the former bringing his idiosyncratic style and cinematic sensibilities to it. The story is set into motion by the murder of teenager Laura Palmer which brings quirky FBI Agent Cooper to town to investigate, where he digs up a lot of dark secrets about the town’s inhabitants.
Television had simply never seen a series like Twin Peaks before and it soon became a cultural phenomenon that was held together by its central mystery. Sadly, it became such a success that viewers – and the network – demanded Laura’s mystery killer be revealed. Against Lynch’s better judgment Laura’s killer was revealed early in the second season, and he creatively disengaged for most of the season following this reveal. This had a major impact on the remaining episodes, which relied on dull or silly storylines to pad things out while new mysteries were added. Audience interest dropped sharply and it was cancelled by the end of the season on a major cliffhanger.
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Star Kyle MacLachlan guest-hosted Saturday Night Live ahead of Twin Peaks season 2 premiere, so it was only natural he would perform a skit on his own series. The sketch opens with Cooper in his hotel room speaking to Diane on his dictaphone, before Sheriff Truman enters to reveal that Chris Farley’s Leo has confessed to killing Laura Palmer. Leo enters – escorted by Conan O’Brien’s cop, who has no lines – and admits his guilt, and even show’s Cooper photos of him committing the deed.
Cooper refuses to believe it though, telling Truman he had a dream about a hairless mouse with a pitchfork telling him he needs to explore the caves in Twin Peaks instead. The skit basically portrays Cooper as a weirdo who doesn’t want the investigation to end, but it’s the little touches that make it work, like Phil Hartman (The Simpsons) perfect impersonation of Leland Palmer or Victoria Jackson’s Audrey tying an elaborate present wrap with only her tongue.
The skit ends with Mike Myers playing The Man From Another Place, who’s come to say goodbye to Cooper, before performing his signature dance. Saturday Night Live’s Twin Peaks sketch came at the height of the show’s popularity, and a few months before interest in it would drop dramatically. Lynch would redeem the good name of the series with both prequel movie Fire Walk With Me and the 2017 Showtime revival Twin Peaks: The Return.
