Jerry Horne wrote:Wrapped In Plastic magazine published all the available Nielson ratings.
Thanks for that, but do back issues of it exist anywhere online? Also, could you tell me if it is still being published (I remember it from years ago, had no idea it lasted as long as it apparently has). This is the only page I could find for it - http://www.glastonberrygrove.net/info/wip/ wrappedinplastic.com seems to be dead. If it is indeed gone, it would be great if someone could create a master .pdf torrent for it or upload it to a binary group.
WIP ceased after 75 issues. Until recently you could order back issues from them but their website seems to have disappeared. Back issues pop up on eBay and with time, anybody could collect all 75.
The content is copyrighted, so scanning them is out of the question.
>_<, sorry about that. A lot of fanzines from the 90's have been released under the GPL/copyleft the way that GNU/Linux and BSD are (meaning you can freely copy and distribute them) so I just assumed it was. I promise I did not intend to ask for anything illegally uploaded!
TelegramSam wrote:>_<, sorry about that. A lot of fanzines from the 90's have been released under the GPL/copyleft the way that GNU/Linux and BSD are (meaning you can freely copy and distribute them) so I just assumed it was. I promise I did not intend to ask for anything illegally uploaded!
No worries! I just didn't want to encourage anyone.
Another interesting Q&A last night with confirmation of what we've known for 20+ years -- ABC didn't have a clue what to do with the show, and Lynch is a weirdo.
I know a lot of people like to throw ABC under the bus, but they had no control of the show. They got fake scripts all the time... I know there was a secret to protect but it doesn't help to bite the hand that feeds.
Brad D wrote:I know a lot of people like to throw ABC under the bus, but they had no control of the show. They got fake scripts all the time... I know there was a secret to protect but it doesn't help to bite the hand that feeds.
No control? They moved the show to Saturday evenings. A slot Mark Frost refers to as a graveyard slot.
Brad D wrote:I know a lot of people like to throw ABC under the bus, but they had no control of the show. They got fake scripts all the time... I know there was a secret to protect but it doesn't help to bite the hand that feeds.
No control? They moved the show to Saturday evenings. A slot Mark Frost refers to as a graveyard slot.
Obviously they controlled scheduling, but they had very little insight into the creative process of the show which led them to forcing the reveal of the killer. ABC didnt know what to do, but I doubt any other network would have either.
Brad D wrote:I know a lot of people like to throw ABC under the bus, but they had no control of the show. They got fake scripts all the time... I know there was a secret to protect but it doesn't help to bite the hand that feeds.
No control? They moved the show to Saturday evenings. A slot Mark Frost refers to as a graveyard slot.
Obviously they controlled scheduling, but they had very little insight into the creative process of the show which led them to forcing the reveal of the killer. ABC didnt know what to do, but I doubt any other network would have either.
I think there is plenty of blame to go around. Lynch and Frost needed to be there more (even Frost admits this now) Too many characters introduced in Season Two etc. Kyle/Lara killing a storyline and creating a hole. The network made a huge mistake thinking young people would stay in to watch a show on Sat eve, and of course forcing the reveal of the killer. Add the pre-emps due to the Gulf War.
Mark and David and even people like Don Davis ("I will never forgive ABC in how they treated Twin Peaks...") have been critical of the network. I think with good reason. They know a hell of a lot more of what went on than we do.
thank you again for posting it -these have been outstanding. And a huge thank you to USC.
Madchen hit the nail on the head when she said David told her he never thought the show would go very long. At that time, I just don't think it could no matter how excellent or poor the content. The pilot was an event and yes, it drew a lot of viewers, but the average viewer tuned out after the dwarf and talking backwards people. More were angry when the season ended without a killer revealed. More switched the channel after a giant talked to Cooper for ten minutes. These are all fantastic and deftly handled episodes but none of that matters.
It came down to sponsors and sponsors pay attention to neilsen ratings. That's how the landscape was at the time. We also have to look at ABC as taking some chances and then at least trying to think outside the box. Their saturday nights had been the Love Boat and Fantasy Island. They kicked off their season with Young Guns, China Beach and Twin Peaks. China Beach was also established and was generating awards- they were trying to come up with something of a young, hip night. And less we not forget that also greenlit the ill-fated Cop Rock, which could never come about if Peaks hadn't shown them the viewer was interested in alternative programming.
Again, I think the average viewer was initially tuning in to be part of the action. To be hip at that moment. And it was always going to be a very short lived moment. Yes, I think the network probably should have put it on a night with something like Roseanne and thirtysomething and that wasn't saturdays.
And as much as a brilliant vision of never revealing the killer is, I think they had to from a commercial point of view. The ratings were sinking, people were getting mad and feeling duped. I can easily imagine it going the other way -with Lynch getting his way and then the show still getting canceled. Then people would be saying, "so dumb not to reveal the killer earlier and move on to another exciting story!" or "My friends and I stopped watching after we realized we were just getting out chains yanked and they were never going to tell us who killed that damn girl!"
Funny I had friends who stopped watching then tuned into the killer episode, then with the wake episode were complaining that it was all fluff now. So the show was damned if it did and damned if it didn't.
and part of me is thankful that happened. Because I think the show still would have been canceled due to ratings, and I can maintain the mug satisfaction of constantly saying, "They never should have broken up Audrey and Cooper."
*and yes, I am religiously checking this thread for updates on the youtube segments.
Audrey Horne wrote:thank you again for posting it -these have been outstanding. And a huge thank you to USC.
Madchen hit the nail on the head when she said David told her he never thought the show would go very long. At that time, I just don't think it could no matter how excellent or poor the content. The pilot was an event and yes, it drew a lot of viewers, but the average viewer tuned out after the dwarf and talking backwards people. More were angry when the season ended without a killer revealed. More switched the channel after a giant talked to Cooper for ten minutes. These are all fantastic and deftly handled episodes but none of that matters.
It came down to sponsors and sponsors pay attention to neilsen ratings. That's how the landscape was at the time. We also have to look at ABC as taking some chances and then at least trying to think outside the box. Their saturday nights had been the Love Boat and Fantasy Island. They kicked off their season with Young Guns, China Beach and Twin Peaks. China Beach was also established and was generating awards- they were trying to come up with something of a young, hip night. And less we not forget that also greenlit the ill-fated Cop Rock, which could never come about if Peaks hadn't shown them the viewer was interested in alternative programming.
Again, I think the average viewer was initially tuning in to be part of the action. To be hip at that moment. And it was always going to be a very short lived moment. Yes, I think the network probably should have put it on a night with something like Roseanne and thirtysomething and that wasn't saturdays.
And as much as a brilliant vision of never revealing the killer is, I think they had to from a commercial point of view. The ratings were sinking, people were getting mad and feeling duped. I can easily imagine it going the other way -with Lynch getting his way and then the show still getting canceled. Then people would be saying, "so dumb not to reveal the killer earlier and move on to another exciting story!" or "My friends and I stopped watching after we realized we were just getting out chains yanked and they were never going to tell us who killed that damn girl!"
Funny I had friends who stopped watching then tuned into the killer episode, then with the wake episode were complaining that it was all fluff now. So the show was damned if it did and damned if it didn't.
Audrey states the facts perfectly here. The one argument that has never made sense to me was that they shouldn't have revealed the killer. But one of the main reasons audiences turned against the show was BECAUSE it was taking so long. Keeping it longer would have only outraged people more. Yes, in the long run, the remaining episodes may have been stronger as a result, but it certainly wouldn't have helped the show at the time. TV is different now. Season (or SERIES) long stories just didn't happen back then.
Plus, the revelation of the killer gave us Peaks' finest moments.
