New Twin Peaks Episode titles

[Panapaok]

As we all know, David Lynch and Mark Frost didn't assign episode titles in the original show, only episode numbers. The titles were assigned when the show aired in Germany and then they were translated to English. I wish that David and Mark will use titles this time since it's something I always liked in TV shows. Thoughts?

[Shloogorgh]

I hope they name the episodes just so a third party doesn't impose names like "May the giant be with you"

[Soolsma]

Was it more common to not assign names to episodes back then or just as rare as it is now?

[rsngfrce]

Assigning a title to an episode would be imposing a "conception" to the episode, which is something I think David Lynch would rather avoid, personally...

[N. Needleman]

No thanks.

I hate those lame German titles too, which IIRC do not come from anyone at the show.

[Soolsma]

It won't matter to me whether the episodes have titles or not. I am rooting for log-lady wise introductions

[Mr. Reindeer]

Was it more common to not assign names to episodes back then or just as rare as it is now?

I definitely don't think it was any more common then. I've watched a lot of TV shows from all eras of the medium, and I can't think of any other show that doesn't use episode titles (aside from sketch shows, such as 'Kids in the Hall' or SNL). I would imagine that the decision not to use titles sprung from (1) Frost's commitment to the "novel for television" approach, and (2) Lynch's firm stance on letting a work stand as a unified whole (his initial aversion to DVD chapter stops, and his continued refusal to "name" the chapters on his DVDs - although, a TV series that the audience is watching week-to-week, and which has various directors, is a lot less of a unified narrative than 'Blue Velvet' or 'Inland Empire'). Interesting to note that 'On the Air' (much less of a continuing narrative than TP) also avoided using episode titles.

Interestingly, some of Lynch's best ideas have been born from a good title. 'Mulholland Drive,' 'Lost Highway,' and to a slightly lesser extent 'Blue Velvet,' were films where he had a title and then came up with a story to fit it. Perhaps on some level, titles are sacred to him, and he doesn't want to force their creation, or impose a title onto an idea after-the-fact.

I really enjoy episode titles, and think they can be great at drawing the audience's attention to a theme in the episode ('Mad Men' was great at this), or as a coy wink at the audience ('Breaking Bad''s "I.F.T."). I definitely would love to see what kind of creative titles Lynch and Frost come up with (some of the titles for Lynch's paintings are terrific and hilarious). However, the lack of episode titles has certainly become a characteristic of the show's initial run for me. And given the way this series is being written and shot (as an indeterminate number of episodes which may be cut up in different ways depending on Lynch's mood in the editing room), I think it extremely unlikely that they will use episode titles.

[LostInTheMovies]

Great post. Come to think of it almost all of Lynch's films have some mystique sureounding his first encounter with the title. Even adapted works like "The Elephant Man" or "Dune" began with Lynch's fascination or confusion about the title without knowing anything about the subjects.

[Robot Butler]

I hope they name the episodes just so a third party doesn't impose names like "May the giant be with you"

LOL That was my first thought, almost verbatim.

[Agent Sam Stanley]

I hate the fan created titles. I'm fine with the numbers