We owe our obsession with TV series to David Lynch
I first saw “Eraserhead,” David Lynch’s first feature film, when I was 19 and thought he was crazy. But not crazy in the derogatory sense, crazy as a genius, visionary, ahead of his time. When I looked at his other films, from the Rabbits shorts to Mulholland Drive and then the Twin Peaks series, I had confirmation of this: David Lynch was a more modern man than the times he was living in and his vision of the world was so extravagant and non-conformist. it gave us not only great stories but opened our eyes to how a story can really leave its mark and enter the soul of the public.
His passing on January 16, 2025 at the age of 78 shocked everyone. Both lovers of his cinema and those who, despite not having seen his products for the big and small screen, have always heard him referred to as a legend. But David Lynch, with his unconventional direction, his unique vision of the world and that eye always ready to look beyond the visible, not only taught us that “madness” in art is fundamental but also paved the path to a way of telling stories that we take for granted today but which we owe precisely to him.
The director who revolutionized the way of making TV series
David Lynch was the first true director capable of glueing millions of viewers around the world to the screen. He did it with a TV series that calling only a “series” is reductive because Twin Peaks is that masterpiece of the small screen that must not only be remembered but celebrated for its innovation, foresight and power in managing to capture the public like no other serial product has ever done. had managed to do before then.
The game of twists, the crime with very high emotional tension, the mysteries, the whole world stopped in front of the TV to try to find out who killed Laura Palmer. David Lynch taught us how to make a TV series. With Twin Peaks the American director marked a before and after in the serial world, influencing all the directors who came after him.
But before David Lynch, no one had managed to detach themselves stylistically so much from what was present on the television market as to bewitch the public, anticipate the times and create a new narrative code which then inspired many successful titles from Lost to The X Files , until moving on to True Detective.
If today we are obsessed with TV series we certainly owe it to David Lynch and that revolutionary mystery story which made Lynch a trendsetter in every sense, making everyone who came after him understand that to make a difference in the world of cinema and serials you have to to take risks, to go beyond what is known, to listen to one’s own crazy streak and to care so much about the public that it gives them a show so powerful that it involves head and heart and never leaves.
Thank you David for your inspiration, for your courage, for your madness. If today we look a little further it is because we are sitting on your shoulders.
(Twin Peaks is available for free streaming on PlutoTV, on Prime Video with premium subscription and AppleTV+)