Editing Twin Peaks (section)

===Declining ratings===
[[File:HeatherGrahamByDimitriSarantis2011.jpg|thumb|upright|As the series' ratings started to decline, the producers added [[Heather Graham]] (seen here in 2011) to the cast.]]

With the resolution of ''Twin Peaks''{{'}} main drawing point (Laura Palmer's murder) in the middle of the second season, and with subsequent story lines becoming more obscure and drawn out, public interest began to wane. This discontent, coupled with ABC changing its timeslot on a number of occasions, led to a huge drop in the show's [[Nielsen ratings|ratings]] after being one of the most watched television programs in the United States in 1990. Due to the [[Gulf War]], ''Twin Peaks'' was moved from its usual time slot "for six weeks out of eight" in early 1991, according to Frost, preventing the show from maintaining audience interest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWQ76qthtwE |title=TMRS: Mark Frost (Twin Peaks) Interview on WFDU (part 1 of 3) |publisher=YouTube |date=January 21, 2012 |access-date=January 9, 2013 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114000153/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWQ76qthtwE |url-status=live}}</ref> A week after the season's 15th episode placed 85th in the ratings out of 89 shows, ABC put ''Twin Peaks'' on indefinite [[hiatus (television)|hiatus]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/16/arts/twin-peaks-canceled-as-a-saturday-regular.html |title=''Twin Peaks'' Canceled As a Saturday Regular |work=The New York Times |date=February 16, 1991 |access-date=January 30, 2011 |archive-date=December 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209030810/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/16/arts/twin-peaks-canceled-as-a-saturday-regular.html |url-status=live}}</ref> a move that usually leads to cancellation.<ref name="lavery">{{cite book |title=Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to ''Twin Peaks'' |editor-first=David |editor-last=Lavery |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8143-2506-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6mjuWXrqb8C |access-date=January 30, 2011 |archive-date=May 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502032847/http://books.google.com/books?id=m6mjuWXrqb8C |url-status=live}}</ref>

An organized letter-writing campaign, dubbed COOP (Citizens Opposed to the Offing of ''Peaks''), attempted to save the show from cancellation.<ref name="lynchnet">{{cite magazine |last=Harris |first=Mark |title=Saturday Night Dead |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=March 8, 1991 |url=http://www.lynchnet.com/tp/articles/ewmar1991.html |access-date=April 13, 2008 |archive-date=March 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310041447/http://www.lynchnet.com/tp/articles/ewmar1991.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign was partly successful, as the season returned to airing on Thursday nights for four weeks from late March. The series then went on another hiatus, before the final two episodes of the season aired back-to-back on June&nbsp;10.

According to Frost, the main storyline after the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder was planned to be the second strongest element from the first season that audiences responded to: the relationship between Agent Cooper and Audrey Horne. Frost explained that Lara Flynn Boyle, who was romantically involved with Kyle MacLachlan at the time, had effectively vetoed the Audrey–Cooper relationship, forcing the writers to come up with alternative storylines to fill the gap.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lSMjfK6hNU |title=TMRS: Mark Frost (Twin Peaks) Interview on WFDU (part 2 of 3) |publisher=YouTube |date=January 21, 2012 |access-date=January 9, 2013 |archive-date=July 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724210730/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lSMjfK6hNU |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCz1U1VGK8o |title=TMRS: Mark Frost (Twin Peaks) Interview on WFDU (part 3 of 3) |publisher=YouTube |date=January 21, 2012 |access-date=January 9, 2013 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114000157/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCz1U1VGK8o |url-status=live}}</ref> Sherilyn Fenn corroborated this claim in a 2014 interview, stating: "[Boyle] was mad that my character was getting more attention, so then Kyle started saying that his character shouldn't be with my character because it doesn't look good, 'cause I'm too young... I was not happy about it. It was stupid."<ref name="Sherilyn Fenn AV Club Interview">{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/sherilyn-fenn-talks-david-lynch-and-how-twin-peaks-200898 |title=Sherilyn Fenn talks David Lynch and how Twin Peaks should have ended |work=The A.V. Club |first=Will |last=Harris |date=January 22, 2014 |access-date=January 22, 2014 |archive-date=January 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122074412/http://www.avclub.com/article/sherilyn-fenn-talks-david-lynch-and-how-twin-peaks-200898 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

This meant the artificial extension of secondary storylines, such as James Hurley and Evelyn Marsh, to fill in the space. After ratings began to decline, Agent Cooper was given a new love interest, Annie Blackburn ([[Heather Graham]]), to replace the writers' intended romance between him and Audrey Horne.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thewrap.com/twin-peaks-donna-hayward-lara-flynn-boyle/ |title='Twin Peaks': Where's Donna? Lara Flynn Boyle's Odd History With the Show |website=The Wrap |first=Carli |last=Velocci |date=May 21, 2017 |access-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-date=June 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627002858/https://www.thewrap.com/twin-peaks-donna-hayward-lara-flynn-boyle/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2014/01/twin-peaks-star-sherilyn-fenn-talks-the-shows-ending-her-character-audreys-ties-to-mulholland-drive-89880/ |title='Twin Peaks' Star Sherilyn Fenn Talks The Show's Ending & Her Character Audrey's Ties To 'Mulholland Drive' |website=IndieWire |first=Charlie |last=Schmidlin |date=January 23, 2014 |access-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-date=June 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627220415/https://www.indiewire.com/2014/01/twin-peaks-star-sherilyn-fenn-talks-the-shows-ending-her-character-audreys-ties-to-mulholland-drive-89880/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite ending on a deliberate audience-baiting cliffhanger, the series finale did not sufficiently boost interest, and the show was not renewed for a [[Twin Peaks season 3|third season]], leaving the cliffhanger unresolved.

Lynch expressed his regret at having resolved the Laura Palmer murder, saying that he and Frost had never intended for the series to answer the question until the very end of the series, after many seasons, and that doing so "killed [[The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs|the goose that laid the golden egg]]." Lynch blamed network pressure for the decision to resolve the Palmer storyline prematurely.<ref name="jensen">{{cite magazine |last=Jensen |first=Jeff |title=David Lynch: Climbing the ''Peaks'' |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 26, 2007 |url=https://ew.com/article/2007/10/26/david-lynch-talks-twin-peaks/ |access-date=March 10, 2010 |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130082324/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20154190,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Frost agreed, noting that people at the network had wanted the killer to be revealed by the end of season one.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCz1U1VGK8o |title=Mark Frost Interview on WFDU |work=Part 3 |date=January 21, 2012 |access-date=January 9, 2013 |archive-date=July 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724151544/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCz1U1VGK8o |url-status=live}}</ref> Their statements were corroborated by former ABC executive [[Bob Iger]] in his 2019 memoir, ''[[The Ride of a Lifetime]]'', where he wrote that after ABC pushed for the killer to be revealed prematurely, there was an immediate decrease in the show's quality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bryant |first=Aidan |date=July 16, 2023 |title=When Bob Iger Ruined Season 2 of 'Twin Peaks' |url=https://collider.com/twin-peaks-season-2-bad-bob-iger/ |access-date=April 30, 2024 |website=Collider |language=en |archive-date=April 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430022453/https://collider.com/twin-peaks-season-2-bad-bob-iger/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/dvds/Twin-Peaks-The-Definitive-Gold-Box-Edition-2700.html |title=Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition DVD Review |last=Rich |first=Katey |work=Cinema Blend |access-date=January 16, 2011 |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108012841/http://cinemablend.com/dvds/Twin-Peaks-The-Definitive-Gold-Box-Edition-2700.html |url-status=dead|date=November 9, 2007}}</ref>

Looking back, Frost has admitted that he wished he and Lynch had "worked out a smoother transition" between storylines and that the Laura Palmer story was a "tough act to follow".<ref name="Ferris" /> Regarding the second season, Frost felt that "perhaps the storytelling wasn't quite as taut or as fraught with emotion."<ref name="Ferris" />