'Twin Peaks' Season 2 Discussions Have Not Happened Yet [TCA 2017]
Showtime has been synonymous with Twin Peaks all summer as the return of David Lynch's surreal mystery has kept fans guessing every week. You'd think Showtime would be angling for a second season by now, 13 episodes in, but at a party for the Television Critics Association, Showtime President and CEO David Nevins told reporters he hasn't even spoken to Lynch about it.
"I promise, we're not even going to have those conversations until the thing airs [completely]," Nevins said. "David Lynch has been in France pretty much since the premiere event that we had."
Nevins added that it will probably be his call to begin the conversation about season 2. The only regret Nevins has is not offering Lynch the deal he wanted up front. In April of 2015, Lynch tweeted he was leaving Twin Peaks. Nevins quickly won him back.
"The only thing I would do differently is I would have given him that deal three weeks earlier," Nevins said.
Showtime subscriptions boomed when Twin Peaks premiered. "I'm really happy with the performance," Nevins said. "It drove our business in a way that almost nothing else could. Maybe it's a blinding glimpse of how Netflix looks at the world. The palpable effect on subscribers, even though its overall numbers are not as big as our biggest shows, but a very palpable effect on subscribers for multiple months now."
That's not to say Twin Peaks is only there for prestige. It brings the numbers, too.
"It's not so low either," Nevins added. "It's a way higher proportion of streaming than anything else. The multiple compared to the people who watch it on Sunday night live is way higher than anything else. This has always been our weakest quarter. Springtime has always been against Game of Thrones. This year, it's not so much against Game of Thrones. It went a little bit later, but Q2 has always been our weakest quarter. Cable is up 11% today and you can assume Showtime is up a higher percentage to drive that. That's new subscriptions driven by Twin Peaks. That's the biggest factor in that. It kind of did its job for being such an unusual show for us."
Twin Peaks will always be accessible on the Showtime Anytime app and website. Nevins expects there may be more airings on Showtime channels leading up to the Twin Peaks season finale.
"It's fundamentally going to live on the Showtime platform," Nevins said. "There probably are linear stunts to be done. I haven't fully thought about yet. The finale weekend is I believe Labor Day weekend. There'll be stunts on that weekend leading into the two hour finale."
Nevins would support alternate cuts and extra footage, but doubts Lynch would be into it.
"I can't imagine he'll do a B cut," Nevins said. "I would be shocked. If he wants to, I'll support it. I'll pay for it. I would love it but I can't imagine he would do that."
Twin Peaks airs Sunday nights on Showtime.