It’s been over a month since David Lynch withdrew from Showtime’s “Twin Peaks” revival, citing insufficient money to shoot the nine-episode season how he wanted. Despite claims to the contrary, Lynch had apparently not yet inked a contract with Showtime to direct all the episodes. Scripts were apparently already turned in, though, and the network professed positivity that the show might proceed ahead in some fashion, but since then, there’s been little to no news on the “Twin Peaks” third season front.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any “Twin Peaks” tidbits trickling through the internet these days. Why, just this week, Open Culture dug up a 24-year-old “Twin Peaks” parody that aired—of all places—on “Sesame Street.” You read that right. If you don’t recall the somewhat baffling spoof, it’s because A) you were probably too young to know that “Twin Peaks” was a thing when you fit the “Sesame Street” demographic at that time, or B) you weren’t exactly tuning into Henson’s classic show by day, and Lynch’s mindbender by night.
Still, curiosity is hard to ignore, especially in this case, and at a mere five and a half minutes, it doesn’t take long to see what “Sesame Street” did with the material, which aired as part of its “Monsterpiece Theater” sketch series. (Of the video, the entire first 60-seconds is the “Monsterpiece Theater” intro.) The setup is that Cookie Monster—as Special Agent Cookie—wants to find out why the town is called Twin Beaks. So, he begins asking the residents. Among those he interviews is a bird named Finch. David Finch. He also speaks with The Log Bird, a take on the show’s iconic Log Lady, and perhaps about as close as the Muppets come to fully spoofing the show. Naturally, it goes without saying that “Twin Beaks” is nowhere near as bizarre as its source material. What is strange, though, is the fact that “Sesame Street” parodied it at all. (Parody is used…loosely here.)
Find out what Agent Cookie learns about the origin of the town’s name in the clip below.
