'Twin Peaks' revival cast will bring mind-bending show back to TV

Those behind the upcoming revival of 'Twin Peaks' recently released a cast list for the Showtime program. The show is expected to debut sometime in 2017.

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
'Twin Peaks' stars Kyle MacLachlan.

They're going to need a lot of coffee.

Those behind the upcoming revival of the 1990s TV show "Twin Peaks" recently announced more than 200 actors will be appearing on the show. Original stars such as Kyle MacLachlan, Sherilyn Fenn, and David Duchovny are some of the actors who are on the list, while new faces such as Michael Cera, Laura Dern, Amanda Seyfried, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

(Here's the full list, which also includes such names as Ashley Judd, Russ Tamblyn, and Jim Belushi.)

Showtime, which will be airing the revived series, has previously announced the show will debut in 2017.

"Twin Peaks" originally aired on ABC from 1990 to 1991. It was co-created by Mark Frost and David Lynch, the latter of whom directed such films as 1986's "Blue Velvet" and 2001's "Mulholland Drive."

The plot of the show focused on a member of the FBI, Dale Cooper (Mr. MacLachlan), who is looking into the death of a teenager in a Washington town. The program is critically acclaimed and has since been called one of the best TV shows of all time.

Despite its brief run, many critics say that "Twin Peaks" helped bring about various acclaimed TV series and the period of renowned television that we are currently experiencing.

"It wasn’t just the weirdness that made 'Twin Peaks' such a distinct small-screen presence," Danny Leigh of Radio Times writes. "It looked different, too. Rather than adopting TV’s usual hurried visuals, Lynch gave every episode the lustre of a movie and a less-than-frantic pace." Mr. Leigh notes that the hit program "The X-Files" "extended Lynch’s strangeness into the downright paranormal and introduced a new FBI oddball in Fox Mulder," while the acclaimed HBO drama "The Sopranos" "would regularly pause for mind-bending dream sequences that doubled as tributes to Cooper and company."

Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture agrees, writing, "The arty, boundary-breaking drama as we now know it wouldn't exist without 'Twin Peaks'.... Everything from 'The Sopranos' to 'American Horror Story' owes it a debt."

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