{"id":160502635,"date":"2017-07-08T05:41:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-08T05:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=160502635"},"modified":"2026-02-22T05:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T05:42:12","slug":"my-interview-with-harley-peyton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/?p=160502635","title":{"rendered":"My Interview with Harley Peyton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I had the opportunity to speak with Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks writer for Seasons 1 and 2, as well as Producer for Season 2). Harley was more than generous with his time and we covered a wide variety of topics, including his time working on the show, his thoughts on The Return<\/a>, the beginnings of his career, his current show Channel Zero and much more.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On His First Film, Less Than Zer<\/strong>o: \u201cIt was certainly my first screen credit and I think it was my third job. I had written a script about kids in clubs in New York and based on that script; the producers called me in to take over on Less Than Zero<\/em>. There was an existing script but we basically threw it away and started from scratch with the book. It was a pretty big deal and a ridiculously lucky break. I\u2019m not even sure it would be possible now. For whatever reason, the producers were willing to take a shot and they obviously liked the script that they had read. These days I can\u2019t imagine any writer\u2019s second or third job would be adapting a book with the profile of Less Than Zero<\/em> but I was more than happy to take advantage and it was a great experience for me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working on the original Twin Peaks<\/strong>: \u201cFor me, writing that first episode was a great experience. I was very lucky because it was Laura Palmer\u2019s funeral and the episode had kind of a thesis about death. It was so much fun to write and it was great that Mark was so happy with it and then going to the set and watching them shoot it. That whole first season was really pretty special. Along the way, it was always great to write for these characters and to see the reaction to it and feel like you were part of something that was truly different and truly special. I was very lucky early in my career. Less Than Zero<\/em> was a great experience and then to be able to do Twin Peaks<\/em>; obviously, that\u2019s the first thing on my resume to this day. We knew we were a part of something quite different and quite special and quite frankly hasn\u2019t happened again. No show has repeated that and this was in an era before the internet and well before social media and all that stuff. I think in some ways it was even more special because it was a lot harder to get that sort of viral reach that the show had\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwin Peaks<\/em> didn\u2019t have a writer\u2019s room. It wasn\u2019t structured the way shows are structured now or shortly thereafter. What Mark did, particularly in the first season was hire people that he knew and then in the second season brought in two of us (Harley and Bob Engels) as producers. There was never a writer\u2019s room where we sat around and broke stories the way that I have been the past five or 6 years. It all started with Mark and to a lesser extent, David, depending on the season and he would sit down with you and go over the script outline and you would go from there\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a third season of Twin Peaks in 1991 would\u2019ve looked like compared to The Return<\/strong>: \u201cBecause it\u2019s 25 years later that changes everything. The big hanging question at the end of the second season was, is Bob in possession of Cooper? and that\u2019s something we would have then dealt with in a third season. I think based on the fact that neither Mark nor David wanted to reveal Laura\u2019s killer as quick as it was revealed, I suspect that Bob inside Cooper would have taken a lot longer to solve or address. The whole Dougie thing about Cooper getting out of there (The Black Lodge) and ending up inside somebody else, all of that stuff I think easily could have been in a third season in 1991. I never discussed it with them. I know that they (Mark and David) talked together about what a third season would look like and I think they may have even talked to ABC about it, but I wasn\u2019t part of that process. So who knows, maybe those ideas they talked about all those years ago we\u2019re seeing now, at least when it comes to Cooper. Everything else would have been different. I mean we did just blow up a bank with Audrey Horne inside. There\u2019s a lot of things that would have had to have been addressed immediately and would have been\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Frost\u2019s importance to the series<\/strong>: It always works best when they\u2019re (Lynch and Frost) working in sync like that. For me, I can see those moments when it\u2019s definitely Mark. Sometimes it has to do with humor, like Michael Cera\u2019s hilarious scene. That\u2019s completely Mark. Even in Part 8<\/em>, which was excellent directorial work by David, the themes, the story, the 50\u2019s nuclear testing and giving birth to Bob; that just feels like Mark to me. I\u2019ve always been a big advocate for Mark\u2019s role in all of this. I think all too often it\u2019s downplayed for whatever reasons. So much of this started with him and particularly the series that I worked on. I was there and I know how much he contributed and how he really ran things. They did the new scripts together and nothing was thrown out. I think his impact is something that you really do see on a week to week basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secret History of Twin Peaks<\/strong>: \u201cI read the book right away and I really loved it. It\u2019s classic Mark; it\u2019s him by himself. I don\u2019t think David had anything to do with it. I think his approach to the past and knowing that there were a lot of things he couldn\u2019t get into because of the series but he is doing another book. For me, it was tremendous. I loved all of these characters and all of these things I hadn\u2019t thought about and the way it expanded what the world was and what it could be. I understand that people were looking for easy answers and were disappointed because he didn\u2019t tell them more about Audrey Horne in the bank, but that\u2019s not really why the book was written. I think that what it did in a really wonderful way was it expanded our understanding of Twin Peaks<\/em>, those characters and that world. Part 8<\/em> (of the series) really seems to come right out of the book in a weird way\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts on \u201cThe Return: \u201c<\/strong>One of the things I\u2019m dealing with is that Mark and David were initially putting together 8 or 10 hours as announced. Now it\u2019s an 18 hour series and that means things are moving much more slowly. For example, Dougie\u2019s awesome but I really want to see what\u2019s happening in Twin Peaks<\/em>. I want to see those characters; I want to see that town. I\u2019ve to date seen James once, in the Roadhouse, walking across the room. This is me speaking as a fan and not as one of the original writers and also understanding that the last thing Mark and David could\u2019ve done is what most series do after they\u2019ve been gone for a long period of time which is doing the same thing over again but with older actors. I have a great deal of respect for the solution that Mark came up with and the way they\u2019ve approached those stories, particularly what\u2019s happened to Cooper. Kyle\u2019s just amazing. But I am eager for when the action returns to that little town that I know so well and I suspect that it will. I don\u2019t know when but I suspect that it will. On the other hand, the way David has approached the material as a director allowed for Part 8<\/em>, which was amazing. It does give him the time to explore things that he might not have had time to do if they were doing a shorter series\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, with the exception of Robert Forster, Hawk and Andy whom we\u2019ve seen do more, the rest have been sort of like fan service. You\u2019ll see the women in the diner, but I don\u2019t think they\u2019re really integrated into the story yet. There are stories being told, and there are things that might move forward from that, but at the moment I\u2019m just waiting to see Big Ed and Nadine. I know they\u2019re in there somewhere. I\u2019m just hoping that those characters; James, Audrey for God\u2019s sake, I\u2019m just hoping that we\u2019ll see them and get a sense of not only where they are now which is the first question everyone asks but also how they might be integrated into the larger story that Mark and David are telling. I\u2019m sure there are some (characters) that will and some that won\u2019t. It does require some patience though. I\u2019m eagerly watching every episode but I do feel like that\u2019s where we\u2019re going\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDr Jacoby\u2019s really funny. That, of course, is all Mark and it\u2019s fascinating. I think he\u2019s one of the original characters who even though what he\u2019s doing seemingly has very little to do with the main narrative, he nonetheless has the kind of story that I really enjoy seeing. The Alex Jones of it all and the shovels, it\u2019s great. I really like it. It\u2019s the way Mark brings a sense of humor to it and the subversion to what is normal. I\u2019ve always enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it when I was on the show and I love seeing it now. Of course, David had great fun with those scenes too\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMark and I usually talk every day, but it\u2019s almost always about politics. I have no inside information but as a writer, as I much them put the pieces together, I would be stunned if they didn\u2019t end up going back to Twin Peaks<\/em>. There\u2019s simply no way that Agent Cooper\/Dougie and Evil Cooper don\u2019t both end up in Twin Peaks<\/em>. There\u2019s no way. It\u2019s interesting because David has talked about the series being an 18 hour movie and that seems like what the flow of the movie would be. At some point, you\u2019ve got to go home because that\u2019s where the lodge is and that\u2019s where this all started. I suspect that when you hear the characters talking about certain solutions that there is where they\u2019re headed. God, I hope so at least. I would be a little pissed off if it didn\u2019t. I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s where it\u2019s going to go\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Themes in \u201cThe Return<\/strong>\u201c: \u201cI haven\u2019t really been thinking of it in a thematic way. Listen, I think that there\u2019s no doubt that there are questions of mortality involved, particularly because I was watching actors who I just love that are no longer with us. That\u2019s not what the story is telling but it\u2019s hard not to understand that, particularly with Catherine Coulson. There is that sense of how evil gets into the world and what fights it. I think Part 8<\/em> was so pivotal \u2014 that moment when you saw Laura and what that means. I think most of the questions are going to be answered. They may not be answered the way we want them to be, but I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to leave things purposefully opaque or confusing. But yeah, I think mortality and good and evil and really, Twin Peaks<\/em> has always been about good and evil, so I\u2019m not surprised\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A potential fourth season and the rumor it\u2019s being announced at Comic-Con<\/strong>: \u201cI don\u2019t know what the ratings are like. I don\u2019t know if Showtime is thrilled, not thrilled and by the way, I don\u2019t know if Mark and David would do another season. It certainly wouldn\u2019t be announced at Comic-Con if they were, at least I don\u2019t think. I think this has been a great experience for everyone and I hope that Showtime is happy. Maybe there is a fourth season to be had, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s how it was planned originally. I think they always just planned to come back one time. I would be stunned if an announcement was made at Comic-Con. It would be awesome, but I sort of feel like I would know if that were the case. Anything\u2019s possible. I didn\u2019t even know about this (The Return<\/em>) until Mark called me to tell me early on. This is the first time a show has come back like this and of course, they\u2019ve done it differently and better than anyone else ever has. I\u2019m a huge X-Files<\/em> fan but they basically came back, were older and did the same thing. I think Mark and David really did find a way to both return to and reinvigorate the original franchise in a way that I do think is quite wonderful. Whether they want to come back and do more, who knows? A lot of that is about David, I think. He\u2019s not a young man, and he has a lot of things on his plate so who knows if he would want to come back for a fourth season? It\u2019s also up to Showtime, more than anyone else really. Quite frankly, I don\u2019t know if this is the best thing that ever happened to them or the worst, speaking purely in terms of numbers. I actually do not have any idea how that\u2019s going for them\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Channel Zero & anthology series<\/strong>: \u201cChannel Zero <\/em>are six episode stories and we just finished breaking our fourth season. I run the writer\u2019s room\u2014that\u2019s my job. It\u2019s a traditional writer\u2019s room. It changed a little bit from the first season to the second based on work commitments. It was a lot of fun. We had Don Mancini\u2014who created Chucky<\/em>\u2014in the first season. It was a really great experience. Nick Antosca (show creator\/showrunner) is actually in Winnipeg right now in production. It\u2019s been a really fun experience and I think the work shows that. I think it\u2019s a really great looking show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because they are six episode stories, renewing the show for season three and four at the same time the commitment is sort of like a regular show that would have 12 episodes. Each of our seasons has one director and the cast changes each season. Once the network understood what we were doing and how they\u2019ve been extraordinarily supportive. They give us an amazing amount of creative freedom and in return, we make the show for very little money. It\u2019s a good deal for them and it\u2019s a great experience for us. Season 2 will air Halloween time this year. There have been rumors for some time that they might start showing six episodes in the spring and six in the fall. It\u2019s certainly what I would prefer and the ratings have been very good so who knows, maybe they will do that? At the moment though, I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve made that decision. The problem for them is if they only air it in October, we have three more seasons ready to go. They\u2019ll lose all the writers because they\u2019ll move onto other things. I think we\u2019ll probably find out in October when the second season runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthologies were something that nobody did; it just didn\u2019t happen. It started to change with True Detective<\/em> and Ryan Murphy\u2019s American Horror Story<\/em>. Then everyone was talking about Black Mirror<\/em>, although that was a bit more like The Twilight Zone<\/em> in that every episode was different. I think as a result of that people started to come around on anthologies. We\u2019ll reach the peak of anthology pretty quick I suspect but I think Channel Zero<\/em> was a reaction by the network to do a show, not like Black Mirror<\/em> but nonetheless took advantage of that structure because people seemed to like it. As long as they do, people will make anthologies. Nothing creates imitation more than success in Hollywood\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong>: \u201cThe only thing I can say in conclusion is that I\u2019ll be watching with everyone else. It\u2019s the first thing I do every Sunday night is to watch the show and I can hardly wait to see what happens next. Nick Antosca from Channel Zero<\/em> is now waiting because he wants to see the whole thing at once. I lack his patience so I can hardly wait for Sunday to come around, and I\u2019ll be watching with the rest of you\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the opportunity to speak with Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks writer for Seasons 1 and 2, as well as Producer for Season 2). Harley was more than generous with his time and we covered a wide variety of topics, including his time working on the show, his thoughts on The Return, the beginnings of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160502636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,38],"tags":[112,35,39],"class_list":["post-160502635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-twin-peaks","tag-david-lynch","tag-horror","tag-showtime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160502635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160502635"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160502635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160502638,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160502635\/revisions\/160502638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/160502636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160502635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160502635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrevas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160502635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}