Mulholland Drive? (1 Viewer)

[JustinCleveland]

Somebody, in another thread, mentioned how the film was to be a pilot for another Lynch series, and I was wondering how this would have worked out, since that trippy film seemed rather self-contained. Thoughts?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, you have to remember that pretty much the entire second half of the movie was shot after ABC rejected the pilot. I think you could take it as a given that it would have gone in a much different direction than the movie - for instance, Robert Forster's character would have been as important as his billing.

Worst case scenario (and probably the reason ABC passed) is that it winds up being Twin Peaks II - another murder mystery where the writers don't have the first freaking idea of who the killer is and wind up pulling something freaking stupid out of their ass.

Best case scenario, ABC and Universal make sure Lynch has a good show-runner working with him and they really create soemthing special. I could easily see this happening from what was in the movie, but then again, I doubt anyone but ABC and Universal execs have seen the original "pilot" cut of this movie. Would have been a great DVD extra (heck, would have gotten me to buy the DVD).

 

[Matt Stone]

I doubt anyone but ABC and Universal execs have seen the original "pilot" cut of this movie.

Well, from what I've heard there are two "pilot" cuts of the film. One of them is sold somewhere on the interent, and from what I've read on the newsgroups it was a shorter version that ABC had Lynch cut. There is a longer version that Lynch liked, but was too long for ABC.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

The first ninety minutes was the pilot. The rest was filmed after the show was not picked up - to give the story some closure (for another example, see the European ending of the Twin peaks pilot). The tone shift is quite obvious in the movie - even before the box is opened.

Worst case scenario (and probably the reason ABC passed) is that it winds up being Twin Peaks II - another murder mystery where the writers don't have the first freaking idea of who the killer is and wind up pulling something freaking stupid out of their ass.

I think that is a bit unfair. Lynch and Frost have ALWAYS insisted that they knew who killed Laura Palmer. The reason it seems to have been "pulled out of their ass" was because they were forced by the network to reveal the killer much earlier than they were going to (indeed, I have heard they were considering never revealing the murderer's identity). They were certainly never going to make this revelation 14 episodes into the show. (This is also why the series flounders for a while after the killer is identified, until the show finds a new direction.)

So a revelation that would have been hinted at throughout the run of the show, with lots of little clues dropped in to suggest the killer's identity, is forced to be made without having the opportunity to really point in that direction. To criticise Lynch and Frost on this point is, I think, a little unfair.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Obviously the show fell apart at that point (arguable).

Actually, I'd say it fell apart in the third episode when Kyle McLachlin was throwing rocks at bottles. Which may just indicate that the show just wasn't for me.

Even if Lynch and Frost had the very best intentions from the start (which I, personally, doubt), the end result of Mullholland Drive: The Series could very well have been the same as the end result of Twin Peaks: A stylish mess.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

So how exactly did they plan on getting buck naked women to have sex on network television?

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

So how exactly did they plan on getting buck naked women to have sex on network television?

They weren't. The lesbian sex scene occured at the 98th minute, after the original pilot ended and the additional material started. So there was never going to be a lesbian sex scene, at least to that degree, in the TV series.

Basically, it's easy to tell when the pilot ended. As soon as the pilot ended and the new material started, everyone took off their clothes and stayed naked until the end, and the film stopped making sense.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

If they had no revealed the killer in Twin Peaks, how long would people have kept watching anyway?
I think most people would have hated being strung along for 2 or 3 more seasons.

As far as Mullholland, they went back and filmed more adult scenes and inserted them.

 

[BrianB]

Which may just indicate that the show just wasn't for me.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

If they had not revealed the killer in Twin Peaks, how long would people have kept watching anyway?
I think most people would have hated being strung along for 2 or 3 more seasons.

But that wasn't why we were watching the show - or at least not the point of the show. The show may have been promoted around the question of who killed Laura Palmer, but it was always about the residents of Twin Peaks and the darkness that resides under the surface. Laura's death provided an initial reason for the show's existence and offered a strong constant narrative that would move the story along, but that was never the point.

Unfortunately, too many people watched the show. (Has there ever been another show where too many viewers killed a show). As a mainstream hit, everyone started watching, mostly people who didn't actually get the show and only wanted to find out who killed Laura, eventually pressuring the studio to force Lynch and Frost to reveal the killer's identity. Once they knew this, they stopped watching, (timeslot changes didn't help) while at the same time the show lost its main narrative thread and struggled for a while to set another up.

I do believe that had the show achieved a smaller following, it probably would have survived longer.