Twin Peaks Airdates and Preemptions

[Mr. Reindeer]

Thought this would be a resource worth having, given the recurring (inaccurate) talk about how the show was preempted by the Desert Storm news coverage. Just documenting when Peaks was actually regularly airing, and what exactly preempted it. Primary resource is TV Tango, a great website that documents historical TV air dates. I've also referred to the Usenet group alt.tv.twinpeaks (in cases of football preemption on the East Coast, the earlier time zones further West seem to have inserted various programs like Columbo reruns).

ABC

• 4/08/1990-9pm-Pilot (Series Premiere – advertised as "Special Preview" and presented as an ABC Sunday Night Movie) (Special Sun. two-hour time slot: 9-11pm)
• 4/12/1990-9pm-Episode 1 (Regular Thurs. 9pm time slot begins)
• 4/19/1990-9pm-Episode 2
• 4/26/1990-9pm-Episode 3
• 5/03/1990-9pm-Episode 4
• 5/10/1990-9pm-Episode 5
• 5/17/1990-9pm-Episode 6 (Regular Thurs. 9pm time slot ends)
• 5/23/1990-10pm-Episode 7 (First Season Finale) (Special Weds. time slot) (note: I'm not entirely sure of this time. TV Tango--generally the best web resource on historical TV airing data--lists the time slot as 9pm, but the promo spot on the Blu Ray extras says 10pm. I'm favoring the promo as more accurate given its historical context, but it's possible ABC changed the time slot after the promo aired)

HIATUS

• 8/05/1990-9pm-Pilot (Repeat) (Special Sun. two-hour time slot: 9-11pm)
• 8/11/1990-10pm-Episode 1 (Repeat) (Regular Sat. 10pm time slot begins)
• 8/18/1990-10pm-Episode 2 (Repeat)
• 8/25/1990-10pm-Episode 3 (Repeat)
• 9/01/1990-10pm-Episode 4 (Repeat)
• 9/08/1990-9pm-Episodes 5 & 6 (combined version) (Repeats) (Special two-hour time slot: 9-11pm)
• 9/15/1990-10pm-Episode 7 (Repeat)
• 9/22/1990-10pm-Preempted by film Beverly Hills Cop
• 9/29/1990-10pm-Preempted by Cop Rock
• 9/30/1990-9pm-Episode 8 (Second Season Premiere) (Special Sun. two-hour time slot: 9-11pm)
• 10/06/1990-10pm-Episode 9
• 10/13/1990-10pm-Episode 10
• 10/20/1990-10pm-Episode 11
• 10/27/1990-10pm-Episode 12
• 11/03/1990-10pm-Episode 13
• 11/10/1990-10pm-Episode 14
• 11/17/1990-10pm-Episode 15
• 11/24/1990-10pm-Preempted by College Football
• 12/01/1990-10pm-Episode 16
• 12/08/1990-10pm-Episode 17
• 12/15/1990-10pm-Episode 18
• 12/22/1990-10pm-Preempted by NFL
• 12/29/1990-10pm-Preempted by film Uncommon Valor
• 1/05/1991-10pm-Preempted by film Ghostbusters
• 1/12/1991-10pm-Episode 19
• 1/19/1991-10pm-Episode 20
• 1/26/1991-10pm-Preempted by Tag Team (failed pilot)
• 2/02/1991-10pm-Episode 21
• 2/09/1991-10pm-Episode 22
• 2/16/1991-10pm-Episode 23 (Regular Sat. 10pm time slot ends)

HIATUS

• 3/28/1991-9pm-Episode 24 (Regular Thurs. 9pm time slot begins)
• 4/04/1991-9pm-Episode 25
• 4/11/1991-9pm-Episode 26
• 4/18/1991-9pm-Episode 27 (Regular Thurs. 9pm time slot ends)

HIATUS

• 6/10/1991-9pm-Episodes 28 & 29 (combined version) (Series Finale) (Special Mon. time slot: 9-11pm)

SHOWTIME

• 5/21/2017-9pm-Parts 1 & 2 (combined version) (Series Premiere) (Regular Sun. 9pm time slot begins; special Sun. 9-11pm)
• 5/28/2017-9pm-Parts 3 & 4 (combined version) (Special Sun. 9-11pm)
• 6/04/2017-9pm-Part 5
• 6/11/2017-9pm-Part 6
• 6/18/2017-9pm-Part 7
• 6/25/2017-9pm-Part 8
• 7/02/2017-9pm-Preempted by film Snowden
• 7/09/2017-9pm-Part 9
• 7/16/2017-9pm-Part 10
• 7/23/2017-9pm-Part 11
• 7/30/2017-9pm-Part 12 (Regular Sun. 9pm time slot ends)
• 8/06/2017-8pm-Part 13 (Regular Sun. 8pm time slot begins)
• 8/13/2017-8pm-Part 14
• 8/20/2017-8pm-Part 15
• 8/27/2017-8pm-Part 16
• 9/03/2017-8pm-Part 17 (Regular Sun. 8pm time slot ends)
• 9/03/2017-9pm-Part 18 (Series Finale) (Special Sun. 9pm time slot)

 

[Cappy]

Pre-emptd by... Cop Rock?? Reminds me of that odd Twin Peaks/Cop Rock behind the scenes special floating around on youtube, hosted by (I think) Alan Thicke of all people.

All the hiatuses in S2 must've been maddeining to endure. Truly the dark ages of TV.

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

Pre-emptd by... Cop Rock?? Reminds me of that odd Twin Peaks/Cop Rock behind the scenes special floating around on youtube, hosted by (I think) Alan Thicke of all people.

All the hiatuses in S2 must've been maddeining to endure. Truly the dark ages of TV.

The Tag Team preemption is arguably even worse. It’s a pilot starring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura as former wrestlers turned cops. One can only imagine the possibilities. If there was ever a premise more 1990s-sounding than that, I hope I never hear it.

 

[Cappy]

That's funny, when I first saw your initial post I thought "Tag Team? That sounds like that awful Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura show, but maybe its something else, because Twin Peaks would never get pre-empted for something like THAT"

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

That's funny, when I first saw your initial post I thought "Tag Team? That sounds like that awful Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura show, but maybe its something else, because Twin Peaks would never get pre-empted for something like THAT"

You’ve actually seen it?! My condolences. I gather that it was a pilot ABC produced that didn’t go to series and, well, if you’re going to dump something unceremoniously onto audiences, Saturday night was probably the place to do it.

 

[Cappy]

You’ve actually seen it?! My condolences. I gather that it was a pilot ABC produced that didn’t go to series and, well, if you’re going to dump something unceremoniously onto audiences, Saturday night was probably the place to do it.

Actually i've never seen it -- I just have a vague awareness of it as a former wrestling fan.

I did just look up Tag Team on Youtube though, and the first 5 seconds are a clipped promo for the Peaks ep where FrankenLeo attacks Shelly. So I guess Peaks is sort of chained to this clunker for eternity.

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

Actually i've never seen it -- I just have a vague awareness of it as a former wrestling fan.

I did just look up Tag Team on Youtube though, and the first 5 seconds are a clipped promo for the Peaks ep where FrankenLeo attacks Shelly. So I guess Peaks is sort of chained to this clunker for eternity.

That makes sense! That was the episode of Peaks that aired the following week.

 

[Cappy]

Double Play > Tag Team