Twin Peaks

Director David Lynch may not have revolutionized prime-time TV serials with this series opener, but he made a dark and stylish splash. His hip soap opera suggests all kinds of nasty, dangerous things squiggling under a cold, gleaming surface. In form, it’s a murder mystery: a golden girl murdered in an average Northwestern city, its evil secrets scraped up by an FBI agent. In mood, it’s unique--as if an atonal modernist had taken a TV ad jingle and turned it into a cold, creepy sonata. Among the ensemble cast (pictured, from left) are Joan Chen, Michael Ontkean, Kyle MacLachlan and Piper Laurie.