An Antidote to the Writers Strike, and Just In Time

"The owls are not what they seem." If you know this line, you also know DVD sets are not what they seem.

The pilot of the 1990s cult TV show Twin Peaks, which gave new meaning to owls, cherry pie, and black coffee, had never been released on VHS or DVD—even though at first glance it appears to have been.

To illustrate this David Lynch-esque curiosity, the series was released on VHS in the 90s, but episode one wasn't the pilot. The first season of Twin Peaks hit stores separately, but again no pilot.

At one point even a VHS that called itself the series premier came out, but alas it wasn't the original pilot either. Rather, this copy ended the original pilot with a new ending, which, to a degree, spoiled the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer—the whodunit that kept audiences enthralled through the first season.

For a pilot episode fix, Peak freaks had to wade through eBay. They had to take their chances with DVDs packaged with a cover title written in both English and Chinese.

One fan site, dugpa.com, reviewed a Taiwanese release and recommended it to fans.

But finally this fall, Twin Peaks devotees have been given the opportunity by Paramount Home Video to spend about $100 for a DVD box set that—gasp—includes the original pilot that first aired in 1990. "The rights have been transferred between several studios which is the reason for the delay," Paramount explains.

A testament to the power of TV and non-pirated DVDs, The Definitive Gold Box Edition of Twin Peaks is currently the 50th bestselling DVD on Amazon.com.

by Willow Duttge