1990 Hit Ranked Among ‘Best Series of All Time' Was Secretly Inspired by Marilyn Monroe
Twin Peaks was a revelation. But its origin story might just be even more surprising.
In 1987, creators David Lynch and Mark Frost were developing a project centered on the death of Marilyn Monroe. Adapting Anthony Summers' Monroe biography, Goddess, they titled their screenplay Venus Descending and explored the idea that the Kennedy family were responsible for the screen star's death.
According to Mental Floss, studios balked at the premise, so the two switched gears, shifting their focus to a blonde homecoming queen named Laura Palmer and working elements of their Monroe-inspired script into a new murder mystery - one constructed around a familiar archetype: A beautiful young woman who becomes entangled with a powerful man meets a tragic end.
In a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, Lynch made the connection explicit. "You could say that Laura Palmer is Marilyn Monroe, and that Mulholland Drive is about Marilyn Monroe, too," he said. "Everything is about Marilyn Monroe."
Related: Rare 1961 Bikini Photos of Screen Siren Surface Ahead of MoMA Retrospective
A year later, Lynch expanded on that fascination. "It's hard to say exactly what it is about Marilyn Monroe," he told Vice. "It's not just the woman-in-trouble thing that pulls you in. It's more that some women are really mysterious."
Acclaim for the show is certainly no mystery. With a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 78% and an audience rating of 92%, the three-season series was a hit. So much so that 25 years later, Lynch and Frost returned with Twin Peaks: The Return, which Rolling Stone called "the most groundbreaking TV series ever," and which also ranks among Letterboxd's top miniseries of all time.
The original Twin Peakspremiered 36 years ago this month and is now consistently ranked across best-TV lists - see: Time, Empire, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone. A prestige legacy it owes to the one and only Marilyn Monroe.
Related: ‘Half-Baked' '80s Classic Sparked a Surprisingly Hit '90s Series That Ran for 5 Seasons
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 5:02 PM.