[jfengel]

I got the impression at the time that Lynch was figuring it out as he went along. Some days that worked; some days it really didn't but mostly carried through on the strength of its performances.

I admit I haven't seen it since the original airing. I would likely evaluate it differently now.

[regularfry]

He absolutely was, quite famously. He'd be writing the episodes in the diner week-to-week.

For me it's the pattern for a lot of shows that went off the rails: starts with a strong premise and setting, but gets an indefinite run so the writer(s) can't actually terminate any story arcs and end up floundering badly. It got dramatically better again when he had to wrap it up.

Some shows start off in that state (like Lost - I was familiar enough with the pattern then to avoid getting sucked into that one); some drift into it (Twin Peaks and BSG at least). It usually takes getting cancelled to pull them out of it, which is really sad.

[Schlagbohrer]

It is a condemnation of americas modern media culture that Netflix kept turning down David Lynch's ideas in the years before he died. Who knows what weird interesting art we could have had if they (or anyone else) had simply given Lynch (and countless young new artists too) a bag of money and a deadline.

[JamesSwift]

Uhh The Walking Dead anyone?

[magarnicle]

He was, but his instincts didn't lead him astray. He still understood the heart of the show.