10 Cancelled TV Shows That Made Obvious Mistakes

David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks was a "water cooler" show like few others - everyone was talking about it when it premiered in 1990, desperate to know the identity of Laura Palmer's (Sheryl Lee) murderer.

But Lynch and Frost, well aware that the show's days would be numbered once they let the cat out of the bag, actually never intended to reveal who the killer was. However, network ABC saw things quite differently.

With ratings sharply dropping at the start of the second season, ABC executives forced the duo to reveal the killer's identity just seven episodes into season two.

And though the episode in question saw a major ratings spike, the divisive nature of the reveal only further caused the ratings to nosedive thereafter.

Lynch and Frost's involvement with the show also lessened after the killer reveal, which many have attributed to the decline in quality through the remainder of the season.

By the end of season two the ratings were a mere fraction of the season one premiere, causing ABC to cancel Twin Peaks, while leaving fans on an agonising cliffhanger.

Lynch quite rightly said that the network "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs" by making them reveal Laura's killer. In something of a happy ending, though, the show was given a belated revival in 2017 with Lynch's acclaimed Twin Peaks: The Return, which aired on Showtime.