Some time ago I found this at twinpeaks.org (a handy resource, if you don't already know it). After stating that Frost and Lynch planned Twin Peaks as having a population of 5,201, the studio altered it to 51,201

"This has resulted in mixed cues within the show.  For
instance, Twin Peaks doesn't have a resident circuit court
judge, which any town of 51,000 in the US would; it has a
Sheriff's department but no police department (Sheriff is
usually a county rather than a city office).  On the other
hand, it does have its own hospital, a fancy department
store, and a large hotel."

Does anyone know why this change was made? Twin Peaks has the feeling of a small town and there are frequent references to people knowing other people's business and the town events (the town meeting, charity events) all feel small. Why did the studio insist on this change? 

Anecdotally, the network didn't figure anyone wanted to watch a show about a small town.

Coming from a town of 4000(ish), I'd say the hospital isn't that unusual. The Great Northern, a little odd, but those waterfalls give a pretty good excuse for a destination hotel.

The department store is pretty questionable, I agree.

Just enjoy the magic of television.

My biggest fuss is Bobby missing Football practice in February????? WTF!!!!!!!!!!

It was the network (ABC), not the "studio." I like to think that the sign was simply painted wrong, or maybe altered by someone as a joke -- something I could see happening in Twin Peaks. In the Lynch/Frost authorized Twin Peaks Access Guide, it says: "the 1990 census revealed our present population is 5,120.1 not 51,201."

It's the magic of soap operas. I like how there are all kinds of big-time, debonair businessmen in really, really small towns in soaps. Passions, for instance. Also, there's not really any hard-luck working class. Twin Peaks get somewhat closer to that, but it's interesting how the first unglamorous working-class story of Twin Peaks happens in FWWM, which has already left the soap opera universe behind.

Twin Peaks get somewhat closer to that, but it's interesting how the first unglamorous working-class story of Twin Peaks happens in FWWM, which has already left the soap opera universe behind.

What exactly are you referring to by a working class story in FWWM? Just interested to know... I can't think of what your referring to. Also did FWWM really leave soap opera territory behind? It seems like there was still plenty of that influence there to me, though the feel was very different from the series, and most of the quirky humor was gone.

I think Evenreven is referring to Theresa's life as gritty and the diner scene. Also the trailer park is pretty rundown and associated with poor people (which seems pretty accurate when you see the park and Theresa's trailer). I get that feeling a bit with the Johnson house in the pilot. It feels dark. That's the Washington atmos. I feel the series lost an important part of its character when they started shooting in California.

That is exactly what I mean, yes. Even within the poor Twin Peaks working class, there is nothing even resembling the squalor of Fat Trout or Hap's. Twin Peaks is a fantasy; in Deer Meadow everything is real, almost too real. Also important to soap operas is the sheer number of important characters. When Lynch started cutting FWWM and Truman, Pete, Josie and the others were left on the floor, FWWM left soap behind for good.

For a long time, until I rewatched the series again recently for the second time, I could swear that there was a scene in which someone changed the "51,201" into "51,200" after Laura Palmer's death -- this someone being, in my memory, Pete.

I'm guessing now it must have been a skit in some show or other.

Anyway, coming from a town with around 5,000 people originally, the hospital and hotel, or even the department store, didn't strike me as odd. We too had one rich spider in the web: a Benjamin Horne-like type who, as it turned out later on, had sold (materials to construct) arms to Saddam Hussein. He put his money in a lot of stuff: stores, parks, whatever. There was a hotel nearby, a hospital, a train station even, and also a ( though relatively small) department store. In other words, Twin Peaks made sense to me.

The Department store isn't really that unusual, if you consider:

1) When we actually got to see it, it looked pretty low-rent compared to say, J.C. Penny's

2) It was probably the only retail store in town.

I like that Horne's sell vulcanized macintoshes.

I think Evenreven is referring to Theresa's life as gritty and the diner scene. Also the trailer park is pretty rundown and associated with poor people (which seems pretty accurate when you see the park and Theresa's trailer). I get that feeling a bit with the Johnson house in the pilot. It feels dark. That's the Washington atmos. I feel the series lost an important part of its character when they started shooting in California.

 I totally agree with this!

For a long time, until I rewatched the series again recently for the second time, I could swear that there was a scene in which someone changed the "51,201" into "51,200" after Laura Palmer's death -- this someone being, in my memory, Pete.

I'm guessing now it must have been a skit in some show or other.

 Don't remember a skit like that, although the UK VHS tapes had the sign changed to read population 51,200 on their covers. Of course, that number would have been quite a bit lower by the time the series ends...

I have the vaguest memory of a cartoon panel like that, but I remember all sorts of things that aren't real, so that and two dollars will get you a cup of coffee.

I think Evenreven is referring to Theresa's life as gritty and the diner scene. Also the trailer park is pretty rundown and associated with poor people (which seems pretty accurate when you see the park and Theresa's trailer). I get that feeling a bit with the Johnson house in the pilot. It feels dark. That's the Washington atmos. I feel the series lost an important part of its character when they started shooting in California.

Which is funny, because finished, the Johnson house is a quaint little suburban house. Powder blue and white paint on it.  They take good care of the lawn. No semis in the drive.  Sunny and cheery little road in the summer. 

The trailer park never changes, and that's awesome.  Except, I guess, for the people that live there.  They don't like tourists sniffing around.  We have to sneak in under cover of darkness, which is creepy as hell.

I like to visualize TP according to the Access Guide with the 5000+ population because I don't think everyone would know everyone in a 50,000+ town which doesn't come off as "small".