David Lynch

Speaks on the shows. Their sketches and lines as a speaker.

Wikidata Q2071: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Dune, which Starman with Katey Rich credits them on.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Eraserhead (1977); The Elephant Man (1980); Dune (1984); Blue Velvet (1986); Twin Peaks (1990); Wild at Heart (1990); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Lost Highway (1997); The Straight Story (1999); Mulholland Drive (2001); Inland Empire (2006); Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (2017); Dune (David Lynch); Six Men Getting Sick; The Grandmother. Count them as writer (2 films), composer (0 films), craft (3 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977): 2 lines

  1. programming (programming) · through Dune (1984), which they directed: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Dune (the host's read). Dune was positioned and released as the studio's answer to Star Wars, the next big space epic.
    “Uh, this movie is released with the energy of, here you go, here's the new Star Wars.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:22:17 · John Hodgman (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (tentpole hope) · through Dune (1984), which they directed: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Dune (the host's read). Dune was meant to be the new Star Wars franchise, Lynch writing the sequel, coloring books on shelves.
    “I thought it was going to be the Star Wars.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:18:09 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Herbert Cardwell: 1 line

  1. craft (craft) · them, directly: Herbert Cardwell ⇒ David Lynch (the maker said so: Lynch quoted in the dossier on the film). Lynch says the original cinematographer was a genius who helped him understand making movies and lighting.
    “Lynch says he was a genius who helped him understand everything about making movies, like he knew how to light what he did”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:54:40 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)

The Wizard of Oz (1939): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Wild at Heart (1990), which they directed: The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Wild at Heart (the host's read). Wild at Heart is a homage to the Wizard of Oz.
    “kind of a blanket homage to Wizard of Oz”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 1:11:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

Twin Peaks (1990): 1 line, within their own work

  1. theme (plot payoff) · through Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (2017), which they directed: Twin Peaks ⇒ Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (the host's read). Part 8 finally ties up Jean Renault's season 2 claim that Cooper's arrival ruined Twin Peaks by showing the evil predates him.
    “So like episode eight, finally, it's like we've tied up the genre now plotline from season two.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:34:19 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Twin Peaks season 2 finale: 1 line

  1. unmapped (weirdest-ever) · through Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (2017), which they directed: Twin Peaks season 2 finale ⇒ Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (the host's read). Part 8 is Lynch topping his own season 2 finale as the weirdest thing ever on prime time, building something weird in relation to the template of weirdness he already set.
    “he's like, no, I need to make the thing that is weird and relation to the template of weirdness I have already set, much like the season 2 finale”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 0:07:53 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992): 1 line, within their own work

  1. lineage (location callback) · through Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (2017), which they directed: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me ⇒ Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (the host's read). The convenience store was only seen inside, upstairs, in Fire Walk with Me; Part 8 shows its exterior and it is where nasty business happens.
    “Wait, so we've been to the convenience store and in the past?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:21:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977): 2 lines

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Dune (1984), which they directed: Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read). The Dune book's messaging is credited as one of the things that inspired Star Wars.
    “And not only that, the messaging of this is one of the things that inspired Star Wars.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:22:22 · John Hodgman (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme) · through Dune (1984), which they directed: Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read). Dune's Fremen/revolution material is the denser source that Star Wars abstracts; the Force is Dune without the drugs.
    “the Force in Star Wars is like doom without the drugs.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:17:01 · David Sims (0.30 sure it was them)

Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (2017): 2 lines, within their own work

  1. lineage (location callback) · through Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), which they directed: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me ⇒ Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (the host's read). The convenience store was only seen inside, upstairs, in Fire Walk with Me; Part 8 shows its exterior and it is where nasty business happens.
    “Wait, so we've been to the convenience store and in the past?”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:21:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. theme (plot payoff) · through Twin Peaks (1990), which they directed: Twin Peaks ⇒ Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (the host's read). Part 8 finally ties up Jean Renault's season 2 claim that Cooper's arrival ruined Twin Peaks by showing the evil predates him.
    “So like episode eight, finally, it's like we've tied up the genre now plotline from season two.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:34:19 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Alien (1979): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ Alien (the host's read). The gooey animatronic creature work in Alien and later films may trace back to Eraserhead.
    “I mean, the thought that comes to mind is, um, alien.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 1:29:21 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

David Lowery: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Dune (1984), which they directed: Dune ⇒ David Lowery (the maker said so: David Lowery's episode later in the series). A later series guest, David Lowery, called Dune a very big film for him as a child.
    “we have an episode coming later in the series with David Lowry, who talked about Dune being a very big film for him”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:33:25 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Devo: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ Devo (the host's read). Devo covered the Eraserhead song and played it live for a while.
    “Devo covered that song?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:02:39 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)

H.R. Giger: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ H.R. Giger (the maker said so: Giger says it was one of his big eye-opening moments). Giger called Eraserhead one of his big eye-opening moments, and Lynch later accused him of stealing his ideas.
    “H.R. Gigger, loves this movie, says it's one of his, like, you know, big eye-opening moments in his life”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 1:29:28 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)

Modest Mouse: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ Modest Mouse (the host's read). Modest Mouse is named among the bands who covered the Eraserhead song.
    “Modest mouse. Modest mouse.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:02:45 · David Sims (0.30 sure it was them)

On the Air (1992): 1 line

  1. lineage (callback) · through Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 (2017), which they directed: Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8 ⇒ On the Air (the host's read). The woodsman wanting to be on the radio and finding the people find him boring is read as a callback to the Lynch-Frost sitcom On the Air.
    “I'm like, oh, this is a callback to on the air, the Lynch Frost sitcom.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:50:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): 1 line

  1. unmapped (quoted line) · through Blue Velvet (1986), which they directed: Blue Velvet ⇒ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (the host's read). The fuck-you-you-fucking-fuck shirt is believed to originate from Dennis Hopper's line in Blue Velvet.
    “Hopper says that in blue velvet.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:24:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Meteors: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ The Meteors (the host's read). The Meteors are named among the bands who covered the Eraserhead song.
    “The meteors would do it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:02:47 · David Sims (0.30 sure it was them)

The Pixies: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ The Pixies (the host's read). The Pixies covered the Eraserhead song, on one of the John Peel records.
    “Yeah, the pixies, it's on one of the John Peel records, I think.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:02:53 · David Sims (0.30 sure it was them)

The Thing (1982): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eraserhead (1977), which they directed: Eraserhead ⇒ The Thing (the host's read). Alien, Carpenter's The Thing and Cronenberg's work belong to a 70s-80s peak of gooey rubber and robotics that Eraserhead may have first synthesized.
    “We don't exactly know, but I feel like things like alien and the carpenter film, certainly the thing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 1:29:47 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (33) everyone in directing

Other (8) everyone in other

Craft (4) everyone in craft

Writing (2) everyone in writing

Music (1) everyone in music

What was said about them, by kind

career (3)

  1. career (career): David Lynch → Red Dragon / Manhunter. Roth approached Lynch to direct Red Dragon, which Michael Mann later made as Manhunter.
    “Richard Roth approached him to direct Red Dragon, which, of course, eventually Michael Mann makes as Manhunter.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:05:31 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): David Lynch → Blue Velvet. Lynch pitched Blue Velvet to Roth in the same meeting.
    “That is when he pitches Roth on Blue Velvet.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:05:38 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): David Lynch → Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cameron Crowe approached Lynch to direct Fast Times.
    “He was also approached by Cameron Crowe to direct Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:06:16 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

contrast (2)

  1. contrast (contrast): David Lynch → Denis Villeneuve. Lynch cast the weirdest character actors he could, Villeneuve cast shorthand faces audiences trust.
    “As opposed to the David Lynch approach to casting, which is, let's find the weirdest looking character actors we can. and then put boils on them.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:19:53 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast): Janicza Bravo → David Lynch. Bravo says Lynch works in nightmares while she works in anxiety, an internal demon rather than a demon behind the garbage can.
    “I think he works in nightmares and I feel I work in anxiety.”
    The Big Picture · Janicza Bravo and Brett Gelman Channel Rejection and Anxiety to Make ‘Lemon’ | The Big Picture (Ep. 22) · 0:39:41 · Janicza Bravo (0.75 sure it was them)

craft (3)

  1. craft (craft): Joanna Ray → David Lynch. Joanna Ray, Aldo Ray's ex-wife and Dune's casting director, goes on to cast all of Lynch's movies.
    “his ex-wife is Joanna Ray, who ends up casting all the Lynch movies.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:50:03 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): David Lynch → The Elephant Man. Lynch planned to do the Elephant Man makeup effects himself, as he had on Eraserhead, until the production insisted on a professional.
    “Like his plan was to do the makeup effects entirely himself because he was used to working that way on Elephant Man, or not Elephant Man, Eraserhead.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:10:50 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): David Lynch → Herbert Cardwell. Lynch says the original cinematographer was a genius who helped him understand making movies and lighting.
    “Lynch says he was a genius who helped him understand everything about making movies, like he knew how to light what he did”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:54:40 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)

lineage (2)

  1. lineage (lineage): David Cronenberg → David Lynch. Cronenberg is the speaker's Lynch, the director who spoke to his soul at 13 or 14.
    “Pronenberg is kind of my lynch.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:42:28 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): David Lynch → Henry Mancini. Lynch as a child liked the music of Henry Mancini; the speaker then jokes none of these influences show in his work.
    “He liked Henry Mancini and Sandra D.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:29:34 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)

people (6)

  1. people (people): George Lucas → David Lynch. Lucas pitched Return of the Jedi to Lynch, who found Star Wars not his cup of tea.
    “Unfortunately, Star Wars wasn't my cup of tea.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:02:05 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. people (people): David Lynch → Kyle MacLachlan. Lynch cast MacLachlan without an audition after talk about the Northwest and red wine.
    “They talk about red wine and and Lynch is like, I like your vibe, read this script.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:45:16 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. people (people): Kyle MacLachlan → David Lynch. Lynch handled Dale Cooper's words, which sounded like how Lynch himself talks.
    “Mark Frost did lots of stuff, obviously, but Lynch handled Dale Cooper.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:46:46 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. people (people): Janicza Bravo → David Lynch. Gelman says the same moment can read as disturbing or hilarious in a Lynch film or a Bravo film.
    “And both filmmakers make nightmares.”
    The Big Picture · Janicza Bravo and Brett Gelman Channel Rejection and Anxiety to Make ‘Lemon’ | The Big Picture (Ep. 22) · 0:39:38 · Brett Gelman (0.60 sure it was them)
  5. people (people): David Lynch → Jack Fisk. Fisk, the production designer who plays the Man in the Planet, is the other big friend Lynch made in high school.
    “Uh, the other big uh, friend that he makes in high school. Jack Fisk.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:33:40 · Griffin Newman (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. people (people): Dominique Pinon → David Lynch. Pinon's weird face and presence reads as a Lynchian figure.
    “He's a very lynchian figure.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 1:07:54 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (1)

  1. unmapped (perfectionist hands-on): David Lynch → The Elephant Man. Lynch, frustrated by wrong materials on the Return, mirrors his wish to do John Hurt's makeup himself on Elephant Man until Paramount said no.
    “he wanted to do all the makeup for Elephant Man himself.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff · 1:16:52 · Connor Ratliff (0.40 sure it was them)

verdict (2)

  1. verdict (verdict): David Lynch → Dune. Lynch's visual weirdness survived even if the narrative is lost; the movie is an object of love.
    “And I do, I now have gotten to a place where I love it as an object.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:57:24 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
  2. verdict (verdict): Wild at Heart → David Lynch. Great but not in the upper echelon of Lynch.
    “Although I wouldn't say it's in my like upper upper echelon for Lynch.”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 1:12:13 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

what-if (3)

  1. what-if (what-if): David Lynch → Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Lynch would have gone wild on Jabba's Palace.
    “The whole 1st 30 minutes, you're like, Lynch would go fucking hog wild on that.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:04:23 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): David Lynch → Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Lynch could have handled the Luke, Emperor and Vader climax but not Endor.
    “I actually think he would probably do a good job with the final chunk with Luke and the Emperor and Vader.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:04:27 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): Jason Clarke → David Lynch. Jason Clarke should play Lynch in a biopic.
    “And he should be played by Jason Clark in the film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:40:11 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about David Lynch: Lynch's famous quote about Dune is that he died on that movie and has never fully recovered.
    “I died on that movie, and I don't think I've ever fully recovered.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:06:42 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about David Lynch: Lynch's mother refused him coloring books so he wouldn't learn to stay in the lines; the host jokes about the Dune coloring book.
    “Beautiful dramatic irony when Dune the coloring book came around.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:29:08 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about David Lynch: Lynch was an Eagle Scout and Little League first baseman and always insists he's normal and boring.
    “Yeah, he basically always is just like, I'm normal and boring.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eraserhead (Ad-Free) · 0:30:24 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)