The Sinister ‘Twin’

Sunday night at 9, ABC trots out its much ballyhooed crapshoot “Twin Peaks.” You can bet your Nielsens that cult director David Lynch’s eerie mystery/soap will be riveting to some viewers, repugnant to others.

Actress Lara Flynn Boyle anxiously awaits America’s verdict.

“I think it’s designed in a way that is unique and is different but has a lot of television qualities, like ‘China Beach,’ ” says Boyle.

The perky 19-year-old, already a vet of TV’s “Amerika,” “The Preppie Murder” and several big-screen features, is an ardent fan of Lynch and this strangely sinister project he’s conjured up. Twin Peaks is a fictional lumber town situated in the Northwest whose inhabitants are whipped into a frenzy following a grisly murder.

“In terms of the pace, the ensemble cast and their different personalities, I think definitely, (viewers) will like it,” predicts Boyle, born in Davenport, Iowa, but reared in Chicago. “Plus, it’s very humorous. It’s not one of those shows where the ‘LAUGH’ light goes on, like the sitcoms where you pretty much know when you should laugh and when you should cry.”

Some actors do cry when they feel shorted on screen time. With “Twin Peaks” boasting over a dozen main characters, how does Boyle make her thin slice of the pie more palatable?

“It’s frustrating at times,” acknowledges Boyle, “but the show is done so that each person has a very strong quality . . . so when you work, you really have to remember what you bring to the show.”

Boyle asserts that “Twin Peaks’ ” unpredictability factor will save it from being just another prime-time casualty.

“You don’t really know if you’ll turn on the TV and it’s going to be morbid, or if you’re going to laugh the whole hour.”