By DOUG STRASSLER

If someone were to ask me my favorite TV show of all time, there’d be a long list of shows that tie for the number 2 position (or, in the spirit of the current Olympics, take home the silver): series as diverse as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Family Ties, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, St. Elsewhere, and The Wire would all have to share space on the podium.

However, there’s one show that has held a firm grip on the gold medal for two decades now: Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s haunting, irreverent and sadly short-lived concept series set in the woods of the Northwest. More than any other show I have ever seen, Peaks created a world and a mystique of its own. Even when the initial “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” mystery was resolved, I remained glued to the show, so unique was its community of characters.

Of the cast, Kyle McLachlan, Piper Laurie and Sherilyn Fenn received the most attention, but it’s another actress that caught my eye – largely because of her own two bulging orbs. Yes, I write this IPO in honor of Grace Zabriskie, a fantastic character actress who has flown under the radar for the last thirty years.

Zabriskie was the broken heart of Peaks as Sarah Palmer, the grieving mother of the murdered Laura (who would later have even more reason to mourn). Other characters were heightened as hell on that show, but Zabriskie’s scenes made it impossible to forget that the core of the series revolved around a horrendous loss.

Largely because of her big eyes (I mean, hello! look at the image above!), Zabriskie has often been cast as unsettling people, usually women who have a secret or ulterior motive. Catch her in Lynch’s Inland Empire. Or for a more obscure gem, check out Philip Ridley’s The Passion of Darkly Noon. Or the American remake of The Grudge (if you must).

But Zabriskie’s start came playing more blue collar roles. As a result, she has appeared in the background of two of recent filmdom’s more memorable scenes, first as Linette Odum in Norma Rae. She’s right there in the cotton mill as Norma Rae Webster (Sally Field) holds up her big “UNION” sign. And even though I’m not a huge fan of An Officer and a Gentleman, there’s no denying the movie’s final moment – in which military man Richard Gere literally sweeps Debra Winger off her feet – its place in screen iconography. Zabriskie’s right there in that factory, applauding Winger’s escape to a better life, and rightly so: she played her mother.

Don’t be fooled, though: Zabriskie can play patrician types as well. I’d imagine her best known example there would be as Mrs. Ross, the mother George Costanza’s fiancée, Susan (fun fact: Peaks alum Warren Frost played Mr. Ross). Of course, that role, too, was tinged with tragedy, as Susan died licking those cheap wedding invite envelopes.

I think that’s what has always drawn me to Zabriskie – there’s a clandestine undercurrent of sadness to her work. I mention her eyes, but not to make fun. She looks like someone who has taken in more than the average person, someone who has been through something, someone who has seen a lot and lived through it. There’s a duality to her acting. She provides comic relief because of her exaggerated expressions and delivery, but there is also something deeper. I see a quiet vulnerability in her work, sometimes even a searing pain, perhaps borne of loss, maybe just fatigue.

It’s all onscreen in her current role as the tough, antic Lois Henrickson, the polygamist matriarch of HBO’s awesome Big Love. Whether she’s trying to kill her husband or reassuring a grandchild, she’s never less than real. She’s also never forgettable. That’s Zabriskie’s specialty – characters who live in italics rather than normal typeface.

Who am I to argue? The eyes have it.

How about you guys? Are any of you Zabriskie fans?