Northern Exposure

Northern Exposure was a quirky, surreal, character-driven American dramatic-comedy television series. It was originally broadcast by CBS between 1990 and 1995, in 110 episodes spread over six seasons. The show was set in a small, remote (and fictional) town called Cicely, Alaska. Thematically, the show began as a "fish out of water" motif with a driven Jewish New York City physician coming into conflict with the laid-back and quirky populace of the Alaskan wilderness. As the series progressed, there were a number of sub-plots involving the town residents, with occasional drifts into existential themes.

Main characters

Most of the story arcs during Northern Exposure's six year tenure were character-driven, with the plots revolving around the intricacies and eccentricities of the citizens.

Original cast

Joel Fleischman (played by Rob Morrow) was the central character and was depicted as a young, New York Jewish doctor who was contractually bound to practice in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely for four years in order to repay a student loan from the state. The comedy centered originally on the clash between Fleischman's neurotic urban mindset and the individual, easy-going and community-minded people around him. As time went on, the show focus shifted to the quirky characters of the town. Morrow left the series at the beginning of the sixth (and final) season with hopes of establishing a motion picture career.
Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin) was a patriotic ex-astronaut and millionaire entrepreneur. He had arranged to bring Dr. Fleischman to the town which previously had no physician. Determined to make tiny Cicely the next boomtown, "the cusp of the new Alaskan Riviera," Maurice was the owner of the local radio station KBHR and newspaper, as well as fifteen thousand acres of local land.
Chris Stevens (John Corbett), an ex-felon, was the disc jockey at KBHR, who interspersed the music of his morning show with musings on the nature of life and readings from such philosophers as Walt Whitman, Leo Tolstoy, Carl Jung and Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are). Chris is also Cicely's only clergyman, ordained through an advertisement in Rolling Stone.
Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner) was a fiery, independent, yet somewhat neurotic bush pilot and was originally a debutante from a wealthy Grosse Pointe, Michigan automotive family. A recurring theme within the series was how Maggie's former boyfriends died in bizarre accidents. She has a very strong love-hate relationship with Fleischman.
Shelly Tambo (Cynthia Geary) was a young beauty pageant winner, "Miss Northwest Passage," brought from Saskatchewan to Cicely by Maurice, who hoped to marry her. Shortly after her arrival she met and fell in love with Holling Vincoeur. Shelly nearly became a bigamist when she almost married Holling, having previously married her schoolmate Wayne Jones, a hockey player, so that he would stop asking her.
Holling Vincoeur (John Cullum) was the sexagenarian ex-hunter who had given it up and became the owner of 'The Brick' bar and restaurant, where he lived with Shelly. Born in the Yukon and later becoming a naturalized US citizen, he was best friends with Maurice until they fell out over Shelly. His father and grandfather both lived over 100 years, spending most of their lives as widowers despite having married much younger women. Fearing the same bitter fate, Holling forswore love until Shelly appeared.
Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows) was a mild-mannered, amiably tactless half-Native American foundling with a IQ of 180 who worked odd jobs for Maurice. A film buff and would-be director, Ed learned everything he knew about life and the outside world from movies, especially those of Woody Allen. He was a Shaman-in-training and was occasionally visited by his invisible spirit guide, One-Who-Waits, and by his personal demon, Low Self Esteem, who resembles a leprechaun. Ed wrote, directed and produced his own film about Cicely.
Ruth-Anne Miller (Peg Phillips) was the septuagenarian owner of the general store. A widow, Ruth-Anne lived alone until late in the series when she becomes involved with retired stockbroker and then bear-trapper, Walt Kupfer.
Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles) was Fleischman's receptionist and serenely placid, Buddha-like dispenser of native wisdom and common sense. A comic study in contrasts, Whirlwind rarely spoke while Fleischman rarely stopped talking.

Sixth season additions

Following the departure of Morrow from the series, two additional characters were introduced:

Phil Capra (Paul Provenza) was Fleischman's replacement as town physician after his predecessor took to the wilderness. A refugee from the urban hustle of Los Angeles, Capra was more gracious than Fleischman in a small town setting, but was even more hapless.
Michelle Schowdowski Capra (Teri Polo) was Phil's wife. She worked as a reporter on newspaper owned by Minnifield. When he started applying editorial pressure, she decided she preferred waitressing at The Brick and had visions of Fleischman's rabbi, Schulman.

The show wound down in the last season, with the lack of genuine clashes that marked Fleischman's many conflicts having been exhausted and the departure of Morrow from the series marked a precipitous drop in the ratings.^*

Guest stars

William J. White was Dave, the Native American cook at the Brick.
Richard Cummings Jr. was Bernard Stevens, Chris's "half-brother and spiritual doppelgänger." Chris and Bernard's relationship extended beyond that of merely half-brothers, as they also had shared dreams, emotions, and thoughts. The characters share the same birthday and birth year, making them "twins" despite having different mothers, one white and the other black. The characters' father was a "travellin' man" whose double life was exposed only after his death.
Adam Arkin (son of Alan Arkin) was Adam, a misanthropic gourmet chef who may or may not have worked for the CIA in the past, which reveals how he knows so much information on everyone. Adam seems to have a chip on his shoulder and immediately provides an offensive rebuttal to anyone who compliments him. Valerie Mahaffey won an Emmy Award in 1992 for portraying Adam's hypochondriac wife Eve, an heiress to a tungsten fortune. Eve and Adam spent part of each year as jet-setters and part as near-hermits in a cabin near Cicely.
Anthony Edwards was, for a brief time, the hyper-allergic lawyer Mike Monroe, who came to Alaska to escape the pollution that gave him multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Maggie O'Connell, attracted by his strength of character, encouraged him to come out of his airtight house more often, and they briefly became a couple. In an apparent inversion of "Maggie's Curse," Mike's symptoms suddenly vanished, whereupon he left to join a Greenpeace ship at Murmansk.
Grant Goodeve was Rick, Maggie O'Connell's season one boyfriend, who died at the end of the second season when an errant satellite fell on him during a camping trip.
Graham Greene was Leonard Quinhagak, the native medicine man and Ed's mentor.
Diane Delano was Sergeant Barbara Semanski, an Alaska state trooper and love interest of Maurice Minnifield.
Floyd Westerman was One-Who-Waits, Ed Chigliak's spirit guide, the ghost of a long-dead chief.
Moultrie Patten was Walter "Walt" Kupfer, a salty trapper and love interest of Ruth Anne Miller.

Thematic and Technical Details

Northern Exposure's flavor came from a combination of various influences: the show’s creators, Joshua Brand and John Falsey, were members of the Esalen Institute in California where an eclectically "spiritual" worldview was presented, best exemplified in the writings of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung and American anthropologist/mythologist Joseph Campbell (whose works are frequently referenced in the series). There are also fantasy elements inherited from the works of Carlos Castaneda and the magical realism novels and stories of Latin American author Gabriel García Márquez. Both creators were also conversant with classical Russian Literature. This characteristic is evident in the satirical elements from the show that are hallmarks of the Russian literary grotesque style of such authors as Gogol and Dostoevsky.

The show made frequent use of dream and fantasy sequences and other dense imagery. There were many similarities with the television program Twin Peaks. In episode 5 of the first season, there are multiple references to key elements of Twin Peaks, such as cherry pie, coffee and the The Log Lady character. The scenes were shot using music similar to Twin Peaks and the same slow, ethereal direction and self-consciously obtuse dialogue popularized by David Lynch.

The main street of Cicely and the filming location was actually that of Roslyn, Washington. The Roslyn vicinity is actually being developed as the large, master-planned resort of Suncadia. Moosefest was the annual gathering of Northern Exposure fans held annually in the town of Roslyn.^* Declining attendance made the 2005 edition the last "official" one, but there is currently talk of a reunion Moosefest in 2008.

Prior to producing Northern Exposure, Joshua Brand and John Falsey created the popular television program St. Elsewhere. Series producer and writer David Chase went on to produce, amongst other things, The Sopranos.

Trivia

In Spain, where the show enjoyed remarkable success and a cult following, the show was called "Doctor en Alaska."
Paul Provenza was originally hired to take over the role of Dr. Joel Fleischman, who had been played for 5 seasons by Rob Morrow. The difference in their appearance was to be attributed to a new haircut, with Maggie O'Connell commenting, "it suits you." This idea was rejected to avoid alienating Morrow's fans. So re-writes took place, and Paul Provenza became a new character, Dr. Phillip Capra.

Episodes

See List of Northern Exposure episodes

Awards

Over the course of Northern Exposure's run, the series was nominated for over fifty Emmy Awards and multiple Golden Globe awards.^* In addition, Joshua Brand and John Falsey received the Peabody Award in 1992 for their contributions to television quality and the industry.

Some of the more notable awards:

Emmy Award (1992), Joshua Brand and John Falsey, Outstanding Drama Series.
Emmy Award (1992), Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Rob Morrow.
Emmy Award (1992), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Valerie Mahaffey.
Emmy Award (1993), Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Drama Series for "Seoul Mates."
Golden Globe (1993), Best Drama series.
Golden Globe (1994), Best Drama series.
Directors Guild Award (1993), Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Shows, "Cicely"

CD and DVDs

Other uses

Northern Exposure is also the name of a short series of arctic-themed trance music albums mixed by Sasha and John Digweed.

External links

CBS network shows | 1990s TV shows in the United States | Comedy-drama television series | Northern Exposure | NBC Universal Television shows

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