Northern Exposure 

A newly graduated doctor is required to set up his practice in an eccentric Alaskan town.

Creators:

Joshua Brand, John Falsey

Stars:

Rob Morrow, Janine Turner, Barry Corbin

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 25 wins & 89 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Barry Corbin	...	Maurice J. Minnifield / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
Janine Turner	...	Maggie O'Connell / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
John Cullum	...	Holling Vincoeur / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
Darren E. Burrows	...	Ed Chigliak / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
John Corbett	...	Chris Stevens / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
Cynthia Geary	...	Shelly Marie Tambo / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
Elaine Miles	...	Marilyn Whirlwind / ... 110 episodes, 1990-1995
Peg Phillips	...	Ruth-Anne Miller / ... 107 episodes, 1990-1995
Rob Morrow	...	Dr. Joel Fleischman / ... 102 episodes, 1990-1995
William J. White	...	Dave the Cook 49 episodes, 1991-1994

Storyline

Joel Fleishman is fresh out of medical college, and fresh out of luck. Failing to read the fine print in his scholarship conditions, he finds he has no choice but to move to the remote and somewhat eccentric town of Cicely, in the wilds of Alaska. Once there, he is welcomed by the peculiar locals who are not keen to see him go, most especially Maurice Minnifield, the ex-NASA astronaut. Despite Joel's adamant denials, one gets the impression that he enjoys life in Cicely more than he admits.

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Plot Keywords:

eccentric | offbeat | alaska | magical realism | small town | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Yiddish Tlingit Hebrew

Release Date:

12 July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Northern Exposure

Filming Locations:

Easton, Washington, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cine-Nevada Productions, Universal Television, Falahey/Austin Street Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (110 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the early 1990s, creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey were working on two shows simultaneously: Northern Exposure, and the civil-rights-era family drama "I'll Fly Away." The two shows had writing and production offices in the same building, across the hall from each other. In the 2013 book Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad, David Chase (who was a writer and executive producer on "I'll Fly Away") talked about how much he had disliked the other Brand/Falsey show being made across the hall from his show: "The people who worked on Northern Exposure thought they were curing cancer and reinventing drama.... To me it was so precious, so self-congratulatory. It strained so hard for whimsy. We'd go to the Emmys every year and they'd get these awards and we'd get nothing. It wasn't that we really wanted these Emmys, but that show was being celebrated to the hilt and I felt it was a fraud at its core." But after both Brand and Falsey left "Northern Exposure," Chase took over, and he was its showrunner from late 1993 until the end of its run in 1995. Chase said that he "did it for the money."

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Goofs

In the pilot the town sign of Cicely shows the town's population as 215, corrected upwards from 214 (still visible but crossed out), in episode 1.6 "Sex, Lies, and Ed's Tape" the town's population is 839.

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Quotes

[Ed and Joel are looking for Maggie in the wilderness]
Ed Chigliak: There, her jacket.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Well, now what?
Ed Chigliak: [pointing] Well, I think she went this way.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: You do?
Ed Chigliak: Yep, see there where that twig snapped? And there's a footprint.
Dr. Joel Fleischman: Huh. You can track? Alright! You learn that or were you born that way?
Ed Chigliak: Beats me.

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Alternate Versions

Only the first season retains the Universal Television logo on its DVD release, whereas further seasons edit out the logo.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Human Duplicators (1992)

User Reviews

They don't make 'em like this anymore

I fell in love with this show while on holiday in the States in 1991 and then patiently waited for something like two years before it got a run in Australia. Curiously enough it kicked off in non-prime time for the first couple of seasons, from memory.

The quirky story-lines, the unique characters, the wonderful dialogue, the breath-taking scenery all made this show (pardon the phrase) 'must-see TV'. A personal favourite was the bizarre exit of Maggie's pilot boyfriend. A low point was the reliance on the tired old stereotype of the neurotic, whining Jew. On the whole, excellent stuff.