Northern Exposure

Welcome to Cicely

The show started as an eight-episode summer replacement series on CBS in 1990. It returned for seven more episodes in spring 1991, then became a regular part of the network's schedule in 1991-92, 1992-93, and 1993-94, its last season, 1994-95. A total of 110 episodes were produced.

It was created by Brand-Falsey Productions, and depicts in a comedic and often poetic way, the cultural clash between a transplanted New York doctor and the townspeople of fictional Cicely, Alaska. Most of Northern Exposure's story arcs are character-driven, with the plots revolving around the intricacies and eccentricities of the citizens.

The Characters

* Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow) is the central character, a young, Jewish doctor from New York City who is contractually bound to practice in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely for four years to repay a student loan from the state. Fleischman's neurotic urban mindset is very much at odds with the easy-going, community-minded people around him. With each new series the shows focus shifted to the quirky characters of the town. Morrow left the series in the middle of the sixth (and final) season.
* Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin) is a patriotic ex-astronaut and millionaire entrepreneur, owner of the local radio station KBHR and newspaper, as well as fifteen thousand acres (60 km²) of local land. Determined to make tiny Cicely the next boomtown, "the cusp of the new Alaskan Riviera," Maurice arranges to bring Dr. Fleischman to the town, which previously had no physician.
* Chris Stevens (John Corbett), an ex-felon, is the disc jockey at KBHR. He intersperses the music of his morning show with musings on the nature of life and readings from such writers as Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Carl Jung. Chris is also Cicely's only clergyman, ordained through an advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine.
* Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner) is a professional bush pilot and property agent. She was a debutante from a wealthy WASP family in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. She sometimes believes herself to be cursed because all of her former boyfriends died in bizarre accidents. She maintains a strong love-hate relationship with Fleischman.
* Shelly Marie Tambo Vincoeur (Cynthia Geary) is 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 the much older Holling Vincoeur. Shelly nearly becomes a bigamist when she almost marries Holling, having previously married schoolmate and hockey player Wayne Jones solely to get him to stop proposing.
* Holling Vincoeur (John Cullum) is a sexagenarian hunter and owner of 'The Brick' bar and restaurant, where he lives upstairs with Shelly. Born in Quebec and later becoming a naturalized US citizen, he had been best friends with Maurice until they fell out over Shelly. His father and grandfather both lived to be over 100 years old, spending most of their lives as widowers despite having married much younger women; fearing the same bitter fate, Holling forswore love until Shelly appeared. He claims to be a direct descendant of King Louis XIV of France and attempts to distance himself as much as possible from his despotic forebears. After 23 years as mayor of Cicely, he loses that post to Edna Hancock who runs against him because of a grudge.
* Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows) is a mild-mannered, amiably tactless, half-Native Alaskan foundling raised by an Indian tribe. He does odd jobs for Maurice and also works part-time at Ruth-Anne's general store. 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 and Federico Fellini. He is a Shaman-in-training and is occasionally visited by his invisible spirit guide, One-Who-Waits, and by his personal demon, Low Self Esteem, who resembles a leprechaun. Ed writes, directs and produces his own film about Cicely.
* Ruth-Anne Miller (Peg Phillips) is the septuagenarian owner of the general store. A widow, Ruth-Anne lives alone until late in the series, when she becomes involved with retired stockbroker and fur-trapper, Walt Kupfer.
* Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles) is Fleischman's stoic, Native American receptionist. Marilyn speaks as little as possible, while her boss rarely stops talking.

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 two Peabody Awards, in 1991 and 1992, sharing the latter award with CBS and Finnegan-Pinchuk Company.

The show's other awards include:

* Emmy Award (1992), Joshua Brand and John Falsey, Outstanding Drama Series.
* Emmy Award (1992), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Valerie Mahaffey.
* Emmy Award (1992), 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"