‘I’ve Explored the Specter of Humanity’: The Enduring Pleasures of Northern Exposure | television

A A blonde waitress named Shelley delivers a long, bizarre monologue about an egg sandwich called the One Eyed Jack. She works at a diner in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, in a town populated by a group of strange characters: sensitive young men in leather jackets; Strong, silent types with hearts of gold; and wise and respected members of the local Aboriginal community. An educated person from outside the big city is transplanted into the scene, leading to many confrontations and misunderstandings out of the water; A flirtation with a charming local brunette ensues.

There are two separate TV shows, both hugely successful in their own way, that fit the above description. Both debuted in 1990, and were filmed around the same time in the mountainous region near Seattle, Washington. One, of course, was Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s era-defining cult series that ran for two series, followed by the 1992 feature film and 2017’s blockbuster Twin Peaks: The Return. The other show was Northern Exposure, which ran for six seasons until 1995, and made two stars out of its leads, Rob Morrow, who played cynical Brooklyn doctor Joel Fleischman, angry about being stationed in rural Alaska, and Janine Turner, the independent and feisty young plane pilot Maggie O’Connell, whose friends die in tragic accidents.

Originally intended as a short-lived summer series, the series became a hit thanks to its witty writing, its charitable but non-saccharine tone, and the sparkling Hepburn-Tracy relationship between Fleischman and O’Connell (as they referred to each other exclusively). After two short series, CBS renewed the show for an unprecedented 50 episodes, launching a trend for pixie hairstyles popularized by Turner’s character. “When I got back home to Texas, everyone started following me,” Turner recalls over a video call from her ranch, talking a mile a minute and brimming with enthusiasm. “And because there were only three stations at the time, it was a collective American experience. It’s all incredibly watered down now, but back then everyone was watching it on a Monday night. It became water cooler talk.”

It’s easy to see why this series is so popular: it’s inventive and warm, with trippy dream sequences and flashbacks that take the episodes in unexpected directions. There are moments of breaking the fourth wall that give it an element of self-awareness unusual for the time. “Every script was like a short story,” Turner says. “That’s why we as actors had so much fun. One minute I’m speaking Russian, the next minute I’m Amelia Earhart, and the next minute I’m a prehistoric human. It was really fun and very creative.” The show wasn’t afraid to veer into intellectualism, with frequent references to Walt Whitman, Russian literature, Buddhist philosophy, and memorable appearances by Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Franz Kafka.

At the height of the show’s popularity, fan Joni Mitchell told the creators that she was convinced that Shelley’s character’s backstory was based on her own; At one point, she approached the producers to suggest a guest appearance as she left show business and ended up in the fictional city of Sicily, where the show is set. loop containing the phrase “Bon Hiver(“Good Winter” in French) inspired the name of Justin Vernon’s band, Bon Iver, after he worked on a DVD of the show while ill with mononucleosis. “I wouldn’t say we’re responsible for the music,” says Moreau, who usually resides in Los Angeles but speaks from the Hamptons, wearing a bright yellow Kubrick T-shirt. “But that’s a wonderful thing, to know that it influenced him.” Traces of the show can be found in much of the popular culture that followed: Gilmore Girls gossip; the sharp but beautiful depiction of society. Small Town Schitt’s Creek; the cinematic landscape of shows like Severance Over the course of its run, the series has featured Regina King, Jack Black, and Peter Bogdanovich as guest stars.

However, it remains unfamiliar to much of the world – especially younger viewers. For decades, the show was only available on DVD in hard-to-find formats, and languished on the shelf largely due to music rights issues. Many reboots were discussed, but they went nowhere. After extensive discussions with Universal Studios, Turner was able to convince them to make Northern Exposure available for streaming in 2024. All six series are now available on Prime Video, introducing the show to new viewers around the world. “A lot of people who watched it in the ’90s are watching it with their kids,” Morrow says. “It’s a wonderful phenomenon: the idea of ​​a show being around for a long time becomes something you pass on to the next generation.”

Inspired by the renewed interest, Turner and Morrow started a podcast called Northern Disclosure, which launched in May this year, where they rewatch and comment on episodes one by one. So far, guests have included series co-creator Joshua Brand and cast members Eileen Miles and John Corbett (best known as Aidan from Sex and the City), with the latter telling a funny story about a deer’s head. They hope that Joni Mitchell and Justin Vernon will agree to be guests in later episodes.

In many ways, Northern Exposure was ahead of its time. Cecilie and Roslin, the city’s founders, were a gay couple. In the fifth season, the show debuted as one of the premieres Gay weddings on television, which some CBS affiliates refused to broadcast. In another featured episode titled Aurora Borealis, it is revealed that Corbett’s character, former DJ Chris Stevens, has a long-lost half-brother who is African-American; Throughout the film, the portrayal of Native American characters is nuanced and celebrated, through consultants and cast members like Miles, who is Native American. “It was crucial, if we were going to put this fictional city in that area, that Native Americans make up a large portion of it,” Turner says. “And it was wonderful. It brought a cultural richness and richness to American history.” (Turner is now working on a musical about Belva Lockwood, who successfully represented the Cherokee Nation against the United States in the Supreme Court in 1906.)

“I’m proud of the fact that the show addressed these things,” Morrow adds. “She didn’t do it in a didactic way. She did it in a way that explored the spectrum of humanity.”

Certain elements have certainly aged better than others (Shelley is alarmingly young given her history of relationships with some members of the community). But overall, the series made a strong case for acceptance, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. “It shows how we can come together despite our differences,” Morrow says. “Ironically, Joel is a Republican, and I’m a Democrat. And Janine is a Republican and plays a Democrat. So our political values ​​are very different. But everyone seems to find acceptance and still gets along. The community of people on the show was what it was really about, with everyone making decisions together.”

Now 63 and 62 respectively, Morrow and Turner look back on Northern Exposure with great interest; With 110 episodes to work on in the podcast, they’re in it for the long haul. The show launched their careers: Murrow went on to work with Robert Redford on the Quiz Show and hosted Saturday Night Live, while Turner worked with Robert Altman, Sylvester Stallone, and Anthony Hopkins. Both have worked extensively in television and directed short films. In 2000, Moreau directed a feature film called Labyrinth. But mostly, they’re proud that Northern Exposure has stood the test of time. “What moves me is how much the show impacts people,” Morrow says. “I can’t tell you how many people have told me that it saved their lives. That they were in the hospital or their mother was dying and they didn’t know how they were going to get through it; that they decided to move somewhere because of the show, or that they became a doctor because of Joel Fleischman.”

You’ve been waiting a long time to watch a charming, offbeat show about small-town America that will still be talked about in glowing terms decades later, and two come at a time. How did the similarities to Twin Peaks emerge? “I think because we were filming in the same area, and the shows were on the air at the same time, there was probably media competition,” Morrow says. “But the interesting thing is that Twin Peaks might have been a more complex, more interesting, more complex show. But Northern Exposure is the one that won the day. Twin Peaks only lasted two seasons. Northern lasted six seasons.”

Not that it’s a competition. “David Lynch was a brilliant artist,” Morrow adds. “Any comparisons – I’ll accept them.”

Northern Exposure is streaming on Prime Video. New episodes of the Northern Revelation podcast have been released On Tuesdays.