Northern Exposure - Television Tropes & Idioms

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Northern Exposure

It's like brother Nietzsche said — being human is a complicated gig, so give that dark night of the soul a hug and howl the eternal yes. — Chris Stevens

The exception to the Too Good To Last rule. Every once in a great while, a show that seems to fit the profile actually makes it. Case in point: Northern Exposure. (Intelligent, well-written show, check. Subtle blend of comedy and drama, check. Beloved of fans and critics, check.) It came on in its first season as a Midseason Replacement, and had only a handful of episodes. It wasn't picked up for the fall, but was held back as a mid-season replacement again, so its second season also had just a handful of episodes. Which would seem just right for the chopping block — but it went on to have four full seasons after that.

The story:

Joel Fleischman is a young doctor from New York City, fresh from med school, who is contractually obliged to practice medicine in the small town of Cicely, Alaska as part of a financial aid package from the state. As Fleischman dreams of escaping Cicely, the locals all seem to be escaping from the rest of the world.

The quirky locals include:

Maurice Minnifield, a millionaire former astronaut who wants to turn his 15,000 acres of nearby land into an attractive vacation spot on the "new Alaskan Riviera".
Maggie O'Connell, a bush pilot from a rich family who has a love-hate relationship with Fleischman
Marilyn Whirlwind, the laconic, native Alaskan receptionist who patiently listens to all Fleischman's non-stop whining
Chris Stevens, the philosophic DJ at the local radio station
Ed Chigliak, a native Alaskan with an affable lack of tact and an encyclopedic knowledge of film.

The show holds a stylistic similarity to Twin Peaks, with its use of extensive dream imagery, fantasy elements, and symbolism to explore its characters, and was one of the most successful "stealth fantasy" shows (in that most fans of the show would never admit that it was a fantasy show) in network television history. It lasted a single season after Rob Morrow left the show, and Fleischman was Jonas Quinned by Paul Provenza's character Phil Capra.

This show provides examples of:

Breaking The Fourth Wall
Cannot Live With Them Cannot Live Without Them: Adam and Eve
Commedia dell'Arte Troupe
Crazy Cultural Comparison: The Eskimo Indians celebrating Thanksgiving as "The Day of the Dead," where they throw tomatoes at white people.
Dream Sequence
Dropped A Bridge On Him
Fish Out Of Water
Eccentric Townsfolk
Not So Imaginary Friend: Adam, originally.
Jonas Quinn: To be fair, Dr. Capra was a very different character and the focus of the show had already widened to the point that no one character was integral to the series.
Magic Realism (and the Scifi Ghetto)
Meaningful Name (Appropriate Name, at least. Holling Vincoeur runs the local bar; his surname is French for 'Wineheart', although nobody pronounces it very Frenchly.)
Quirky Town
Salt And Pepper: Chris and Bernard, a white guy/black guy pair of half-brothers who are more or less exactly the same person.
Straw Feminist: Maggie started out as a strong, independent woman, but she degenerated in later seasons into a caricature.
Takahashi Couple (Joel and Maggie)
Troll Bridge
Two Lines No Waiting
Welcome Episode