History Series / NorthernExposure

Joel Fleischman (Creator/RobMorrow) is a young doctor from New York City, fresh out of med school, who is contractually obligated to practice medicine in the small town of Cicely, Alaska (pop. 215) 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.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: 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.

* CanadaEh: "Northern Hospitality."

''Northern Exposure'' was an American {{Dramedy}} series co-created by Creator/JoshuaBrand and Creator/JohnFalsey, which aired for five seasons (1990–95) on Creator/{{CBS}}. It is a relatively rare US example of the "Northern" – a more typically Canadian frontier drama akin to TheWestern, but taking place in the sub-Arctic regions of northern UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} and UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}.

''Northern Exposure'' was an American {{Dramedy}} series created by Creator/JoshuaBrand and Creator/JohnFalsey, which aired for five seasons (1990–95) on Creator/{{CBS}}. It is a relatively rare US example of the "Northern" – a more typically Canadian frontier drama akin to TheWestern, but taking place in the sub-Arctic regions of northern UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} and UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}.

Joel Fleischman (Creator/RobMorrow) is a young doctor from New York City, fresh out of 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 town's quirky residents include:

[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Northern_Exposure_7162.jpg]]

''Northern Exposure'' was a {{Dramedy}} that ran on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1990 to 1995. It is a relatively rare American example of the "Northern"--a more usually Canadian frontier drama akin to TheWestern, but set in the modern-day Arctic (well, sub-Arctic).

Joel Fleischman (Creator/RobMorrow) 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.

** Too bad it wasn't [[JustForPun macaroni salad]].

** "The Quest" features a hermit soldier left behind from when Japan controlled the Aleutian Islands.

** The WholeEpisodeFlashback "Zarya" features Princess Anastasia of Russia, who survived the Revolution in secret and is living in secret in an Alaskan colony with a handful of soldiers, a minister, a priest, and a few servants, while warily conducting peace negotiations with UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin.

* TheRemnant: One of these guys featured in one episode, from when Japan controlled the Aleutian Islands
* RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear: Often averted when characters are speaking in foreign languages, and characters unfamiliar with the language have to stumble through as best they can, just like the audience does. But played somewhat straight when Marilyn dates a man who only communicates via sign language. It's probably the most dialogue Marilyn has had in any episode up until that point.
* RaisedByNatives: Ed.

* SiegeEngines: Chris builds a trebuchet, called the Fling, for an art project. He initially plans to fling a cow; when Ed tells him that Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail already did it, he instead flings Maggie's fire-damaged piano.

* TheUnsolvedMystery: In "All is Vanity", a man who no one in the small town knows drops dead of natural causes in Joel's waiting room, and the episode ends with it remaining unknown who he was or what he was doing in either Cicely or the waiting room.

** An episode where Chris is on trial for skipping parole and his lawyer, Mike Monroe, knows he has no real case, seems to head straight into this when they try to make the metaphysical argument that Chris is a different person now. [[spoiler: It's subverted when the judge, who has humored their ridiculous argument for several days, still sentences Chris to finishing his prison term, but is lenient enough to stay the sentence for three years, having become someone sympathetic to Chris during her time in Cicely.]]

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Rick became a victim of "The O'Connell Curse" when he got a ''satellite'' dropped on him.]]

* EasyAmnesia: In the episode after [[spoiler: Joel and Maggie have sex]], Maggie seems to genuinely not remember what happened.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Chris deals with this in his usual [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat open-minded manner]] when he finds himself inexplicably sexually attracted to a man who never speaks. The worst part? It happens in the middle of a spiritual retreat at a monastery, and the man in question is one of the monks. [[spoiler: Subverted when the monk's hood finally comes off and the character is revealed to be a woman.]]

** Officer Barbara Semanski. Chris name-checks this trope in reference to her at one point. In that very same episode, she arrests [[spoiler: Joel]] for ''gambling''. While off duty. ''In the middle of a date.''

* KidFromTheFuture: In "Hello, I Love You," Shelly, who is overdue to give birth, meets [[spoiler: three young girls who are actually future versions of the daughter she's about to give birth to.]]
* LastNameBasis: Maggie and Joel pretty much always refer to each other as "Fleischman" and "O'Connell". [[spoiler: Even after they've slept together.]]

** Maurice has a [[spoiler: half-Korean son]].
** Holling has a [[spoiler: daughter who was conceived after he was told he was sterile]].

** Joel has a twin brother. [[spoiler: [[AllJustADream No, he doesn't.]]]]

* MusicalEpisode: "Old Tree" is like this, but only for "Shelly". It's apparently a side effect of [[spoiler: her pregnancy]]. Holling joins her for a duet near the end of the episode.

* {{Racist Grand|ma}}pa: Maurice, though he isn't as crotchety about this as many characters who fit the trope. He's reasonably tolerant himself, but his speech often reflects a belief that whites are superior. [[spoiler: This is especially troublesome for him when he learns that he has a half-Korean son.]]

** Rick. After [[spoiler: he dies]], he tells Maggie in a dream sequence that he's slept with ''2,500 women''.

** Enrico Belotti, "The Flying Man" who arrives in Cicely with the circus. Communicating only in sign language, he makes Marilyn (who happens to be the object of his affection) seem rather talkative in comparison. [[spoiler: He does actually speak to Marilyn in his second appearance, though he still prefers not to do it unless he has something extremely important to say.]] Oh, and yes, he really can fly.
* SlapSlapKiss: You can probably see this coming from a mile away in the episode that begins with Maggie punching Joel in the nose. Despite being dared to hit her back, Joel retaliates in the form of legal action... [[EscalatingWar and it just gets worse from there]] until [[spoiler: a fight at the climax of the episode turns into a literal roll in the hay]].

** Later in Season 6, [[spoiler: Chris seems to get set up as one of these in the shipping department, since Joel's departure has left Maggie without a love interest and Dr. Capra is, well, married.]]

* TwinSwitch: In one episode, [[spoiler: Joel Fleischman]]'s twin brother [[spoiler: Jules]] shows up in Cicely. Let's just say [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling he's a bit more laid back than his brother]]. He gradually persuades his brother to switch places with him for a day, during which HilarityEnsues on both ends. We've conveniently never heard of him before ([[spoiler: and as it turns out, neither has Joel, because it was AllJustADream]]).

* OneShotCharacter: bunches of them. For example:
** Russian visitor Nikolai in "War and Peace."
** "Get Real" has Enrico Belotti the Flying Man, of course, but also Steve and Adrienne Gould, nuclear scientists turned circus proprietors, and their precocious daughter Nina.
** The recently-widowed Solvang in "The Three Amigos."
** Several of the chatacters mentioned in the LongLostRelative entry above only show up once.

** Ranger Burns, who mans the [[GoMadFromTheIsolation isolated fire watch tower]] in "Aurora Borealis."

** Several of the chatacters mentioned in the LongLostRelative entry above also qualify.