Every once in a while a TV show comes along that is an instant hint, a show that everyone seems to watch and talks about over the water cooler the next day.  In 1990 a show like that hit the airwaves:  Twin Peaks.  (You thought I was going to say Northern Exposure, didn't you?)  By the time that the first season of only 8 episodes had finished airing, there were Twin Peaks books and audiotapes, talk shows discussed it, and there were even odds makers taking bets on who killed Laura Palmer.

With a show that popular, it is natural that imitations would pop up.  Like the spate of 'reality' based TV shows that have popped up in the wake of Survivor, several Twin Peaks look-a-likes started turning up.  Shows that took place in small towns and were inhabited by weird people.  Eerie Indiana and Picket Fences are two examples.  When Northern Exposure hit the airwaves with its cast of odd and eccentric characters set in Alaska, I dismissed it right away as a Twin Peaks clone.  That was a mistake.  Though Northern Exposure does owe a lot to David Lynch's groundbreaking TV series, it isn't trying to copy or mimic it.

Northern Exposure is the story of Joel Fleischman.  He wanted to become a doctor, but didn't have the money for medical school so he accepted a scholarship form the state of Alaska.  In exchange for paying his $110,000 tuition, he agreed to practice medicine in Alaska for four years after graduation.  Thinking that he is going to be working in a large hospital in Anchorage, Dr. Fleischman is resigned, if not enthusiastic about his new job.  He'd much rather have an office on Park Avenue in New York City and play golf four days a week, but he can handle a few years in Alaska.  Or so he thinks.

When he arrives, the head of the hospital tells him that they have no use for him.  They have enough new doctors as it is.  So Joel gets assigned to the small town of Cicely, a rural backwaters town with only a few hundred people, all of them odd in one way or another.  From ex-astronaut and land baron Maurice Minnifield who warns Joel that he'll kill him if he tries to leave, to Ed an Indian who thinks it is impolite to knock, the town seems set on driving Joel mad.  This is a 'fish out of water' case taken to extremes.

Fleischman's main nemesis, if you could call her that, is Maggie O'Connell, a local pilot and Joel's landlord.  She is very attractive and independent, but has bad luck when it comes to boyfriends.  They all seem to die on her.  She can't stand Joel's condescending attitude, though you get the feeling that she is attracted to him.   They are constantly butting heads on just about everything, but still have this strange attraction.

The stories mainly revolve around Joel and Maggie's fights, or the trouble a local resident manages to get into.  Sometimes both.  Unlike Twin Peaks, the strange personalities are not a main attraction of the show.  They are just the groundwork that the plots are laid on.   And there are no mysterious happenings or supernatural events in this show either.   Its strength comes from the interactions of the characters.

Based on having seen only this first season, Northern Exposure is a mediocre show.   It's not a bad program at all; it is a well-produced and fairly well written show.  There just isn't anything that compels me to seek out more episodes.  The main problem I have is that I can't relate to the main character, Dr. Fleischman.  He comes across as an arrogant, insensitive, condescending, egomaniac.  Sure there are moments when he seems nice, but he quickly reverts back to looking down his nose at everyone.  From being bored teaching woman about prenatal care to implying that the important package that he has Maggie pick up contains vital medical supplies, when it is really a box of bagels from New York, Joel seems to think that the world revolves around him.  I just couldn't relate to him at all.

I was also surprised to find out that there wasn't a lot of continuity to the show.  To the contrary, there were a few story lines that were not resolved, and never brought up again (in this season at least.  So what DID they every do with Soapy's dogs?)  I assume that later seasons will be more closely tied together, but aside from an occasional reference to something that happened earlier, all of the shows were self-contained.  There isn't much development of the main characters over the course of this season either.  You could pretty much watch these in any order (aside from the pilot) and it would not seem unnatural.

The entire first season is included in this set.  The episodes are:

Pilot:  Dr. Joel Fleischman arrives in Cicely Alaska, and instantly hates it.

Brains, Know How and Native Intelligence:  An Indian Medicine Man has cancer, but doesn't want to be treated by non-traditional methods, although he realizes that it will probably kill him.

Soapy Sanderson:  A friend of Maggie's is getting on in years and having problems walking.  Rather than rely on a walker, Soapy kills himself. He leaves all of his property jointly to Joel and Maggie, and that's when the fur starts to fly.

Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens:  62 year old Holling, the owner of the local bar, proposes to his 18 year old girlfriend Shelly when he learns that she is pregnant.  But then he gets cold feet.

Russian Flu:  Joel's fiancée, Elaine, flies in from New York for the weekend.  Unfortunately everyone in town comes down with the flu, including Elaine.  This is one of the better shows of the season.

Sex, Lies and Ed's Tapes:  Ed tries to write a screenplay and finds it is harder than it looks.  Meanwhile a guy drops into the bar looking for Shelly; it's her husband.

A Kodiak Moment:  Holling is after a large bear that he once fought years ago, Jessie.  But Shelly comes along with him and is more of a distraction than help.

Aurora Borealis:  When Joel finds some large human looking tracks in the mud, he learns about the legend of "Adam" a large green humanoid that has been blamed for all the trouble in the area for the last 20 years.  The morning DJ, Chris, meets a traveler and they find out they have a lot in common, much more than they'd ever imagined.

The eight episodes that comprise the first season are on two double-sided DVDs.  There are a couple of irritating things about this DVD set.  First off, there are forced commercials on the first side of the first DVD.  You can fast forward through them, but the menu and chapter skip buttons were disabled.  The other thing that bothered me is that the sides on the first DVD are mislabeled, and there is no identification on the menus themselves, nor are the episodes numbered.  The upshot is that it's really easy to watch the first 15 minutes of the third episode, assuming that it is the pilot, wondering what the heck is going on.

This DVD set also has a very high suggested retail price.  The nearly $60 price for 8 episodes makes this on of the most expensive sets that have been released lately.

One the positive side, the DVD comes packed in a neat parka-like slipcase that zippers up the front with a moose silhouette pull.  It is a nice packaging gimmick, and I'm a sucker for those.

Audio:

The two channel Dolby surround sound was very good for a TV show.  The bass guitar in the theme song is full and, while not pounding, it is deep.  The background noises come through come through cleanly and add a lot to the atmosphere of the show.  The lapping of the waves against the shore, and the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees are low but clear.  The dialog was very crisp and there was no hiss or distortion.  There are subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

Video:

This DVD set looks good.   The full frame image is sharp and clear, and the colors look accurate.  There is a very little aliasing in some scenes, but it is minimal. A great looking picture.

The Extras:

Deleted and extended scenes:  There are several minutes worth of deleted scenes from each episode.  Most of them are inconsequential, but there was one scene from the second show that really shouldn't have been cut.  I thought it filled the plot line out a little more.  There was also a scene from the third show where Soapy enumerated all of the men that Maggie had dated who died.  That was an amusing scene.

Video Documentary Footage:  The footage filmed for the documentary that was made during episode three.  9 minutes long.

Mock Movie Footage:  Footage that was filmed for Ed's daydreaming fantasies in Episode six.  11 minutes long.

Unexposed footage:  A blooper reels from each episode, generally 4-6 minutes per episode.  Some of these are funny, but a lot are just the actors messing up.

Final Thoughts:

It is ironic that this show that was heavily influenced by Twin Peaks ended up lasting much longer than the source show.  Northern Exposure ended up lasting six seasons, which is a very good run.  This short first season of eight programs hints that better things are to come.  While it is a good show, it isn't a great program yet.  There is almost no continuity, very little character development, and a fairly obnoxious main character.  Though there is not a lot that makes my want to rush to the next episode, the series is well written and acted.  Avid fans of the show should pick this up, but given the very high price people who haven't seen the show should rent it first.