‘It explored the spectrum of humanity’: the enduring pleasures of Northern Exposure

A blond waitress called Shelly is giving a long, strange monologue about an egg sandwich called One Eyed Jack. She works in a diner in the woods in the Pacific north-west, in a town populated by a host of quirky characters: sensitive young men in leather jackets; strong-and-silent types with hearts of gold; and wise, aphoristic members of the local Indigenous community. An intellectual big-city outsider is transplanted into the scene, resulting in various fish-out-of-water encounters and misunderstandings; a will-they-won’t-they flirtation with a glamorous local brunette ensues. Two separate TV shows, both wildly successful in their own ways, fit the above description. Both debuted in 1990, and both were shot about the same time in the mountainous area near Seattle, Washington. One, of course, was Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s era-defining cult series that ran for two series, followed by a 1992 feature film and 2017’s magisterial Twin Peaks: The Return. The other show was Northern Exposure, which ran for six seasons until 1995, making stars of its two leads, Rob Morrow, who starred as sardonic Brooklyn doctor Joel Fleischman, furious at having been stationed in rural Alaska, and Janine Turner, the feisty, independent small-plane pilot Maggie O’Connell, whose boyfriends keep dying in tragic accidents. Originally meant to be a short-term summer series, the show became a word-of-mouth hit thanks to its witty writing, benevolent-but-not-saccharine tone, and the sparky Hepburn-and-Tracy rapport between Fleischman and O’Connell (as they exclusively referred to one another). After two short series, the show was renewed by CBS for an unprecedented 50 episodes, launching a trend for the pixie haircuts popularised by Turner’s character. “When I went back home to Texas everyone started following me around,” recalls Turner, over video call from her ranch, talking a mile a minute and exuding enthusiasm. “Because there were only three stations at the time, it was a collective American experience. Everything now is incredibly diluted, but back then everybody was watching it on Monday night. It became water-cooler talk.” One minute I’m speaking Russian, the next I’m Amelia Earhart, the next I’m a prehistoric humanoid. It was very creative It is easy to see why the show was so popular: it is inventive and warm-hearted, with trippy dream sequences and flashbacks taking episodes in unexpected directions. There are moments of fourth-wall breaking that give it an element of self-awareness unusual for its 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, the next I’m a prehistoric humanoid. It was really fun, very creative.” The show wasn’t afraid to stray into intellectualism, with frequent references to Walt Whitman, Russian literature and Buddhist philosophy, and memorable appearances by Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka. At the height of the show’s fame, fan Joni Mitchell told the creators she was convinced that the character Shelly’s backstory was based on her own; at one point, she contacted the producers to suggest a guest appearance in which she had quit showbusiness and ended up in the fictional town of Cicely, where the show was set. An episode containing the phrase “Bon hiver” (“Good winter” in French) inspired Justin Vernon’s band name, Bon Iver, after he worked through a DVD of the show while sick with mononucleosis. “I’m not going to say we are responsible for the music,” says Morrow, usually based in Los Angeles but speaking from the Hamptons, wearing a bright yellow Kubrick T-shirt. “But that’s a cool thing, to know that it influenced him.” The show’s footprints can be found in much of the popular culture that followed: the loquaciousness of Gilmore Girls; the sharp but sweet depiction of a small-town community in Schitt’s Creek; the cinematic landscapes of shows such as Severance. Across its run, the show received seven Emmy awards and two Golden Globes. Regina King, Jack Black and Peter Bogdanovich appeared as guest stars. And yet, for much of the world – especially younger viewers – it remains unfamiliar. For decades, the show was available only on DVD in difficult-to-find formats, languishing on the shelf largely due to music-rights issues. Several reboots were discussed, but went nowhere. After extensive discussions with Universal Studios, Turner managed to persuade them to make Northern Exposure available to stream in 2024. All six series are now on Prime Video, which has introduced the show to new viewers all around the world. “A lot of people who had watched it in the 90s are watching it with their kids,” says Morrow. “That’s such a fascinating phenomenon: the idea of a show sticking around for so long it becomes something you pass on to the next generation.” Inspired by the renewed interest, Turner and Morrow started a podcast, Northern Disclosure, launched in May this year, in which they rewatch and commentate on episodes one at a time. So far, guests have included the show’s co-creator Joshua Brand and cast members Elaine Miles and John Corbett (perhaps better known as Aidan from Sex and the City), with the latter telling a funny story about a moose head. They are hoping Joni Mitchell and Justin Vernon will agree to be guests on later episodes. It was paramount that, if we were going to place this town in that area, that Native Americans would be a great part of it In many ways, Northern Exposure was ahead of its time. Cicely and Roslyn, the founders of the town, were a lesbian couple; in season five, the show featured one of the first gay weddings on television, which some CBS affiliates refused to air. In another standout episode titled Aurora Borealis, Corbett’s character, ex-con DJ Chris Stevens, turns out to have a long-lost half-brother who is African American; throughout, the depiction of Native American characters is nuanced and celebratory, informed by consultants and cast members such as Miles, who is Native American. “It was paramount that, if we were going to place this fictional town in that area, that Native Americans would be a great part of it,” says Turner. “And it was wonderful. It brought a richness of culture, a richness of American history.” (Turner is now working on a musical about Belva Lockwood, who in 1906 successfully represented the Cherokee Nation v the United States in the supreme court.) “I’m proud of the fact the show dealt with these things,” adds Morrow. “It didn’t do it in a didactic way. It did it in a way that explored the spectrum of humanity.” Inevitably, some elements have aged better than others (Shelly is worryingly young given her relationship history with certain members of the community). But overall, the show made a strong case for acceptance, forgiveness and peaceful coexistence. “It shows how we can come together despite our differences,” says Morrow. “Joel is ironically a Republican; I’m a Democrat. Janine is a Republican, playing a Democrat. So our political values are very different. But everyone seems to find acceptance and still get along. The community of the people on the show was really what it was about, everyone making decisions together.” Related: Best podcasts of the week: Tom Rosenthal chats to strangers on a bench Now 63 and 62, respectively, Morrow and Turner look back on Northern Exposure with great fondness; with 110 episodes to work through on the podcast, they’re in it for the long run. The show launched their careers: Morrow went on to work with Robert Redford on Quiz Show and hosted Saturday Night Live, while Turner worked with Robert Altman, Sylvester Stallone and Anthony Hopkins. Both have worked extensively in TV and directed short films; in 2000, Morrow directed a feature film, Maze. But mostly, they are proud that Northern Exposure has stood the test of time. “What’s moving to me is how deeply the show affected people,” says Morrow. “I can’t tell you how many people have told me it saved their life. That they were in a hospital or their mother was dying and they didn’t know how they were gonna get through it; that they decided to move somewhere because of the show, or that they became a doctor because of Joel Fleischman.” You wait ages for a charming, offbeat show about small-town America that will still be talked about in glowing terms decades later, and two come along at once. How did the similarities to Twin Peaks come about? “I think because we were shooting in the same area, and the shows came on the air at the same time, there was probably a media-born competition,” says Morrow. “But the interesting thing is that Twin Peaks might be a more complicated, interesting show, more sophisticated. But Northern Exposure is the one that won the day. Twin Peaks only lasted two seasons. Northern lasted six.” Not that it’s a competition. “David Lynch was such a master artist,” Morrow adds. “Any comparisons – I’ll take them.” Northern Exposure is streaming on Prime Video. New episodes of the podcast Northern Disclosure are released on Tuesdays.