50 Fun Facts About Northern Exposure
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Take the 50-question quizWhere does Joel Fleischman come from?
The neurotic young doctor from Flushing, Queens expected a modern hospital in Anchorage and got Cicely instead.
Who plays Dr. Joel Fleischman?
His contract fights led to a lawsuit from Universal in 1992 and to his leaving midway through the final season.
Why is Joel obliged to practise medicine in the far north?
He expected a modern hospital in Anchorage and got the only doctor's job in Cicely instead.
How many years does Joel's contract with the state of Alaska run?
The first season is largely about his attempts to get out of it.
On which network did the show air from 1990 to 1995?
It began as an eight-episode mid-season summer replacement in July 1990.
How many episodes were made in total?
The run stretched across six seasons, the first two of them short.
Which duo, also behind St. Elsewhere, created the series?
They resigned in 1994 and later blamed David Chase for running the show into the ground.
Which future Sopranos creator became executive producer in 1994, admittedly for the money?
He said he disliked the show's premise.
Who plays Maurice Minnifield, the ex-astronaut who owns half of Cicely?
The role earned him back-to-back Emmy nominations in 1993 and 1994.
Roughly how much land does Maurice own around Cicely, his dreamed-of 'Alaskan Riviera'?
He also owns the town's newspaper and radio station, and it was he who brought Joel to town.
In which war did Maurice fly as a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut?
He moved to Alaska after retiring from the military in the 1970s.
Who plays bush pilot Maggie O'Connell?
She had eight dollars left and was deeply depressed when she landed the part.
Maggie is a debutante originally from which wealthy Michigan suburb?
Her love-hate relationship with Joel eventually becomes a romance and a brief engagement.
The 'O'Connell curse' refers to what?
One boyfriend, Rick, is killed by a falling satellite; only Joel and Mike Monroe escape the curse.
How is Maggie's pilot boyfriend Rick Pederson killed?
It is the most famous instance of the curse on Maggie's men.
What is The Brick?
The Brick Tavern is a real bar in Roslyn, Washington, where the show was filmed.
Which Tony-winning Broadway veteran plays Holling Vincoeur?
He was Emmy-nominated for the role and later played Mark Greene's father on ER.
Why does Holling fear he will outlive his much younger wife Shelly?
His male ancestors tend to spend their final years as heartbroken widowers.
Shelly Tambo, a former Miss Northwest Passage, comes from which Canadian city?
Maurice brought her to Cicely hoping to marry her; she chose his best friend instead.
Who plays philosophising DJ Chris Stevens?
He later played Aidan Shaw on Sex and the City and released two country albums.
Reading which gay poet on air first gets Chris punched and fired by Maurice?
Maurice fires and rehires him several times over the run of the series.
Where did Chris Stevens do most of his reading before arriving in Cicely?
The ex-convict from West Virginia is also a nondenominational minister who officiates at weddings.
What are the call letters of Cicely's radio station?
The station, like the newspaper, belongs to Maurice.
Ed Chigliak, the aspiring film director, was raised by which Alaska Native people?
The half-native foundling does odd jobs for Maurice and works at the general store.
What is the name of Joel's famously placid, few-worded receptionist?
Her calm is the perfect foil to her high-strung employer.
Ruth-Anne Miller's late-series love interest, fur trapper Walt Kupfer, used to be what?
Ruth-Anne herself is a widow, a film buff and a keen birder.
Which future ER star played Mike Monroe, the hyper-allergic environmentalist nicknamed 'The Bubble Man'?
In an inversion of the O'Connell curse, dating Maggie cures him.
What is the trade of Adam, the belligerent, badly groomed character played by Adam Arkin?
His wealthy hypochondriac wife Eve is played by Valerie Mahaffey, the only cast member to win a Primetime Emmy.
Which cast member was the only one to win a Primetime Emmy for acting on the show?
She won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama in 1992 for playing Eve.
Who replaced Joel as Cicely's doctor in the final season?
He and his reporter wife Michelle were introduced to fill the gap after Rob Morrow's exit.
How was Joel written out of the show?
The producers had steadily reduced his role after he threatened to quit.
In which Washington town were most of the show's exteriors filmed?
The former coal town in the Cascades later hosted The Man in the High Castle too.
What was the name of the moose in the opening titles?
The crew fenced off the town, set him loose and lured him around with food.
Which 1992 episode won writers Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov the Emmy for drama-series writing?
The season-three finale 'Cicely' collected a Peabody, three Creative Arts Emmys and a DGA award the same year.
Which couple married in Northern Exposure's 'I Feel the Earth Move', US prime time's second same-sex wedding?
Fox's Roc had aired the first such wedding in October 1991.
The series won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in which year?
It also won back-to-back Golden Globes for Best Drama Series in 1992 and 1993.
Which writer won a lawsuit claiming the show was his idea, taking $10 million on appeal?
His original idea was about an Italian-American doctor sent to a small Southern town.
Who composed the show's Grammy-nominated theme, which reached the Billboard adult contemporary chart?
It was his first network series; he later scored Deadwood and Arrested Development.
Why were fans angry about the Region 1 DVD releases after season one?
The season-one set kept the original songs but retailed for $60 because of licensing costs.
The move to which timeslot in 1995 did executive producer Andrew Schneider blame for killing the show?
CBS announced the cancellation on May 24, 1995, and the finale aired that July.
Which cast member's company crowdfunded 'Northern Exposure: Home Again' in 2016?
The Ed Chigliak actor pressed on despite missing the $100,000 goal; a later CBS revival attempt was dropped in 2019.
From which US state does DJ Chris Stevens hail?
The ex-convict doubles as a nondenominational clergyman and occasionally officiates at Cicely weddings.
Who plays Shelly Tambo, the teenage waitress who marries Holling?
The character was planned as a Native American until Geary was cast.
Who plays Ruth-Anne Miller, the level-headed owner of Cicely's general store?
Ruth-Anne is a 30-year resident of the town, a keen birder and, like Ed, a film buff.
Which Canadian actor plays Leonard Quinhagak, the local shaman and Marilyn's cousin?
Other recurring roles included Lester Haines, a native millionaire played by Apesanahkwat.
Which actress played Michelle, reporter wife of the doctor who replaced Joel in season six?
Michelle works for the newspaper owned by Maurice; her husband came up from Los Angeles.
Which 1994 episode earned the show an Emmy for sound editing?
It was the last of seven Emmys the cast and crew won from 39 nominations.
Which Fox sitcom beat the show to US prime time's first same-sex wedding, in October 1991?
Its episode 'Can't Help Loving That Man' came first; Northern Exposure's arc followed in season five.
Whose captive herd supplied the moose seen in the opening titles?
The crew fenced off the town of Roslyn, set him loose and lured him around with food to shoot the sequence.
How many Golden Globes for Best Drama Series did the show win?
Morrow and Turner were each nominated three years running without winning, and Corbett was nominated once.
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