Great Television

Thanks to the magic of the Internets, I've been catching up on old episodes of Northern Exposure, one of the sharpest TV series of the past twenty years. Though the first two seasons are available on DVD (wrapped in smart parka jackets) and a third is due this spring, NX seems to have missed the TV revival boat. Perhaps North Americans are still not ready for a show that's principally about a pushy New York Jew doctor forced to spend the first years of his post-med school career practicing in the backwater Alaska town of Cicely. Though Ally MacBeal is credited with innovating the genre of the 60-minute dramedy, NX was the real deal. Created by the duo of Joshua Brand and John Falsey, and executive produced by David Chase, who's Sopranos is the best thing to happen to TV since colour, the show was a modest hit for CBS in the nineties. Known for its fish-out-of-water premise, which may have turned off many potential fans, NX featured the deepest, sharpest cast of characters on television. It presented a unique take on modern American life, engaging issues of nature and technology, the meaning of community and the clear-eyed warmth that makes any day above ground great.

Surprisingly, Brand and Falsey haven't done much show biz work since leaving the show partway through its run. While Chase has found a niche with the Sopranos, B&F couldn't make smart succeed the way it should have.

In the age of the DVD, when television is seen as a unique cultural identifier and audience segmentation means a success doesn't have to be huge, Northern Exposure, with its warm, talented cast and razor sharp writing, should stand out. That it made it to network television in prime time - odd for a show as kooky as NX - has always made it somewhat unique. That nothing like it has come since is both a shame and obvious. In a medium that craves uniqueness but rewards bland mimicry more than any other, there will never be anything quite like Northern Exposure.