Northern Exposure

Main characters

• The central character was Joel Fleischman (played by Rob Morrow), a young New York Jewish doctor who is contractually obligated to practice in the tiny remote Alaskan town of Cicely for four years, in order to repay a student loan from the state. The comedy centered originally on the clash between Fleischman's rather neurotic urban mindset and the individual, easy-going and community-minded people around him. As time went on, the show began to focus more and more on the quirky characters of the town.
• Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin), ex-astronaut, aging millionaire, entrepreneur, and all-American hero. Determined to make tiny Cicely the next boomtown: the "Alaskan Riviera," in his own words.
• Chris Stevens (John Corbett), the philosophical ex-felon DJ, who intersperses the music of his morning show with musings on the nature of life and readings of everything from philosophy to Tolstoy and Where the Wild Things Are. Chris is also the interfaith minister, a title achieved by completing a course he found in the back of a Rolling Stone magazine.
• Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner), fiery, independent, yet somewhat neurotic bush-pilot, whose boyfriends all die in bizarre accidents. She has the mother of all love-hate relationships with Fleischman.
• Shelly Tambo (Cynthia Geary) Northwest Passage beauty pageant winner, brought to Cicely by Maurice, who had fallen in love with her. Shortly after her arrival she met and fell in love with Holling. She almost becomes a bigamist when she almost marries Holling, as she is still married to Wayne (a hockey player in Saskatchewan).
• Holling Vincoeur (John Cullum), the sexagenarian ex-hunter, now given up killing, and the owner of 'The Brick' bar and restaurant, where he lives with Shelly Tambo. Best friend of Maurice until they fell out over Shelly, his main worry is that, since the males of his family mostly live to over 100, Shelly will die before he does.
• Ruth-Anne Miller (Peg Phillips) octogenarian owner of the local store.
• Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows), a shy Native foundling and general go-fer for Maurice. Learned everything he knows about life and the outside world from movies, especially those of Woody Allen. Ed is a Shaman-in-training and is occasionally visited by his invisible spirit guide, "One Who Waits". Ed has written, directed, and produced his own film about Cicely, AK.
• Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles), Fleishman's self-appointed receptionist and Buddha-like dispenser of native wisdom and common sense. Never uses one word where none will do.
• Phil Capra (Paul Provenza), Joel's replacement as town doctor after the former takes to the wilderness. A refugee from the urban hustle of Los Angeles, Phil is more gracious than Joel in a small town setting, but perhaps even more hapless.
• Michelle Schowdowski Capra (Teri Polo), Phil's wife. Worked as a reporter on newspaper owned by Maurice. When he started applying publishorial pressure, she decided she preferred waitressing at the brick. Has had visions of Joel's old rabbi, Schulman.

Recurring guest stars included:

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• Adam Arkin, son of Alan Arkin, as wildman/gourmet chef/possible ex-CIA agent Adam.
• Richard Cummings Jr. as Bernard Stevens, Chris's "half-brother and spiritual doppelganger", Chris and Bernard's relationship extend beyond that of merely half-brothers, as they have a bond that has manifested itself in shared dreams, emotions, and thoughts.
• Anthony Edwards as the hyperallergic lawyer Mike Monroe, exiled to Cicely for the sake of his health.
• Grant Goodeve as Rick, Maggie's season one boyfriend, who died when an errant satellite fell upon him during a camping trip.
• Graham Greene as Leonard Quinhagak, the native medicine man and Ed's mentor.
• Valerie Mahaffey as Adam's hypochondriac wife Eve. Heiress to her family fortune, she and Adam are jetsetters, who live in a meager cabin outside of Cicely.
• William J. White as Dave, the cook.

It is also worth noting the involvement of series creator/producer/writer David Chase, who went on to bring The Sopranos to prominence.

Related Topics:
David Chase - The Sopranos

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