Northern Exposure

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Jonah
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Northern Exposure

Post by Jonah »

I found an old thread started by Jerry (http://www.dugpa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2458) but thought we needed a new one.

Anyone a fan of this show? It aired around the same time as Twin Peaks and had some parallels and crossovers, including a clip I've shared below, along with a few articles. I'm rewatching it now (slowly) along with China Beach (I've previously watched all of NE on DVD several years ago but never saw all of CB apart from Season 1 so that's getting more priority right now - I'm almost done with Season 2, but when it gets heavy, I pop on some NE in the middle. Somehow Dexter has also crept in!)

Like China Beach, Northern Exposure had lots of issues with music rights that prevented it going on a streaming service. Thankfully, it was all released on DVD.

The Twin Peaks reference:


More here: https://www.twinpeaks.tv/2011/07/refere ... peaks.html

Other scenes that gives you an idea of the feel of the show if you've never seen it.





Missing Twin Peaks? There’s never been a better time to watch Northern Exposure https://lwlies.com/articles/twin-peaks- ... t-tv-show/
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Re: Northern Exposure

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I love Northern Exposure! The only thing stopping me from listing it among my favourite series is the fact that I haven't seen it in its entirety, but since it's popular in my homeland (where it's known as Život na sjeveru / Life in the North), I watched a lot of it on the national television as a teenager, from the pilot all the way to the last episodes. I plan to watch it again sometime in the next few years.

Regarding the music and the Blu-ray release, this is what Wikipedia says: "On March 19, 2018, Fabulous Films released the entire series on Blu-ray in the UK. Unlike the DVDs, the Blu-rays retain all its original music." It seems that the DVDs, therefore, don't retain all the music? (I guess it depends, there were multiple releases.)

And did you know that a revival was planned? Supposedly, despite the death of John Falsey (one of the creators), and the subsequent decision of CBS to cancel the development work on the series, Joshua Brand and Rob Morrow are still trying to push the project forward.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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Thanks for replying. I have heard a revival was going ahead but it didn't get to green light, though they're still trying, but I feel it may not happen given its parent network didn't want it. Hadn't heard about the Blu-Rays. That's interesting. Might check them out but will probably stick to my DVDs. I first saw them that way for the most part, though had I been a bigger fan when they were on TV I'd probably miss the original music more. I think the DVDs do retain some of the original songs and make a good job of substituting others - but I guess it depends how important the music is to you.

I noticed two of the three videos I shared above aren't visible in my country now. They show error messages saying blocked on copyright grounds. They were visible on Youtube when I uploaded them so not sure what happened. Can other people see them in other countries or are they blocked everywhere? There is another clip of the Twin Peaks reference in another language floating around. Shame if it's not visible. I also linked to an article that explains it above if people can't see it.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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Jonah wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:24 am Thanks for replying. I have heard a revival was going ahead but it didn't get to green light, though they're still trying, but I feel it may not happen given its parent network didn't want it. Hadn't heard about the Blu-Rays. That's interesting. Might check them out but will probably stick to my DVDs. I first saw them that way for the most part, though had I been a bigger fan when they were on TV I'd probably miss the original music more. I think the DVDs do retain some of the original songs and make a good job of substituting others - but I guess it depends how important the music is to you.

I noticed two of the three videos I shared above aren't visible in my country now. They show error messages saying blocked on copyright grounds. They were visible on Youtube when I uploaded them so not sure what happened. Can other people see them in other countries or are they blocked everywhere? There is another clip of the Twin Peaks reference in another language floating around. Shame if it's not visible. I also linked to an article that explains it above if people can't see it.
Not sure what your country is, but can't see them in the United States.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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I can see them without any issues.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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Looks like they're visible in Europe but not US. My browser had a Windscribe VPN I forgot about (I don't know much about VPNs but had tried the Chrome add-on, I think I was trying to see if I could view the new Dexter on Showtime but it didn't work, thankfully it's on Sky here) that I figured out how to turn off and now I can see them too which explains the little mystery why I could see them at first, then couldn't (and now can again). American fans, let me know if you can find alternative clips on Youtube. There should be a few. Seems like they're blocked by NBC but allowed in the EU.

Back to the show itself, I don't think it ever got a proper finale. Rob Morrow left only more than halfway through the final season so there's only 8 episodes without him, but the last episode doesn't act as a grand finale to the best of my knowledge. They must have been planning a Season 7 before it was cancelled.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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I remember it being promoted as 'like Twin Peaks' during Season 2 of Twin Peaks; I never watched it myself. My mother did and she loved it.

I probably would check it out if it were streaming, but I don't think I'm motivated enough to get the DVD.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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It's like TP mainly in that it's quirky and set in a small town and I suppose there might be some overlap between Washington and Alaska locations, but it doesn't have any of the murder mystery or darker vibes. I suppose "TP light" might be a way to describe it but it's very much it's own thing. If you also like China Beach, it's among the better television shows from the early 90's. It's very existential and fun.

It's a shame it and CB aren't available on streaming. They're probably still available online, just not officially. I recently bought the CB DVD set so I could watch it properly and I'm just a bit over halfway through Season 2. It's a harder watch that I find difficult to binge - I will still binge about half a dozen episodes here and there, then take a break. Even though I could speed through something like Dexter quite fast despite its dark themes (recently whizzed through 4 seasons on rewach), I'm finding it harder to do that with CB. NE would be an easy binge if you've never seen it before but am taking it slowly too. I don't necessarily even want to watch every single episode again as I've got a huge to watch list, but I might. I bought the DVDs years ago. Curious now about these new Blu-Rays mentioned above. Not sure I'll get them but will check them out.
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Re: Northern Exposure

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Since you mentioned VPNs, I have a question for you, Jonah: I'm thinking of subscribing to The Criterion Channel, but as of this moment, it's only available in Canada and the US. However, I have heard that if I create a VPN and connect to, let's say, a US server, I might be able to sign up and create an account. Do you think that could be possible?
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Re: Northern Exposure

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I have no idea, I'm afraid. Someone else here on the board might be better equipped to answer that question - or you'd probably get some decent answers if you asked on reddit. My experience with VPNs is very limited. I do believe Protonmail has a decent free Proton VPN but really I've only tried them a couple of times and quickly lost interest. I tried Windscribe, a Chrome add-on to see if I could access Dexter on Showtime and it didn't work so that's pretty much where my interest in them ended. I do remember I also tried to access a movie on Peacock and when I put in my credit card it blocked me as it was a European card, not an American one, so again it didn't work for me. My understanding is even if you successfully make your IP look like it's coming from the States, the credit card/Paypal part of the process could still block you. But I imagine with something like Criterion it's been well tried and tested by now by a few people and if you google it along with reddit you'll get a few hits on what to do/not to do and if it works. There are probably steps that do work but for me when they didn't work on the first try I gave up and just waited until I could watch them here on Sky. Criterion is something that should be made available worldwide. I'd sign up for that too if it ever is. So far, streaming in the US seems vastly superior to what we're offered here in Europe(and less expensive too).
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Re: Northern Exposure

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Worth a read - but some spoilers if you haven't seen it.

https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/ma ... ears-later

I've watched it all in the past on DVD and am currently rewatching (slowly - just finished Season 2). I remembered the cast change in the final season but not sure I realised Seasons 1 - 4 were the peak and David Chase - of the "Sopranos" - took over from main creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey for the last 2 seasons (who also created "St. Elsewhere" and an early 90's show I never saw, "I'll Fly Away", but maybe others here did?). Imagine if he had taken over "Twin Peaks"!
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Re: Northern Exposure

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Why I love this show - a clip from the most recent episode I watched:



NE is like a "nice" Twin Peaks but I've already skipped a few episodes that were too heavy dealing with certain themes (I'll go back to them), so it's not always light. It's very, very much in the same world as TP though imo, and you know I wouldn't have hated it had TP turned into a version of NE had it kept going. It's what TP should have been when not focusing on the Laura Palmer mystery. So while it can be quirky, silly, it's never mid Season 2 TP level silly, and it does deal with a lot of deep, existential, heavy themes as well. Just a beautiful show. Can't recommend it enough.

One more thing about NE I want to mention here - it's based on a town in Alaska (Talkeetna) but filmed in and around Roslyn, Washington. I think it being filmed in Washington also makes it feel like TP. (How great would it have been if the full series of TP had been filmed there too beyond the pilot/FWWM/the Return?)
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Re: Northern Exposure

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By the way, if anyone can't see the above videos or they are copyright locked, note that they're not in the UK/most of Europe but they might be in the US or elsewhere. Feel free to share a copy from US or other Youtube if you can find any of the videos with same titles as they're great little clips.

I'm really enjoying rewatching this and have to say again, next to Carnivale (and at times LOST) it's the closest TP "feel" I can recommend (just no mystery/thriller elements).
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Re: Northern Exposure

Post by Stavrogyn »

Jonah wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:16 pm NE is like a "nice" Twin Peaks (...) and it does deal with a lot of deep, existential, heavy themes as well. Just a beautiful show. Can't recommend it enough.
This is how I always felt about it. A great show, I can't wait to watch it again and this time in its entirety. Your posts definitely inspire me to do it sooner than later!
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Re: Northern Exposure

Post by Jonah »

Great to hear, Stavrogyn! I'm definitely enjoying this rewatch. (Also dipping into Due South a lot.)
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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