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Positive:
17
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
Aug 12, 2013
Season 3 Review:
While it might look like a serious show, it's played strictly for laughs, and it has in fact become one of the funniest -- and most inventive -- shows in primetime... Northern Exposure is refreshing in the way it breaks all the rules of format and comes out on top. As it proves week after week, it remains the most charming, witty and rewarding show on television. [23 Sept 1991]
Aug 11, 2013
Season 1 Review:
An oasis of becalmed eccentricity, this backwoods burg is a serene paradise of quirky humor and offbeat pathos. Here, using that old city-boy- meets-country-sages routine, is a show where intelligence, not ignorance, is bliss. [12 July 1990, p.3D]
Jul 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
It's just as good as I remembered. Even better, if that's possible. [8 Apr 1991]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 3 Review:
The series, a marvelous blending of comedy and drama, has been almost too good to be true for both the network and viewers. [23 Sept 1991]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Former fans of "Twin Peaks" who feel that show has become too ridiculous to bear may find the snowy terrain of Northern Exposure a pleasing substitute. The series seems to have struck a happy balance: just ridiculous enough. [8 Apr 1991, p.C2]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Viewers who find Twin Peaks too weird, thirtysomething too whiny and L.A. Law too slick should look north . . . north to Alaska . . . specifically to tiny Cicely, where Dr. Joel Fleischman resumes his medical practice tonight...But don't worry that Northern Exposure is overly odd. This gently witty show, from the creators of "St. Elsewhere", breaks the rules of television physics: It remains down-to-earth, yet soars. [8 Apr 1991, p.C1]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Here's a show full of delightful surprises, with something for everyone. It's hard to imagine anyone resisting its many charms. Twin Peaks too ponderous? Lawyer shows too heavy (and too many)? Sitcoms too silly? As Goldilocks said of the little bear's porridge, this one gets it just right. [8 Apr 1991, p.1D]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Northern Exposure returns with its comic sensibilities hilariously and charmingly intact...This is a show that has the potential - with its near-perfect ensemble and engaging style - to join the ranks of TV's best comedies.[8 Apr 1991, p.5]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Compared to much of what passes for comedy (and drama) in prime time, North ern Exposure is wonderful. The writers rarely condescend and they seem to assume (Oh, heresy!) that there are some intelligent people watching television. [8 Apr 1991]
Aug 11, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The show's quirkiness is neatly mixed with a familiar fish-out-of-water theme, and its sensibilities are nicely in touch with soft humanity. It's delightful. [12 July 1990, p.17]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 3 Review:
Like other creatively ground-breaking series -- it slightly resembles Cheers, St. Elsewhere, Moonlighting and Twin Peaks -- Exposure beguiles its audience with unusual stories that take television to a new frontier. [23 Sept 1991, p.C1]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
As it was before, it's a wonderfully quirky show, funny and warm and all that good stuff. [8 Apr 1991, p.C-7]
Aug 11, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The only major kink in Northern Exposure is its tendency to have Fleischman and the others expose their flaws only to finish each episode by doing the good and right thing, as if guided by some invisible magic wand. Otherwise, this is magical stuff that deserves a permanent spot on the CBS schedule. [12 July 1990, p.10]
Aug 12, 2013
Season 2 Review:
What's most becoming about the program is its eccentric sense of community. [8 Apr 1991, p.38]
Aug 11, 2013
Season 1 Review:
My fear is that the show may be too Alaska. TV is not ready yet for Nanook of the North, even if he has a New York accent. [10 July 1990, p.9]
Aug 11, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Some spots are noticeably rough and unfinished, with several lapses into clicheland, and occasional bumps where the need to set the series' premise knocks against the wish to do good, episodic storytelling...There's definitely an appeal, with a homey, real-people feel to its principals and side players, most of then interesting, even just in passing. [12 July 1990, p.D15]
Aug 11, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The show can get overly cute. It's hard to believe that anyone these days, even in remote Alaska, hasn't heard of a bagel, frozen or otherwise. And at one point, a passing reference is made to "St. Elsewhere." Not necessary. But, like Joel, a good many viewers may discover that the characters kind of grow on you. A first-rate cast makes it all the more easy. As Ed says to Joel about the gamey mooseburgers, you'll get used to it. [12 July 1990, p.C22]
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