Northern Exposure - The Complete Second Season
by Bill D'Elia, David Carson, Nick Marck, Rob Thompson, Sandy Smolan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barry Corbin, Darren E. Burrows, Janine Turner, John Cullum, Rob MorrowDirector: Bill D'Elia, David Carson, Nick Marck, Rob Thompson, Sandy Smolan
Writer: Andrew Schneider
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 334 minutes
Published: 2004-11-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Northern Exposure - The Complete Second Season
Movie Review: The rating is for the content of the show only
Summary: 5 Stars
I give this set five stars based entirely on the content of the individual episodes, which are obviously deserving of such a rating. But before talking about the show, let me add my rant to everyone else about the weaknesses in the set. My understanding is that the double-sided discs are in the process of being replaced by single sided. But the price is beyond any justification. At most this set should be priced at around $20 and really should be around $15. In fact, there really was very little excuse for not releasing both Seasons One and Two in the same set. MOONLIGHTING faced much the same dilemma as NORTHERN EXPOSURE. A late season replacement, the first season of the show had only a very small number of episodes. When they released MOONLIGHTING, however, they put out both the very short Season One and Season Two in one package. I think not doing that with NORTHERN EXPOSURE was unforgivable.
Rant over. The episodes themselves, I'm delighted to report, are every bit as enchanting as when I first watched them in the early nineties. Season Two saw the show develop into pretty much the show that we would know for the rest of its run. Season One differed from the rest of the series in its relatively lack of surreality and experimentation. There are only seven episodes, even fewer than the eight-episode Season One, but they introduce dreams, impossible situations, fantasy sequences, and all manner of surreality.
Another change in Season Two is the cast balance. Holling and Shelly come to play a far more important role in Season Two while the obvious potential romance between Joel and Maggie comes far more to the forefront. In fact, if not for the rather absurd yet hilarious death of Rick (who is hit by a falling satellite, necessitating the most unusual coffin in history after it melds with Rick's body), her boyfriend, perhaps the two of them would have gotten together. Most important, however, is the grwowing importance of Chris in the show. If Joel and Maggie are the nominal leads of the show, Chris is its heart and soul. His philosophical ramblings on KBHR give the show the aesthetic, moral, and religious dimensions that made it so unique.
The most wonderful thing about these DVDs--as overpriced and poorly designed as they are--is that they preserve and make accessible one of the most delightful shows in the history of TV. I was telling a friend that while I have many other shows I love as much or even more, from BUFFY to FARSCAPE to LOST to VERONICA MARS to THE X-FILES and so on, the residents of Cicely might be the ones I would choose to make my neighbors. I love BUFFY but I never got the sense that I would and could become a part of the Scoobies. But as I watch these wonderful eccentrics I get the sense that this is the place where I could fit in. But maybe I'm a nut, too.
I will end by admitting that these DVDs have created a dilemma for me. I generally buy copies of my favorite shows on DVD and rent the rest from Netflix. I definitely love NORTHERN EXPOSURE enough to buy, but I find the price too absurdly high to even remotely consider purchasing. I do plan on buying Season Three and subsequent episodes. But Universal really does need to junk the first two seasons and reissue them in a single set. Either that or cut the cost in half of the first two seasons.
Summary of Northern Exposure - The Complete Second Season
The colorful cast of characters from Cicely, Alaska, returns for a new set of adventures in "Northern Exposure: The Complete Second Season". While much of the first season was devoted to establishing the plot, each of the seven episodes in season 2 helps us to know the offbeat ensemble of Cicely residents a little better. Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow), the New York urbanite stationed in small-town Alaska to pay off his medical-school tuition, still complains constantly about his assignment, but it's clear the town's growing on him when he passes up an opportunity to return home (if only temporarily). We learn from town patriarch Maurice (Barry Corbin) that retired astronauts have groupies, and when a beautiful woman steals the voice of DJ "Chris in the Morning" (John Corbett), it's no huge surprise when the long-deceased spirit of "One Who Waits" provides Chris with an ancient Indian cure. \n But it's the chemistry between Joel and Maggie (Janine Turner) that really makes the series sizzle. The season is book-ended by a pair of breakups that leave first Joel, and then Maggie single, clearing the way for the romance to come in later seasons. The season includes "Spring Break," one of the best-loved episodes from the series. With the impending arrival of spring, libidos run amok, a wave of petty crime hits the town, and the men in town blow off steam au naturale in the annual "Running of the Bulls."\n Season 2's packaging and extras are virtually identical to those from season 1. The two-disc set comes sheathed in a collectible mini zippered nylon "parka," and each episode includes deleted scenes and bloopers. There are no retrospectives or interviews with cast and crew, and no printed materials accompany the discs. "--Shane Burnett"Similar DVD Movies
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