Northern Exposure, Baby

Northern Exposure could have saved the world.
I have been indulging in an orgy of Northern Exposure watching since I have been sick. Spent 4 hours in my recliner on Wednesday, 3 more on Thursday, desperately trying to get some rest from a continuously insane work schedule.
The show is medicine. It gives me peace, smiles, laughter. It provokes thought and provides reading material. It actually physically makes me feel better as I absorb it into my cells.
It was a quirky and intelligent show, and I think that was it's downfall. You have to be intelligent to get past quirkiness and realize you are being challenged and informed and entertained at a high level of quality. Northern Exposure ran from 1990 to 1995. Survivor premiered in the year 2000, which suggests American stupidity was already on a rapid incline back in the mid-nineties. People hungering for an inane show that showcases the worst of humanity and comes up with ridiculous ideas like tribal councils. A uniquely beautiful show like NE was guaranteed to fail in a climate of such festering idiocy.
The characters on Northern Exposure were so cool, so human. Maurice, Maggie, Holling, Ed, Chris, Shelly, Marilyn, Ruth-Ann, Joel. All quirky, all unique, all fragile and real. Even the peripheral characters were amazing. Remember Adam?
I love the fact that this mix of personalities all live together in such a small town. They know each other intimately, interact daily and allow for each other's uniqueness. Surviving in a harsh, cold climate while some how bringing out the simple beauty of the place and showcasing the natural beauty of the place. Somebody gets out of line or a little wacky and he or she is gently brought back to earth by the other characters because there is love and respect there. Never viciousness or cruel pettiness.
The stories were tasty. Sometimes focusing on human frailty, sometimes way out there on the believability scale, but always shining a light on the beauty of being human and especially the beauty of being unique.
If the entire American public could have been strapped to chairs and forced to watch every episode of this show (except the last season or two which sucked because major characters left), there would be no Survivor and there would be no republican presidential candidates.
I am going to get radical here. Gonna make a bold statement. I think Holling and Chris were the two most special characters on that show. It's painful to put that in writing because I love every goddamn character in Cicely. It came to me as I watched this week and I recognized it as truth.
Holling was a man's man. He did not take any crap. When he got angry at somebody or something, you better stay the hell out of his way. And he spoke his mind. Not afraid to shut you up if you got stupid. One episode this week an idiot was sitting at the bar claiming he could have killed Jesse the bear. Holling got in his face and said "Do you even hear the words that come out of your mouth?" and went on from there to put the man in his place. I loved it. I would like to be that bold. There are so many people I want to say that to.
And yet there were many episodes where he was shown to be sensitive and thoughtful, philosophical and gentle. Maurice tried to be a man's man but he was not in Holling's league. Maurice had a little more evil and prejudice and greed in him.
Chris was a poet and a philosopher. Well read, well spoken, always making you think and see things differently. An artist at heart he saw the world differently and shared it with the community with his radio show and at The Brick (a bar I would kill to have a beer in). He learned from the mistakes he made in life and evolved into an intelligent, searching, inquisitive, poet and lover of the human race. From piano flinging, to running naked through the streets, to partying, to reading Walt Whitman to his listeners, he was always in the moment, embracing it with gusto.
I miss the show deeply. Wish there were 20 seasons. Carol and I have seasons 1,2, and 3 and we have decided to buy the rest of the good ones.
Another way to find peace, to incubate contentment, to laugh and think and feel good.
Medicine, baby, it's all medicine.