DVD/TV Series Review: Northern Exposure: Season 3

 

Season three is a bit of a mixed bag for Northern Exposure. Both for the show itself and definitely for the US DVD release. This is the first full season of the show. The first two seasons were very short, just 7 and 8 episodes. Basically, it was aired as an off-season summer show in 1990 for its first season and aired a handful of episodes late in the 1992 TV season for its second season. This season gets a full run of 23 episodes, and continued Joel's story arc, but with a bit less of the fish-out-of-water aspect and more of an acclimating to the town and the people storyline. The show also focused on the other residents and the overall quirkiness of pretty much everyone that lived there. It also did the will-they or won't-they story arc with Joel and Maggie to the extreme, having them seem like almost a couple in one episode and back to loathing each other the next. This is also the season where the contractual issues between Rob Morrow and the showrunners/producers started which would lead to his role in the show being reduced and eventually writing him out of the series.

The big issue with this season's DVD release is the music. As most are aware, music was a critical part of the show, and certain songs were selected to either tie into or wrap up the storylines of the episodes. Because Universal, which is the company that owned the rights to the US DVD releases, did not want to pay for the rights to some of the original songs, they just replaced them with horrible canned instrumental music that rivaled elevator Musak in terms of quality. The first season had all of the original music, and it appears that the second season, depending on which release you got, had most or all of the original music. But, season three (and the subsequent season releases) replace a lot of the music, and it is more noticeable with each release. One good thing about this season's DVD release is that they got rid of the awful double-sided DVDs that were used for the first and second season releases.

The DVD extras include deleted and expanded scenes for most (if not every) episode, unexposed scenes (which amounts to basically a gag reel), and lost storylines (which are really more deleted scenes. There are no commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes material, or the like.

This season does have some really good episodes, for example, the season premier in which we meet Adam's (Adam Arkin) wife, appropriately named Eve (played wonderfully by Valerie Mahaffey), an episode in which Joel and Maggie are stranded in the wilderness, an episode in which a small traveling circus troupe is temporarily stranded in Cicely, an episode in which Joel gets adopted into a tribe by a tribal elder, and an episode that flashes back to the founders of Cicely.

Overall, the season is very good, but the DVD release leaves a lot to be desired. The acting and writing are great, and the show continued to put things on TV that other shows at the time did not (e.g., lesbian relationships, Native American themes, etc.). It was not always politically correct, and some things would definitely not fly today. If you do not care about the music issue, then the US releases are fine. But, if you really want to see the show as it aired and with the best picture quality, picking up the Region 2 Blu-Ray is the best option (if you can find a copy and are willing to pay the increased price for it).