The following are recurring characters who appeared inNorthern Exposure, an American television series which originally aired on CBS from July 1990 to July 1995.

Joel Fleischman

Joel (Rob Morrow) is the central character at the beginning of the series, a young, somewhat uptightJewishdoctor fromFlushing, Queens (New York City) who is contractually bound to practice in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely for four years to repay astudent loan from the government. The comedy centered originally on the clash between Fleischman's petty andneurotic, almostWoody Allen-like,urbanmindset and the easy-going, community-minded people around him. The role receded somewhat in importance by season four, as behind the scenes Morrow was involved in contentious contract negotiations, and Fleischman's character was minimized or even entirely absent for some later episodes. Frustrated at the lack of growth for the character and willing to take on film offers (such asQuiz Show), Morrow left the series in the middle of the sixth (and final) season.^[1]

Maurice J. Minnifield

Maurice (Barry Corbin) is a macho, patriotic ex-astronaut and millionaireentrepreneur, owner of the local radio station KBHR and newspaper, as well as fifteen thousand acres (60 km²) of local land and head of Cicely's chamber of commerce. Acting as the town's unofficial mayor, he is determined to make tiny Cicely the nextboomtown, on "the cusp of the new Alaskan Riviera," Maurice arranges to bring Dr. Fleischman to the town, which previously had no permanent physician. In Season 3, Maurice is visited by a South Korean man who turns out to be his son (Yung Duk Won) that he fathered during his deployment in South Korea in the 1950s as a Marine, who in turn has his own son (Yung Bong Joo) that makes Maurice a grandfather.

Christopher Danforth Stevens

Chris (John Corbett) is thedisc jockey at KBHR, conceptual sculptor, and an ex-convict who spent most of his prison time reading, a fact which makes him one of the most well-educated people in Cicely. He intersperses the music of his morning show with philosophical musings on the nature of life and readings from such writers asWalt Whitman,William Shakespeare,Leo Tolstoy,Carl Jung, andMaurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are). Chris is also Cicely's only clergyman, ordained as a minister in theUniversal Life Church through an advertisement inRolling Stone magazine. As radio host "Chris in the Morning", he serves as thede facto narrator for the show.

Mary Margaret "Maggie" O'Connell

Maggie (Janine Turner) is a professionalbush pilot,property agent and Fleischman's landlord. She was adebutante from a wealthyIrish American family inGrosse Pointe, Michigan. She is wary of having relationships with men because all five of her former boyfriends died in bizarre accidents while in the prime of life. However, she falls for Mike Monroe (Anthony Edwards), a lawyer who ishyper-allergic to many man-made substances; in a reversal of her prior track record, he recovers completely and leaves. An ardentfeminist, Maggie has ascrewball,love-hate relationship with Fleischman, including the occasional sexual episode.

Shelly Marie Tambo Vincoeur

Shelly (Cynthia Geary) is a youngbeauty pageant winner, MissNorthwest Passage, with a somewhat 'surfer dude' shallow-but-sweet personality, who comes fromSaskatoon,Saskatchewan. She is brought to Cicely by Maurice, who had hoped to marry her. Shortly after her arrival, she met and fell in love with the much older (by 44 years) Holling Vincoeur. Shelly nearly becomes abigamist when she almost marries Holling before divorcing minor league hockey player Wayne Jones (Brandon Douglas), whom she had married solely to get him to stop proposing.

Holling Gustav Vincoeur

Holling (John Cullum) is asexagenarian hunter and owner of The Brickbar andrestaurant, where he lives upstairs with Shelly. Born inQuébec (or theYukon; both are mentioned in different seasons) and later becoming a naturalized US citizen, he had been best friends with Maurice until they had a falling out over Shelly. His father and grandfather both lived to be over 100 years old, spending most of their lives as widowers despite marrying much younger women; fearing the same bitter fate, Holling had sworn off love until Shelly appeared. He claims to be a direct descendant of KingLouis XIV of France and attempts to distance himself as much as possible from his despotic ancestors, all despicable people. After 23 years as unelectedmayor of Cicely, he loses that post to Edna Hancock, who runs against him because of a grudge, in the town's very first election in 1992.

Ed Chigliak

Ed (Darren E. Burrows) is a mild-mannered, amiably tactless half-Native Alaskan who was abandoned as a young child and raised by the localTlingits. He works for Maurice and later part-time at Ruth-Anne's general store. A filmbuff and would-bedirector, he is occasionally visited by his invisiblespirit guide, One-Who-Waits. In season 5, he becomes ashaman-in-training and is thus visited by a personal demon, a dwarf who embodies Ed'slow self-esteem (a development that Burrows later expressed his disapproval over).^[2] Ed writes, directs, and produces his own film about Cicely and another film about a fellow Native American's traditional handicraft while later organizing a Tlingit-dub ofThe Prisoner of Zenda.

Ruth-Anne Miller

Ruth-Anne (Peg Phillips) is theseptuagenarian owner of thegeneral store who moved to Cicely thirty years earlier fromPortland, Oregon. A widow, she lives alone until late in the series, when she becomes involved with Walt Kupfer (see below). Like Holling, she is one of the more rational/balanced characters and always has an open ear for her customers' personal problems. She too is a film buff and has earnest conversations with Ed on this topic.

Marilyn Whirlwind

Marilyn (Elaine Miles) is Fleischman's Native Alaskanreceptionist. Preternaturally patient and imperturbable, Marilyn speaks sparingly, while her boss rarely stops talking. She occasionally offers up wisdom in the form of a Native American folk legend in response to another Cicelian who is troubled about some issue.

Phil Capra

Phil (Paul Provenza) is recruited as town physician after Fleischman takes to the wilderness. A refugee fromLos Angeles, Capra is more gracious than Fleischman in a small town setting, but even more hapless. The character of Phil Capra was introduced in the show's final season, with a few of his first scenes being in the last episode with Morrow as star.^[3]

Michelle Schowdowski Capra

Michelle (Teri Polo) is Phil's wife. She is a writer for publications such as in-flight airline magazines. She gets work as areporter for a newspaper owned by Maurice Minnifield, but when Maurice starts applying editorial pressure, she decides she preferswaitressing at the Brick. For a time, she has visions of Fleischman's rabbi, Schulman. The character of Michelle Schowdowski Capra was introduced in the show's final season.

Adam

Adam (Adam Arkin) is an abrasive, ungroomed, misanthropic, bilious, cantankerous and colorful "genius"gourmet chef who may or may not have worked for theCIA in the past, which may explain how he has so much information about everyone. He lives off the grid and in the woods, and was first introduced as a mythic legend figure, something akin toBigfoot. People in Cicely spoke of him as a tall-tale figure at first. Adam usually has achip on his shoulder and offers an offensive rebuttal to anyone who compliments him. He is married to Eve. Arkin directed one of the episodes in the fourth season.

Dave

Dave is the cheerful Native Americancook at the Brick. In early episodes, he has few lines, but his role expands in later seasons, particularly in scenes with Holling and Shelly, but also with Joel, who often asks him to explain local Native American customs. Dave and Shelly appear to get along particularly well, likely because of their similarly friendly personalities. He was initially portrayed by Buffalo Child in the episode "Sex, Lies, and Ed's Tape",^[4] and thereafter by William J. White.^[5]

Eugene

Eugene (Earl Quewezance) replaced Dave as the cook at the Brick near the end of the fifth season.

Earl the Barber

Earl is a frequent background extra played by Jerry Morris,^[6] the real owner of the barbershop that appears in the show.

Eve

Eve (Valerie Mahaffey) is thehypochondriacal heiress to atungsten fortune; she is also Adam's wife and aChristian Scientist. She was first introduced in the season three episode "The Bumpy Road to Love", where a house call by Joel leads to an argument between Adam and her. Mahaffey won anEmmy Award in 1992 for her portrayal of Eve during that season. Eve and Adam spend part of each year asjet-setters and part as near-hermits in a cabin near Cicely; the two decide to marry after Eve becomes pregnant (having spent 12 years together), which leads to strife when Adam finds out she is very wealthy. She tries to back out of the wedding (which goes through anyway). She and Adam eventually have a child they name Aldridge.

Lester Haines

Lester (Apesanahkwat) is the fourth wealthiest man in the interior (and as aHaida, the first native to crack the top five). He is regarded as a rival by the wealthiest, Maurice. His daughter Heather Haines is briefly Ed Chigliak's love interest.

Erick Reese Hillman and Ron Bantz

Erick (Don McManus) and Ron (Doug Ballard) are agay couple who (at the end of season two) buy a house from Maurice in order to open an upscalebed and breakfast called the Sourdough Inn. They are married by Chris late in the fifth season.

Caldecott "Cal" E. Ingraham

Cal (Simon Templeman) is aviolinist who becomes so obsessed with a valuable antique violin purchased by Maurice that he attempts to kill Maurice. He reappears in several episodes.

Hayden Keyes

Hayden (James L. Dunn) is Cicely's blacksmith by trade and a firewood salesman, in addition to performing other odd jobs. He is well liked, but has a shady past and is not above stealing and trying an insurance scam.

Walter "Walt" Kupfer

Walt (Moultrie Patten) is a rugged but friendlyfur trapper, and love interest of Ruth-Anne Miller in later seasons. He was addicted to his work as astockbroker inNew York City and retired to Cicely on the advice of his doctor "more than 30 years" ago.

Mike Monroe

Mike (Anthony Edwards) is a hyper-allergiclawyer turned climate activist. He is initially nicknamed "The Bubble Man" by the citizens of Cicely. Mike comes to Alaska to escape the pollution that gave himmultiple chemical sensitivity. Maggie O'Connell, attracted by Mike's show of courage in battling his illness, encourages him to come out of his airtight house more often, and they briefly become a couple. In an apparent inversion of "Maggie's Curse," Mike's symptoms suddenly vanish, whereupon he leaves town to join aGreenpeace ship atMurmansk, much to Maggie's disappointment.

One-Who-Waits

One-Who-Waits (Floyd Westerman) is Ed Chigliak's spirit guide, the ghost of a long-dead chief from Ed'sNative American Bear clan.

Richard "Rick" Pederson

Rick (Grant Goodeve) is Maggie O'Connell's first-season boyfriend. He dies at the end of the second season when an errantsatellite falls on him during a camping trip. After his death, it is revealed that he was a compulsivesex addict who cheated on Maggie with hundreds of other women. In one episode after Rick's death, Maggie encounters one of them face-to-face where they discuss Rick's relational complexities.

Leonard Quinhagak

Leonard (Graham Greene) is a nativemedicine man, Marilyn's cousin and Ed's mentor. He is also the localtotem pole carver, which is featured in an episode where he creates a totem for the Whirlwind family, which rekindles a long-runningfeud between the Raven and Bearclans.

Elaine Schulman

Elaine (Jessica Lundy) is Joel Fleishman's fiancée/ex-fiancée. She is first heard in an outgoing message on an answering machine, and first appears in the season 1 episode "Russian Flu", when she visits Joel in Cicely. After breaking up with Joel by letter in order to marry a retired judge, she visits Joel again after the death of her husband in the season 3 episode "Roots".

Rabbi Schulman

Schulman (Jerry Adler) is Joel'srabbi from New York City. He inexplicably appears to Joel in "visions"—and also once to Michelle Capra.

Sergeant Barbara Semanski

Barbara (Diane Delano) is a rugged Alaskastate trooper and gun enthusiast, and the on-again/off-again love interest of Maurice Minnifield. She is a no-nonsense law enforcement officer who is very particular about enforcing each and every law. When she learns that Maurice cheats on his income tax return, she leaves him. She does the same when she finds he is harboring a fugitive; and even arrests Maurice for a minor offense.

Bernard Stevens

Bernard (Richard Cummings Jr.) is Chris's "half-brother and spiritualdoppelgänger." Their father was a bigamist "travelling man" (a reference to the Ricky Nelson song "Travelin' Man") whose double life was exposed only after his death. Their relationship extends beyond being merely half-brothers, as they also share dreams, emotions, and thoughts. They have the same birthday and birth year, making them "twins," despite having different mothers, one white and the otherblack.

• Chunovic, Louis (1995).The Northern Exposure Book: The Official Publication of the Television Series. Carol Publishing Corporation.ISBN 0-8065-1623-2.