What) Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depiction in a comedic and often poetic way, of the cultural clash between a transplanted New York doctor and the townspeople of fictional Cicely, Alaska" and its stories of "people of different backgrounds and experiences" clashing but who ultimately "strive to accept their differences and co-exist." The show received a total of 57 award nominations during its five-year run and won 27, including the 1992 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Critic John Leonard called Northern Exposure "the best of the best television in the past 10 years." (1)

    What) We quickly head to Roslyn, television's Northern Exposure town, where things are slightly more animated. Scads of sweat-suited retirees disgorge from their RVs and wander ugly vistas from NE's opening credits. In the souvenir buying lines, puffball-headed old ladies ahead of us discuss local sales tax differentials with the counter help, while our espresso-massaged fore brains scream for stimuli. (2)

    Why) I enjoyed watching Northern Exposure when it was on initially and any time that I caught it on reruns after that.  Even though I suspected that the second review would sum up the actual experience, I wanted to go anyway.