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If Cicely, Alaska did exist, Joshua Brand and John Falsay would have had to invent it. Luckily, it doesn't exist (although I'm sure there are variations on it) so we got to visit this unusual, mellow and plain weird town for five years. This, the first season, focuses more on the adjustment that unwilling transplant Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow)must make moving from New York to what he believes is the end of the world. It seems Maurice J. Minifield (the marvelously subtle Barry Corbin) former astronaut and current wealthy citizen paid for Joel's tuition through medical school so Joel's stuck playing the role of new doctor for the local charming and occasionally odd citizens. Things could be interesting for Joel if he can pilot Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner) to turn off her sarcasm for a little while and turn on to his charms. ***

The roving moose that always appeared in the opening credits seemed to capture the charm and strangeness of this little town so well. It also captures the strange thought process that went into releasing this great TV series with the 8 episodes that made up the first season of the show ("Northern Exposure" began life as midseason replacement and, as a result, a full slate of episodes wasn't ordered). Why not combine the first two seasons on one DVD set? That would have been too logical. 14 years later Cicely, Alaska can still calm the nerves after a day on the road dealing with the 9 to 5 commute. It's an example of an place that's actually worth escaping to compared to most of the mundane stuff on television at the time. ---

No new stuff was created for this two DVD set but we do get to see a number of outtakes, deleted and extended scenes. The former are fun to watch while the latter really doesn't do much for the various episodes. Most likely the extended/deleted scenes were created for the foreign market. You can view them directly after each individual episode if you desire. We do get a glimpse at the movie Ed (Darren Barrows) was working on during the first season of the show. We also get video documentary footage which provides a glimpse "Behind the scenes". No new featurettes on the show's impact or interviews with the creators or former cast members. Really, really disappointing that such an important show should be treated so shabbily. The other issue is the steep price for 8 episodes. There's also no booklet or insert discussing the series and its impact. We don't even get a single sheet that has the original airdates and the credits for various episodes. ***

Oh, we do also get it packaged in a replica of a small parka. While this gimmick is clever, it doesn't make up for the lack of new extras for the series. I have a hard time believing that there aren't vintage interviews, clips, etc. that are available and accessible for this package. ---