The Moose Is Out As Change Comes To `Northern Exposure'

Morty, the moose, foremost symbol of CBS' "Northern Exposure" series, is gone but could keep appearing via old film clips.

Joshua Brand, one of the show's creators, is departing and Holling Vincoeur and Shelly Tambo will wind up the season on May 24 with a major cliffhanger that finds them on the verge of parenthood.

That's according to John Cullum, who has played Holling to Cynthia Geary's Shelly since the show, taped in Redmond and Roslyn, made its debut in 1990.

Cullum says he feels some of those "Northern Exposure" changes will be good; others will need some time to prove or destroy themselves.

But he's particularly pleased with the situation involving Holling, Shelly and the possible arrival of a baby, a situation viewers are scheduled to first learn about in tomorrow night's episode.

Cullum believes this plot twist is finally concluding a downward spiral that engulfed his character in recent months.

"Holling just has not been very pleasing to me this past season," Cullum said. "It reached the point where I never knew what he was going to do. Our writers were experimenting. They'd go off on tangents and Holling would be one way next week, totally different the week after that."

Cullum says he had special problems with three specific episodes.

One involved a daughter (Valerie Perine) he had never revealed suddenly appearing in his mythical Alaskan town of Cicely.

"He treated her pretty badly," he said. "It became clear to me that I was doing the first act of `King Lear.' "

Another focused on his efforts to get Shelly to charm a restaurant inspector into giving his tavern a good report. In a third he complained about her attentions to a visiting rock musician.

His character, in short, was turning into a jerk, Cullum says. But the last three episodes seem to be getting him back on track.

Morty is a different matter.

"He was a very young moose when we started the series," Cullum said. "But he has grown, and moose get mean when they get older. So they're not using him anymore. He looks good and they may keep him in the opening sequence, but those will be repeats. Morty is definitely retired."

Also gone is Brand, who served as executive producer as well as a frequent writer and director.

"He told the cast he is leaving," Cullum said. "He told us he had said everything he wanted to say and was repeating himself."

John Falsey, Brand's creative partner, has already unofficially severed his connection with the show, departing last year to take control of "Going to Extremes," a short-lived ABC series.

"There's always a danger when your creative people pull out," Cullum said. "But if you have the right characters and you keep them moving properly, you will be all right. Still, it requires maintenance."

One thing that may not require maintenance is the show's principal casting, expected to remain essentially the same, up to and including Rob Morrow, who created headlines last summer when he threatened to walk out after a salary dispute with the series' producers.

"I think Rob made his problems," Cullum said. "But he also made a statement that rebounded through the industry.

"They kind of hold everybody in these situations. These kinds of shows tend to use up talent very quickly and when that happens that's the end of your career. So it becomes necessary for someone to stand up for what he believes, and that's what Rob did. I never felt he'd done anything I might not have done had I been younger.

"The producers could have easily replaced Rob, but I think the show works better because of him."

Those qualities have helped make "Northern Exposure" a quirky show. Unlike other series with similar characteristics - most notably ABC's "Twin Peaks" - it's grown steadily in popularity.

"In our case, I think it was because people got hooked into these characters and their place," Cullum said. "You get the feeling people consider `Northern Exposure' an escape, a friendly place that takes care of its own."