Release Northern Exposure on DVD

To:  MCA Universal Studios

Dear MCA/Universal,
We the undersigned submit the following petition to release the entire TV series "Northern Exposure" to DVD. The first series already has been released in the UK. We would like to see this repeated here in the US. Many TV shows past and present have been released. For example, "Twin Peaks", "Sex and the City", "Friends", "Mash" and many others have recently been released to DVD.

"Northern Exposure" continues to have a large audience and would sell well as a DVD. At the top of its viewership in the early 1990s, it was as popular as "MASH" was in the 1970s and "Sex and the City" is today. As you know, it received many Emmy, Golden Globe, Viewers for Quality Television and other awards and nominations. In fact, it received more than 35 Emmy nominations alone, including three years in a row for Outstanding Drama Series.

Many of the cast members currently have popular roles in TV, movies and Broadway shows. John Corbett is well-known for the current run of the most popular independent movie ever, "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding." In addition, he appeared in "Sex and the City" and other recent TV and movie roles. John Cullum was recently nominated for a Tony for his role in the ongoing production of "Urinetown" on Broadway. Rob Morrow has a new series, "Street Time" on Showtime and Janine Turner has recently finished a role on Lifetime’s "Strong Medicine." Cynthia Geary and Elaine Miles appear in the independent movie "The Business of Fancy Dancing." Barry Corbin also appears in many recent movie and TV roles. All of these examples have a wide variety of audiences that could potentially be "Northern Exposure" DVD buyers.

The "Northern Exposure" fan base extends worldwide with several active email lists and newsgroups. There are several current fan web sites that are continually updated. In addition, there is an annual gathering in Roslyn, WA where both fans and cast members meet. Currently going by the name Moose Days, the 2002 event included actors Barry Corbin, Moultire Patten, Bill White and Rosetta Pintado. The fans involved in these events are just a fraction of fans who watch the show. There are many out there not actively involved in fan lists or events that would buy the DVDs to watch. It is very rare to mention the show’s name to someone and not have them say "oh, I used to watch that show…"

There might be an argument that "Northern Exposure" is too obscure or unusual to release on DVD. In addition to all the above points, please note that "Twin Peaks" is currently on DVD. This TV show also was fairly popular but did not receive the viewership numbers nor the awards and nominations that "Northern Exposure" did.

Currently, the show is in syndication on the Hallmark Channel. As of today’s date (Oct. 9, 2002), Hallmark has chosen to show it only once a week – Mondays at 12:01 am. This is not a very easy time for many people to watch. This almost complete unavailability to view the show is yet one more reason to release the series on DVD.

DVDs have become pretty inexpensive to release. Recent sets of "Friends" and "Sex and the City" are around $25-$35 a season. I think if you started with the release of season one, you would see the huge sales and be compelled to release the rest of the seasons.

Please consider all these points to release "Northern Exposure" on DVD.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Release Northern Exposure on DVD Petition to MCA Universal Studios was created by and written by Jerrilynn Lilyblade (mcnotes@comcast.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.