Tracking The Elusive ‘Exposure’ Episodes
When will CBS stop torturing “Northern Exposure” and leave the dying series alone?
Not long ago the network announced it would air the canceled show’s final three original episodes tonight, July 12 and 19.
Well, no surprise, that’s not happening. CBS has doinked around with the schedule again.
“Northern Exposure” fans should be used to this. The series was so badly treated in its final season that it became impossible to find, on the air or in the ratings.
Here’s the current CBS plan: Tonight, it will repeat the Feb. 8 episode in which Fleischman leaves the series when he discovers the right place for his life while on a mystical search with O’Connell. (And what a disappointing script choice it was.)
The last original episodes are now scheduled for July 12, 19 and 26, all Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
Believe it when you see them.
‘TV Nation’ back
Last summer’s sneaky critical hit, Michael Moore’s “TV Nation,” returns next month on Fox instead of NBC.
This nine-episode adventure in radical TV journalism will air Fridays, preceding “The X-Files,” from July 21 through mid-September.
Moore (“Roger and Me”) takes an irreverent look at current events and lifestyles, often mixing satire with a large dose of skepticism.
Each week will have a theme. On “Payback Night,” for example, Moore’s team will set off 10 car alarms at night outside the bedroom of a CEO from a car-alarm company. In a weekly segment, Crackers the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken will “apprehend actual corporate wrongdoers.”
Noting that Mississippi finally ratified the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery, “TV Nation” will visit on the last day to buy slaves.
Joining Moore this year will be several newcomers, including Janeane Garofalo (“The Larry Sanders Show,” “Reality Bites”) and comedian Steven Wright. They will be special guest correspondents.
Ullman gets HBO series
Great news for lovers of high-quality sketch comedy. Emmy winner Tracey Ullman will return to HBO next year in a new 10-part, half-hour comedy series.
Called “Tracey Takes on …,” the show will feature the supremely talented Ullman in multiple roles, including several from her 1993 HBO specials, “Tracey Ullman: A Class Act” and “Tracey Ullman: Takes on New York.”