5.21 I Feel The Earth Move

Chris: Marriage. Why do we do it? Everybody knows the stats. One in two marriages end up in broken dishes and a trip to Tijuana. Is it loneliness? Partly. Is it teamwork? Definitely. Things just kind of go easier when there's two of you. One of you can wait in line at the movie theater while the other guy parks the car. Get better seats that way. Better room rate when it's a double. Are you ready to file jointly?...Above you is the sun and sky. Below you, the ground. Like the sun, your love should be constant, like the ground, solid. Are you both OK with that? In that case, I now pronounce you, married. (6)

Original Air Date(1): May 2, 1994

Production Number (7): 77721

Written by(1): Jed Seidel

Directed by(1): Michael Fresco

Log line(1): Ron and Erick (guest stars Doug Ballard and Don R. McManus) tie the knot after eight years; Maggie develops a severe nausea that she thinks is caused by Joel.

Synopsis(1): After eight years of sharing, Ron and Erick are making wedding plans, complete with a gourmet menu, classical music, and a full guest list. While all of Cicely is excited over the first wedding of the season, Maurice is dumbfounded and feels they are making a mockery of marriage. Throughout the preparations, the tension builds as the lucky grooms constantly bicker over music, guest list, seating arrangements, caterer, and so on. The night before the big day, they get into a fight and Erick shows up on Maurice's doorstep with a black eye asking to borrow $500 to leave and go to Seattle. Against his better judgment, Maurice calms him down and convinces him to sleep on his rash decision to call off the wedding. With a new day, everything looks brighter and the hitching goes off without a hitch.

Holling gets caught up in the wedding excitement, as he underbids Cantwell Catering to prepare the gourmet fare for the day. Hoping to use the profits on a new sump pump, Holling is crestfallen to discover that the delicacies on the menu are much more expensive than he anticipated. He decides to alter the ingredients ever so slightly to keep costs down, substituting honey-baked ham for prosciutto and apricots for melon. As they wedding draws near, and it dawns on him that he is cheating the couple on such an important day, Holling starts from scratch with all the right ingredients and everyone raves about the food.

Meanwhile, Maggie and Joel are having relationship woes as well, when she feels imaginary earthquakes and has chronic nausea. She comes to the conclusion that it is caused by the shock of Joel's being increasingly thoughtful, romantic, and nice in general. When it gets to the point where she vomits every time his name is mentioned, Maggie resorts to avoiding Joel altogether until she collapses in the middle of the road. After examining her, Joel discovers that she has an inner ear condition that is actually causing her all this trouble.

Details (2): Erick's doting mother is named Patricia Hillman. Erick's father died of a prostate problem, but he was a military man who was a lot like Maurice.

Trivia (2): Who came up with these wonderful stories, and why doesn't he have a staff position?!

WINE OF THE WEEK: Clos du Bois. CHAMPAGNE OF THE WEEK: Veuve-Cliguot.

The Reverend Donald E. Wildmon wrote a letter to the advertisers, "It is tragic that CBS will give the homosexual life style such warm approval. It is regrettable that C8S and the other networks have caved in to pressure from the radical wing of the homosexual movement and agreed to promote the life style." Hey, f**k you, Reverend. Lee Werbel of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation critized the show for not showing a kiss between the two men. Too bad we cut that honeymoon sequence. [Note: Remember, this is verbatem from the Northern Exposure Production Bible!]

Guest Stars(7):
Hayden Keyes - James L. Dunn
Eugene - Earl Quewezance
Erick Reese Hillman - Don McManus
Ronald Arthur Bantz - Doug Ballard
Pat Hillman - Joyce Van Patten

Music: (3)
• Get Me to the Church on Time - Lawrence Welk
[Maurice and Holling discuss ron and Erick's wedding]

• Hawaiian Wedding Song - Andy Williams
[Holling offers to cater the wedding.]

• White Wedding - Billy Idol
[Maggie comes into the Brick talking about the eartquake that no one else felt.]

• Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Ritchie
[Eugene and Holling argue about faking the menu.]

• Water Musik #7 (Handel)
[wedding.]

• Valet Will Ech Dir Geben (Bach)
[wedding.]

• You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry
[wedding reception.]

• I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock 'N Roll - Nick Lowe
[wedding reception.]

Shelly's Earrings:
Gold revolvers? [Maggie reports earthquake but no one else felt it.]

milk bottles? [Brings popcorn to Holling and Eugene as they add up their catering costs.]

Additional Notes:
Holling says "..plus Eugene, who has taken over for Dave while he is on vacation." The only reference we here to why Eugene has replaced Dave.

Ron and Erick are headed to Kauai for honeymoon.

Footnotes and additional research:
1. The Revised and Updated Northern Exposure Book, 2nd Ed. by Louis Chunovic (1995)
2. Revised NE Bible: New and Improved fro 94-95 season! Memo from: Ursula Wendel and Cynthia Cohen- Gugisch
3. Print-out of Jude Shabry's music list from the Moose's Guide to Northern Exposure.
4. Intertain 2000 collection of NX music online
5. Geoff's Miscellany
6. Kevin Wright's Culture NX Quotes for Season 5.
7. MCA TV Promotional Kit dated 9/27/95
8. The Northern Exposure Book, 1st Ed. (1993) by Louis Chunovic

Created 3/7/02

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