I’ll Fly Away and Northern Exposure

Perhaps the most collaborative of the visual arts, the soul of successful series television resides in the producer. In the past decade, the producing and writing team of Joshua Brand and John Falsey have brought renewed vigor, innovation, intelligence and a sense of style to one of TV’s most moribund forms—evening serial drama. Previously recognized with the Peabody in 1984 for St. Elsewhere, two vastly different but equally deserving programs from this outstanding creative team are hereby honored. I’ll Fly Away, from Lorimar Television and presented on NBC, is a vivid, compelling tableaux of a small Southern town in the midst of the civil rights struggle of the late 1950’s. Northern Exposure, from Pipeline Productions, Universal Studios and presented on CBS, depicts in a comedic and often poetic way, the cultural clash between a transplanted New York doctor and the townspeople of fictional Cicely, Alaska. Though wildly diverse, each show is marked by the “Brand-Falsey touch”—strong characterization, deft narrative, and compelling subject matter. For creating intelligent and unusual series television, a Peabody Award to Brand-Falsey Productions for I’ll Fly Away and Northern Exposure.