Joel Fleischman

Joel Fleischman, M.D., is a fictional central character of the television series Northern Exposure, played by actor Rob Morrow. Joel is a Russian-Jewish-American native of New York City, who agreed to practice medicine in Alaska for four years as a condition of his scholarship in medical school. Initially assigned to Anchorage, Alaska, he finds himself tied against his will to the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, where moose wander on the main street and bagels are unknown. The clash of Joel's big-city background with Cicely's frontier culture and his relations with its colorful people are key elements of the show. Throughout the series, Joel has a love-hate relationship with Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner), at one point being engaged to her.