Plaid Fever

THE SHOW: “Northern Exposure,” 10 p.m. Monday on CBS.

THE SETUP: A New York doctor joins the quirky residents of the tiny town of Cicely, Alaska, after the town pays for his medical school education. A tundra dude he is not.

THE CLOTHES: Is it some unspoken rule of nature that the farther north you go, the more plaid you must wear? Do normal clothes sprout red and green checks at a certain latitude? Do people just want to avoid being mistaken for moose?

“Northern Exposure” doesn’t disappoint; plaids are as common as snow. Thankfully, most of the main characters go heavy on earth tones. In fact, there’s very little black or white; all the colors are warm, maybe as a contrast to the harsh outdoors.

Dr. Joel (Rob Morrow, pictured) hangs on to New York in an obvious way. He’s the only person in town who ever wears a tie. Brown tweedy coats and slacks make him a very urbane north woodsman. Wearing rust and deep greens, Maggie (Janine Turner, pictured), pilot and town head-turner, manages to look cool but not as cold as she acts toward Joel. Other male regulars (Barry Corbin, John Cullum) fall into the plaid trap, except for Dr. Joel’s Jungian sidekick, Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows). Wearing a black motorcycle jacket and dolphin T-shirt, he can talk to spirits, drive a truck and be a filmmaker.

THE LABELS: Costume designer Katharine Bentley says much of Maggie’s wardrobe is custom-made and other clothes come from Goodwill, Banana Republic and Rough Hewn. “I find them everywhere,” she says, when asked which stores she frequents.

WHAT’S COMING: “The first season I used more clay tones,” Bentley says. This year she’s adding a little green and raspberry. “The whole tone of the show lends itself to more muted earth colors.”

And what about Joel? Will he end up in the dreaded plaid? “I can’t tell you that,” Bentley says. “We’ll see him go through some changes. The changes will be very subtle until about mid-season and then there’ll be a few surprises.” Uh-oh. Sounds like a red tartan and bearskin cap.