Men in Trees

Men in Trees
Format	Romantic comedy-drama
Created by	Jenny Bicks
Starring	Anne Heche Abraham Benrubi Emily Bergl Seana Kofoed Suleka Mathew Derek Richardson Sarah Strange Cynthia Stevenson Lauren Tom James Tupper John Amos
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	36 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	45–48 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV)
Original run	September 12, 2006 (2006-09-12) – June 11, 2008 (2008-06-11)

Men in Trees is an American romantic television dramedy series which premiered on September 12, 2006 on ABC and starred Anne Heche who played relationship coach Marin Frist. The series was set in the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska and concerned Marin Frist's misadventures in relationships. The premise showed at least superficial similarities to the HBO television series Sex and the City (on which series creator Jenny Bicks was a co-executive producer), which also featured a romantically-oriented, female writer. The protagonist's apparent "fish-out-of-water" feeling in a remote, small, Alaskan town can be likened to CBS's Northern Exposure. The protagonists in both series were New Yorkers thrust into small town Alaska societies. Filming for the series was based in Squamish, British Columbia.

Five episodes of the first production season, which were not yet shown on ABC, debuted in New Zealand on the TV2 network in June 2007 and July 2007. The five carryover episodes aired on ABC after the first episode of the second production season, beginning October 19.^[1] Men In Trees has been cancelled as of May 4, 2008. Its final episodes aired starting with Wednesday, May 28, 2008.^[2]

Scheduling

The show first aired on ABC with a preview on September 12, 2006 after the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars.^[3] On September 15, 2006 the show moved to Fridays at 9 p.m. ET. From November 30, 2006 until March 2007 episodes aired Thursdays at 10 p.m. The network announced on May 15, 2007 intentions to return the series to Fridays, albeit one hour earlier than its original timeslot, in its fall schedule. Men in Trees was pulled from the air in favor of the new ABC series October Road, which began airing on Thursday, March 15, 2007. After the initial run of October Road, Notes from the Underbelly was supposed to take over, but that has been changed.^[4] The Futon Critic and Zap2It.com have each reported that the remaining five Season 1 episodes will air as part of Season 2 in the fall of 2007.^[5][6]

Noting the absence of Men in Trees from ABC's schedule since March, series creator Jenny Bicks reported in her blog for ABC that reruns of the show would be shown on ABC beginning in June 2007, continuing throughout the summer. Reruns of the series' first season began airing on ABC on Thursday, June 28.^[7]

The series began the Fall 2007 season airing Fridays at 10 p.m. However, due to its inability to hold on to the audience of freshman hit Women's Murder Club and the underperformance of 20/20 at 8 p.m., Men in Trees was moved to the 8 p.m. Friday slot. Five episodes of Men in Trees unscreened in the US premiered on TV2 in New Zealand, and started on Monday, June 25, 2007 with the 18th episode titled "Chemical Reactions". Following the end of the 2008 writers' strike, the show returned on February 27, 2008 in its new timeslot on Wednesdays at 10PM.

Characters

Main characters

• Marin Frist (Anne Heche) - Relationship coach, author, and radio host. She discovers that her fiancée Graham has been cheating on her right under her nose. Decides to start a new life in Elmo, Alaska.
• Annie O'Donnell (Emily Bergl) - Fan of Marin's books and Patrick's fiancée; followed Marin to Alaska.
• Patrick O'Bachelorton (Derek Richardson) - Avid fan of Marin's books, runs the town inn and radio station; engaged to Annie. Patrick changed his last name to O'Bachelorton, after it was originally Bachelor, citing the influences as O' from (Annie) O'Donnell; Bachelor from his mother; and -ton from his biological father's last name, Washington.
• Jane Burns (Seana Kofoed) - Marin's editor, falls for "plow guy".
• Jack Slattery (James Tupper) - Local biologist and Marin's love interest.
• Buzz Washington (John Amos) - Pilot of one of the only planes in and out of Elmo. The biological father of Patrick from a tryst with Celia Bachelor.
• Ben Thomasson (Abraham Benrubi) - Owner of the town bar, The Chieftain, and the local hockey team, the Huskies. The town sports facility, Thomasson Center, is named after him. Allegedly made his fortune by inventing Wetnaps, but left Seattle to get away from his various hangers-on.
• Sara Jackson (Suleka Mathew) - Town's former "working girl", single mother who now works at The Chieftain with one-time boyfriend Ben.
• Theresa Thomasson (Sarah Strange) - Ben's wife, once estranged from him, who works as the town barmaid. She is a former backup singer for Jewel.
• Police Chief Celia Bachelor (Cynthia Stevenson) - Patrick's clingy, widowed mother. (Eps. 14-present; recurring previously) Celia's maiden name is Hisbut.
• Mai Washington (Lauren Tom) - Buzz's wife, an entrepreneur who sells various items taken from unclaimed luggage. (Eps. 14-present; recurring previously)

Recurring characters

• Jerome Robinsky (Timothy Webber), Regular patron at the Chieftain. As the show has progressed, bits of Jerome's past have been revealed (in "The Girl Who Cried Wolf," several pictures of a younger Jerome are seen with various world leaders, and in "Sonata in Three Parts," he reveals to Annie that he is a composer. His last name is also revealed.) Was previously involved with Annie's mother Mary Alice, but the relationship ended when Jerome discovered she had gone back to her husband. He composed a song for her, which he played at Sam and Jane's wedding in New York.
• Carl (Adrian McMorran)
• Lynn Barstow (Justine Bateman), Jack's pregnant ex-girlfriend who has again left Elmo because Jack didn't love her.
• Police Supervisor Richard Ellis (Currie Graham), Celia Bachelor's boyfriend
• Sam Soloway/"Plow Guy" (Ty Olsson), Jane's husband who drives a plow
• Stuart Maxson (Jason O'Mara), Marin's book publisher
• Cash (Scott Elrod), An attractive handyman who finishes repairing Marin's cabin in exchange for a place to live and has a secret—he's dying of kidney failure.
• Eric (Nicholas Lea), The minister at the local church that is dating Sara.
• George Washington (Orlando Jones), Buzz Washington's gay son.
• Terri (Mario Cantone), Elmo's only hairdresser, a New York transplant, and occasional boyfriend of George Washington. Donates a kidney to Cash.
• Ivan (Diego Klattenhoff), Croatian ice hockey player

Episodes

Main article: List of Men in Trees episodes

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Men in Trees on ABC:

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Friday 9.00 P.M. (September 12 - November 10, 2006) Thursday 10.00 P.M. (November 30 - February 15, 2007)	September 12, 2006	February 15, 2007	2006-2007	#65	8.4[8]
2	Friday 10:00 P.M. (October 12 - November 2, 2007) Friday 8:00 P.M. (November 9 - December 7, 2007) Wednesday 10:00 P.M. (February 27 - June 11, 2008)	October 12, 2007	June 11, 2008	2007-2008	#105	5.8[9]

Production history

The series was given a 13 episode order at ABC's May 2006 Upfronts, to debut in the fall of 2006, originally to follow Ugly Betty. After that series was shifted to a lead time slot on Thursdays, Men in Trees eventually followed Friday encore episodes of Grey's Anatomy until November 30, when Trees was moved to follow first-run Grey's episodes. On October 28, 2006 ABC ordered 4 more scripts to be written for the show.^[10] ABC then ordered a full season pickup for the show on November 8. It became the seventh new series to be given a full 22-episode order in the 2006-07 season.^[11] Men in Trees is among several scripted series affected by the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. In particular, a total of 14 new episodes were written for the second season, versus an order for 22. Combined with five episodes carried over from the first production season, Men in Trees has 19 completed episodes for its second broadcast season in the United States, and was on hiatus from late December 2007 until it returned on February 27, 2008, taking over for Cashmere Mafia. The series was not aired during the May 2008 sweeps period. On May 4, 2008, ABC announced the official cancellation of the show, and that the final episodes would be broadcast starting on May 28, 2008.

Critical reviews

With a pleasant blend of quirkiness and charm, this is an M.I.T. we can all get into.

—Alynda Wheat, ^[12]

Heche is very likable here. She plays some of the same notes she played when stranded with Harrison Ford in Six Days Seven Nights, or playing Amanda in last year's Everwood guest arc, but also crafts a credible character, and slips into her central role comfortably. Heche and Tupper explore a fiery love scene, and Benrubi's big Ben is the cuddliest TV character since Jorge Garcia's Hurley on Lost.

—David Bianculli, ^[13]

References

1. ^ "ABC RENAMES 'SAM I AM,' EYES FRIDAY CHANGES". The Futon Critic. 2007-06-19. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7410. Retrieved 2007-06-19. 
2. ^ "'Men in Trees: ABC Cancels Anne Heche Drama". TV Series Finale. 2008-05-05. http://www.tvseriesfinale.com/articles/men-in-trees-abc-cancels-anne-heche-drama/. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
3. ^ Max (minimax34) (2006-08-29). "Premiere the 12 and repeat the 15th September with a new episode!". TV.com. http://www.tv.com/men-in-trees-blog/premiere-the-12-and-repeat-the-15th-september-with-a-new-episode!/topic/79770-472027/show_blog_entry.html&topic_id=472027?tag=blog;title;0. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
4. ^ "October Road: ABC Changes Plans for Drama". TVSeriesFinale.com. 2007-04-02. Archived from the original on 2007-05-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20070521185734/http://www.tvseriesfinale.com/2007/04/october_road_abc_changes_plans_for_drama.php. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
5. ^ Sullivan, Brian Ford (2007-04-03). "ABC nixes Six Degrees; Trees planted for next season". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7345. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
6. ^ "ABC Shows Traveler a Little Love: Drama gets post-Grey's debut; Men in Trees done for season". Zap2It.com. 2007-04-20. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-abctravelersneakpreview,0,821384.story. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
7. ^ "ABC Programming Calendar". ABC Medianet. http://abcmedianet.com/web/progcal/progcal.aspx?Date=06%2f28%2f2007. Retrieved 2007-06-08. 
8. ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap". May 25, 2007. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ifbfdd1bcb53266ad8d9a71cad261604f. 
9. ^ ABC Medianet
10. ^ Sullivan, Brian Ford (2006-10-28). "Script orders keep five more newcomers alive". The Futon Critic. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7229. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
11. ^ "Trees Takes Root on ABC Thursday". Zap2It. 2007-11-08. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-abcpicksupmenintreesmovessixdegrees,0,2059910.story?coll=zap-tv-headlines. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
12. ^ Wheat, Alynda (2006-09-15). "What to Watch: Friday: Men in Trees". Entertainment Weekly: p. 68. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1532762,00.html?print. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
13. ^ Bianculli, David. "Trees: Heche branches out". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/451525p-380024c.html. Retrieved 2006-11-05. 

External links

• Men in Trees at Yahoo! TV
• Men in Trees at the Internet Movie Database
• Men in Trees at TV.com
• Music Appearing in Men in Trees