Men in Trees
Men in Trees is an American romantic comedy-drama television series starring Anne Heche as relationship coach Marin Frist, which premiered on September 12, 2006, on ABC. The series is set in the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska, and concerns Marin Frist's misadventures in relationships. The premise showed at least superficial similarities to the HBO television series Sex and the City, 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 Alaskan societies. Filming for the series was based in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada.
Five episodes of the first production season, which had not yet been shown on ABC, debuted in New Zealand on the TV2 network in June and July 2007. The five carryover episodes aired on ABC after the first episode of the second production season, beginning October 19, 2007.
Men In Trees was cancelled on May 4, 2008. Its final episodes aired that summer as a burn-off.
Scheduling
The show first aired on ABC with a preview on September 12, 2006, after the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. The show initially aired on Fridays at 9 pm. ET. From November 30, 2006 until March 2007 episodes aired Thursdays at 10 pm. The network announced on May 15, 2007, it would move to Fridays at 10pm for its second season. ABC held off five episodes for its second season.Noting the absence of Men in Trees from ABC's schedule starting in March 2007, 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.
The series began the fall 2007 season airing Fridays at 10 pm. 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 pm, Men in Trees was moved to the 8 pm Friday slot. 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 Relationship coach, author, and radio host. She discovers that her fiancé Graham has been cheating on her and decides to start a new life in Elmo, Alaska.
- Annie O'Donnell Fan of Marin's books and Patrick's fiancée. She follows Marin to Alaska.
- Patrick O'Bachelorton 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 O'Donnell, Bachelor from his mother, and -ton from his biological father's last name, Washington.
- Jane Burns Marin's editor, falls for "plow guy".
- Jack Slattery Local biologist and Marin's love interest.
- Buzz Washington -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 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. At the show's beginning, he and his wife Theresa are estranged but continue to live in the same house while Theresa conducts several affairs. When he and Sara resume their old relationship, he asks Theresa to move out. He and Theresa eventually reconcile.
- Sara Jackson The town's former "working girl", single mother who now works at The Chieftain with one-time boyfriend Ben.
- Theresa Thomasson Ben's wife, once estranged from him, who works as the town barmaid. Even though she and Ben are separated, they live under the same roof. It's only after Ben asks her to leave following the resumption of his relationship with Sara that she realizes how much she loves him. Theresa also reveals the motives behind her behavior: her marriage with Ben is her first relationship that hasn't turned abusive, and it scares her. She is a former backup singer for Jewel.
- Police Chief Celia Bachelor Patrick's clingy, widowed mother. Celia's maiden name is Hisbut..
- Mai Washington Buzz's wife, an entrepreneur who sells various items taken from unclaimed luggage..
Recurring characters
- Jerome Robinsky Regular patron at the Chieftain. As the show progresses, bits of Jerome's past are revealed He was previously involved with Annie's mother Mary Alice, but the relationship ended when Jerome discovered she had gone back to her husband. He composes a song for her, which he plays at Sam and Jane's wedding in New York.
- Carl
- Lynn Barstow Jack's pregnant ex-girlfriend who has again left Elmo because Jack didn't love her.
- Police Supervisor Richard Ellis Celia Bachelor's boyfriend
- Sam Soloway/"Plow Guy" Jane's husband who drives a plow
- Stuart Maxson Marin's book publisher
- Cash 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 The minister at the local church who dates Sara.
- George Washington Buzz Washington's gay son.
- Terri Elmo's only hairdresser, a New York transplant, and occasional boyfriend of George Washington. He donates a kidney to Cash.
- Ivan Palacinke Croatian ice hockey player
Episodes
Season 1: 2006–07
Season 2: 2007–08
Season 2, consisting of 19 episodes, first premiered in New Zealand on the TV2 network on June 25, 2007 with "Chemical Reactions". Season 2 premiered on ABC on October 12, 2007 with the first produced episode of Season 2.| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
Ratings
Seasonal rankings of Men in Trees on ABC:| Season | Timeslot | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers |
| Friday 9.00 P.M. Thursday 10.00 P.M. | September 12, 2006 | February 15, 2007 | 20062007 | #65 | 8.4 | |
| Friday 10:00 P.M. Friday 8:00 P.M. Wednesday 10:00 P.M. | October 12, 2007 | June 11, 2008 | 2007-2008 | #105 | 5.8 |
| Episode # | Title | Air Date | Rating | Share | 18-49 | Viewers | Rank |
| 1 | "Pilot" | September 12, 2006 | 8.0 | 13 | 3.7 | 12.1 | |
| 2 | "Power Shift" | September 15, 2006 | 5.3 | 10 | 2.2 | 8.02 | |
| 3 | "For What It's Worth..." | September 22, 2006 | 5.5 | 10 | 2.5 | 8.21 | |
| 4 | "Sink or Swim" | September 29, 2006 | 4.7 | 8 | 2.2 | 6.92 | |
| 5 | "Talk for Tat" | October 6, 2006 | 4.8 | 8 | 1.9 | 7.11 | |
| 6 | "The Caribou in The Room" | October 13, 2006 | 5.1 | 9 | 2.2 | 7.15 | |
| 7 | "Ladies First" | October 20, 2006 | 4.4 | 8 | 1.6 | 6.16 | |
| 8 | "The Buddy System" | October 27, 2006 | 4.5 | 8 | 2.2 | 6.86 | |
| 9 | "The Menaissance" | November 10, 2006 | 4.3 | 7 | 1.9 | 6.35 | |
| 10 | "New York Fiction " | November 30, 2006 | 8.0 | 13 | 4.0 | 11.85 | |
| 11 | "New York Fiction " | December 7, 2006 | 5.9 | 10 | 2.7 | 8.28 | |
| 12 | "The Darkest Day" | January 11, 2007 | 6.9 | 11 | 3.6 | 10.26 | |
| 13 | "History Lessons" | January 18, 2007 | 7.3 | 12 | 3.7 | 10.70 | |
| 14 | "Bed, Bat & Beyond" | January 25, 2007 | 7.7 | 13 | 3.9 | 10.98 | |
| 15 | "Take It Like a Man" | February 1, 2007 | 7.3 | 12 | 3.9 | 10.64 | |
| 16 | "Nice Girls Finish First" | February 8, 2007 | 7.1 | 12 | 4.1 | 10.90 | |
| 17 | "The Indecent Proposal" | February 15, 2007 | 7.6 | 12 | 4.1 | 11.21 | - |
| Episode # | Title | Air Date | Rating | Share | 18-49 | Viewers | Rank |
| 1 | "A Tree Grows In Elmo" | October 12, 2007 | 4.9 | 9 | 2.0 | 7.05 | |
| 2 | "Chemical Reactions" | October 19, 2007 | 4.4 | 8 | 1.7 | 6.42 | |
| 3 | "No Man Is An Iceland" | October 26, 2007 | 4.6 | 8 | 1.7 | 6.51 | |
| 4 | "I Would If I Could" | November 2, 2007 | 4.1 | 7 | 2.0 | 7.41 | |
| 5 | "The Girl Who Cried Wolf" | November 9, 2007 | 4.4 | 8 | 1.5 | 6.16 | |
| 6 | "Nice Day For A Dry Wedding" | November 16, 2007 | 4.5 | 8 | 1.6 | 6.40 | |
| 7 | "Sea Change" | November 23, 2007 | 3.8 | 7 | 1.5 | 5.57 | |
| 8 | "Sweatering it Out" | December 7, 2007 | 4.2 | 7 | 1.3 | 5.97 | |
| 9 | "Charity Case" | February 27, 2008 | 4.0 | 7 | 1.7 | 5.66 | |
| 10 | "Sonata in Three Parts" | March 5, 2008 | 4.0 | 7 | 1.6 | 5.74 | |
| 11 | "Home Seized Home" | March 12, 2008 | 4.1 | 7 | 1.7 | 5.62 | |
| 12 | "Read Between the Minds" | March 19, 2008 | 4.0 | 7 | 1.6 | 5.89 | |
| 13 | "A Tale of Two Kidneys" | March 26, 2008 | 4.0 | 7 | 1.5 | 5.61 | |
| 14 | "Get a Life" | April 2, 2008 | 3.7 | 6 | 1.5 | 5.50 | |
| 15 | "Wander/Lust" | April 16, 2008 | 4.4 | 7 | 1.6 | 6.11 | |
| 16 | "Kiss and Don't Tell" | April 23, 2008 | 3.8 | 6 | 1.5 | 5.21 | |
| 17 | "New Dogs, Old Tricks" | May 28, 2008 | 3.7 | 6 | 1.6 | 5.31 | |
| 18 | "Surprise, Surprise " | June 4, 2008 | 3.3 | 5 | 1.4 | 5.25 | |
| 19 | "Taking the Lead" | June 11, 2008 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 4.51 |
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 four more scripts to be written for the show. 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.
Men in Trees was among several scripted series affected by the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. In particular, 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 had 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 said that the final episodes would be broadcast starting on May 28, 2008.