Men in Trees is a romantic television dramedy series starring Anne Heche.
The series is centered around relationship coach Marin Frist’s misadventures upon relocation to the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska.
The premise shows 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 are New Yorkers thrust into small town Alaska societies.
Filming for the series is based in Squamish, British Columbia, home of Quest University Canada.
Marin (Anne Heche) is an author of books dealing with relationships. She is quite successful. However, her own fiancé cheats on her and turns her life upside-down. Taking a speaking job in Alaska, she believes she has landed in dullsville and drinks a bit too much before her big moment. The men in the town, outnumbering the women by a large margin, are less than impressed with Marin’s advice. Through a series of circumstances, Marin becomes stranded in the small city. Wonder of wonders, she begins to like the change of venue. There is a handsome rescue worker, a congenial inn manager, a nice lady next door, a cute raccoon who takes a shine to her, etc. Could it be that a NY denizen can make a transition into life in the rough and tumble 49th state? Even with out spinning classes, hair dryers, and the like? This is a nice little series. Heche looks beautiful and makes Marin a very attractive damsel in distress. The rest of the cast, though unknown, is a delight. The Alaskan scenery is beyond lovely and adds much to the enjoyment of the story. Although the pace of the opening episodes was quite rapid, in order to get the story and characters off the ground, one hopes that it will settle down into a comfortable rhythm. All those who like humor, romance, and a storyline about fish out of water will like this series. It has a sweet and sarcastic edge that is very appealing.
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.
Main characters
* Marin Frist (Anne Heche) – Relationship coach, author, and radio host.
* Annie O’Donnell (Emily Bergl) – Fan of Marin’s books and Patrick’s former 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 Batchelor.
* 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)