Men In Trees - Season 2
Premieres: Friday, October 12th at 10:00 p.m. EST
Network: ABC
Creator(s): Jenny Bicks
Starring: Anne Heche, Abraham Benrubi, Emily Bergl, Seana Kofoed, Suleka Mathew, Derek Richardson, Sarah Strange, James Tupper
Website: ABC.com
Men in Trees centers on Marin Frist (Heche), a sophisticated Manhattanite who, while she’s on her way to Alaska to promote her new book on relationships, finds out that her fiancé is cheating on her with her friend. Marin realizes that despite her reputation as the relationship expert, she really doesn’t get men. Since the town of Elmo, Alaska is chock full of men (she even witnesses men up in the trees), she decides to relocate to the town and figure them out.
In the town of Elmo, Marin befriends Annie (Bergl) and Patrick (Richardson), who are both huge fans of her books. Annie is from out of town, just like Marin and she and Patrick hit it off right away. Meanwhile, Marin develops a crush on Jack (Tupper), a dreamy biologist who turns out to have a pregnant ex-girlfriend, Lynn (played by Justine Bateman). Just when it seemed like Marin and Jack were finally going to have their happily-ever-after, Lynn returns to Elmo. As of the end of the first season, Jack was set to marry Lynn and Patrick and Annie were also engaged.
There are a number of other supporting characters in the series that serve to add a bit of color to the town of Elmo. As it’s a small town, everyone pretty much knows everything about everyone else. This makes for a lot of drama and plenty of humorous situations.
According to ABC’s Men in Trees website, “in the coming season there will be a wedding that doesn't happen, another that does, two divorces, one baby, a pack of angry wolves, an arctic cyclone, two "little people" and a puppy.”
Despite the fact that Men In Trees never really blew up in its first season (that could’ve been due to ABC moving it’s timeslot and then ending the first season at mid-season, causing many of us to forget all about it), I’m still really excited to see how things are going in good old Elmo when the show resumes.
If there's one thing Elmo has a lot of (besides men), it's heart. The town is filled with small-town people who live small-town lives but they’re happy. What I love about the series is that while Marin may have thought she knew men, what she comes to learn is that the Manhattan metrosexuals that she’s spent so much of her time with are nothing like the jeans-and-t-shirt guys in Elmo, Alaska. In addition to learning more about men, she’s learning a lot about herself and finding a new appreciation for the simple things in life. It really is a sweet show and the supporting characters are all great.
