Roush on Men in Trees, Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty
Question: I just looked up
Men in Trees on TV Guide's handy-dandy directory and was shocked and dismayed to find that it had been moved to Fridays at 10 pm/ET, the death row of the television world.
Why? Any insight would be appreciated. I was really looking forward to
Grey's Anatomy and
Men in Trees together again. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
— Jessica S.
Matt Roush: Well, if
Big Shots (the new drama following
Grey's this fall) fares the way last year's
Six Degrees did, which from what I've seen so far would be the right way to go (into oblivion: talk about smarmy), maybe
Men in Trees could shift back there the way it did last season when
Six Degrees collapsed. I couldn't agree more;
Grey's and
Trees made such a nice fit, and with
Ugly Betty starting the night, what an enjoyable three-hour block. The good news about the move to Fridays is that expectations won't be so great, and with
Trees already sitting on so many unaired hours from last season, I'm reasonably convinced ABC will just let it alone for a while. But on the downside, we can't forget how ABC treated
Trees last season, yanking it from the schedule in February and keeping it off the air. What I really fear is that ABC will replace
Big Shots (or some other show) with the pandering and puerile
October Road, and
Trees will be left in the Friday wilderness to fade away.
