Emily Bergl and Derek Richardson by Sergei Bachlakov/ABC
Searching for true love? Forget Paris. Hop a plane to Elmo, Alaska Squamish, British Columbia and ask for directions to the Men in Trees set.Emily Bergl and Derek Richardson — who play adorable (and in-love) misfits Annie and Patrick on ABC's criminally neglected romantic dramedy — have become the latest Trees couple to find love off screen, multiple sources confirm to me exclusively. "They started dating last year," whispers a Trees insider. "They’re happy and in love." This is the second instance of life imitating art on Tree's tucked-away Canadian set. During the show's first season, a then-spoken-for Anne Heche fell for her married leading man, James Tupper. The pair have since left their respective spouses and remain very much an item. I don’t know about you guys, but there's something about all of these Trees duos coupling up in real life that warms my cold heart. Now, if only ABC would show MIT half as much love as the actors have shown each other, maybe ...
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I blog to you from an Aer Lingus jet, high over the Atlantic Ocean on its journey from Dublin. I'm happy to report that Men in Trees is shown on not one, but two Irish television stations, a small step in our ultimate goal of Elmo world domination. Everyone in Ireland is loving the show, although those I spoke to are all related to me so it may be a rather unscientific focus group. As the title of "Sweatering It Out" suggests, Marin is knitting a sweater for Jack to keep her occupied until his return from the Bering Sea. Anne Heche is such a dedicated actress that she actually learned how to knit for the show, and she is making a real sweater pattern in the scenes. (Obviously Marin has never heard the old wives' tale that you must never knit a sweater for your boyfriend.) Anne must have inspired the rest of us because now our cast and crew are all knitting a blanket together for charity. As soon as one of our assistant directors announces that we are ready to continue shooting a s...
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I'm sure you're all wondering what's going to happen after last week's "Men in Trees" cliffhanger. "Nice Day For A Dry Wedding" was designed to be the grand finale of our first season, so I can promise that it contains some pretty dramatic developments, and will also satisfy some long-standing questions. Will Marin be devoured by wolves, or will she be rescued? Jack won't be around to save her this time. Will Annie still insist on calling off the wedding? Will the Chieftain survive being shut down? In this week's episode we finally come to the big day of Annie and Patrick's wedding. I had so much fun on this episode because it was almost like getting married, but without the hassle of the Jordan almonds and annoying In Laws. (Now that "Men in Trees" has enabled me to finally buy my Cuisinart stand mixer and also get me in a wedding dress, there is no longer any reason for me to actually get married.) Our costume designer, Susan De Laval, consulted with me every step of the way, just...
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Welcome to the first of a two-part episode of Men in Trees, "The Girl Who Cried Wolf," or as I like to call it, a very freaky fairly tale. Speaking of freaking out, I'm sure you're all wondering what's going to happen with your favorite shows after seeing the current writers' strike plastered all over the news. You won't have to worry about getting your Men in Trees fix for awhile, because our writers have been so on the ball, we still have a few scripts completely finished and ready to shoot. And remember how dismayed we all were when the show went off the air last season? Well, now those extra episodes that weren't shown will make Men in Trees quite possibly the longest-running scripted show this season. In fact, it may be the only new show out there. Television will no longer be called TV, but MITTV.This week's episode begins with a rather terrifying dream sequence, which was also terrifying to shoot. In this nightmare, Marin is wandering through the woods and encounters a viciou...
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Let me begin by apologizing right away for some lackluster blogging. I will immediately follow that apology up with telling you that none of it was my fault, which is how we roll in my family. Due to a technical difficulty, my second blog never made it to your screens that week, even though it was finished (which was caused neither by me nor the prescient Matt Mitovich of TVGuide.com). Then the following week I caught the flu, which is making its way through our set like nobody's business. I knew this virus was bad when our cameraman, Keith of the iron stomach, got sick. I wouldn't be surprised if the Men in Trees set was quarantined (just kidding… but its been spreading pretty quickly). Nothing could stop me from blogging about our next episode, "I Wood if I Could." I know I tend to extol the virtues of all our episodes, but this one is a favorite of everyone on our show. This episode has it all: sex, near sex and mud wrestling! Our writers, Chris Dingess and Cara DiPaolo, tea...
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The following entry from Emily Bergl got "lost in the Alaskan wilderness" and was meant to appear last week. Her blog will next be updated Nov. 2.Welcome to our second episode of Men in Trees. I hope you enjoyed our premiere last week, especially after such a long wait. I'm having a hard time remembering juicy stories from this episode because we shot it nine months ago! Or maybe I'm blocking the whole experience out because it was around the time of the Super Bowl. Those of you who have traversed this blog before know that I am from Chicago, which means I have an unquestioning and undying love for the Bears. It's probably not healthy for me to revisit that time in my life, although the current season really isn't much better for my psyche.In "Chemical Reactions," Jack and Lynn are planning for their wedding, as are Annie and Patrick. I can reveal that forget-me-nots, Alaska's state flower, will be prominent in Annie and Patrick's nuptials. This flower may be ominous for episodes to...
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Scott Elrod and Anne Heche, Men in Trees
It's the kind of blue-skied mountains-meet-the-ocean day that Vancouver was made for. And the cast of Men in Trees (premiering tonight at 10 pm/ET ABC) is spending the whole day in a bar.
OK, so the Chieftain is not a real bar. It's a copy of a nearby bar, right down to the posters offering expert rifle cleaning and bear repellent, and it's where the fictional citizens of the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska, fictionally hang out.
But according to star Anne Heche, the friendly you-scratch-my-back-I-loan-you-my-sled-dog atmosphere that makes the ABC drama such heartwarming fun is anything but fictional.
"The cast and crew of this show really do comprise a real-life Elmo," says Heche, who plays Marin Frist, a New York City writer who finds solace, community and even love in Elmo. "We're all great friends with lots of humor and warmth betw
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After an interminably long wait, Men in Trees is back, and please allow me to begin by thanking all of you for sticking with us! I can say on behalf of everyone in the cast that we really appreciate everyone hanging on during almost eight months off the air, a decision I won't question because I know the gods at ABC are benevolent and all-knowing. My trips to Starbucks, airports and the grocery store have rung with a resounding cry from viewers: "Where is Men in Trees? When is it coming back!?" By the way, if you ever run into me on your morning coffee run, this is a gentle reminder that while I understand your outrage, I am not responsible for our show's hiatus. And also please remember when you are tempted to exclaim with bewilderment, "But you're thin and pretty in real life!" that the person on TV is also me.Luckily everyone's patience will be rewarded by a stellar premiere episode, "A Tree Goes in Elmo." We actually traveled back in time to shoot this episode. At the end of our...
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Justine Bateman, Men in Trees
In a candid TV Guide interview, former '80s teen star Justine Bateman opens up about making mayhem on ABC's Men in Trees (Thursdays at 10 pm/ET), her kids, and... knitting sweaters for Courtney Love?!
TV Guide: How did you land the role of Lynn on Men in Trees? Justine Bateman: This is going to sound so made up, but I was on an airplane and [series creator] Jenny Bicks was also on the plane. We didn't have a conversation. She saw me, called my agents and said, "Oh, can she play Lynn?"
TV Guide: Lynn was a character on the show before we even met her. She was discussed for months, right? Bateman: Yeah. Sometimes in theater, they'll talk about your character a lot before
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Welcome to another episode of Men in Trees [Thursdays at 10 pm/ET, on ABC]. This week's installment, "The Indecent Proposal," was written by our creator, Jenny Bicks. She is also a great blogger, so you should check out what she says about this one on the writers' blog at ABC.com. I know it sounds like I'm plugging the ABC website every week, but I promise I'm not some shameless promoter for the network. I just enjoy reading what our writers are thinking. This episode was exciting for me because it's the first time I have a scene with Jane (Seana Kofoed). In fact, this will be the first time that our characters ever speak to one another on the show. Seana and I were always saying to each other, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if Jane went out to Queens with Annie and met her insane family?" Well, Jenny Bicks must be a mind reader, because that's exactly what happens! Annie is bringing Patrick home to meet the parents and announce their engagement, and she tries to set up Jane with her cut...
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