There’s some bad news for, well, a few of you today. The ABC drama Men in Trees has been canceled. Trees, which stars Anne Heche, has suffered from low ratings for the two seasons it’s aired, partially due to the fact that ABC could not seem to find a home for it. The final run of episodes, which have already been filmed, are set to begin airing on Wednesday, May 28.
Series creator Jenny Bicks was notified of ABC’s decision to cancel Trees last week. While the move didn’t come as a shock, Bicks points to ABC’s fickle scheduling as a key factor in the show’s demise, saying, “I wish the show had not been moved six times and put onto two long hiatuses. No show could survive that.” Producers began shooting the last batch of episodes with the possibility of cancellation in mind, filming an alternate season finale that could provide closure for the series.
I’ve never seen Men in Trees, but I’ve heard pretty good things about it. It seemed as though ABC just wasn’t behind it for some reason. Even during the writers strike, when ABC’s scripted shows started going into repeats, the network chose not to air the 11 or 13 episodes of Trees that it already had in the can. If ABC would rather show repeats over any sort of new content, then Bicks is right: No show can survive that.
