Didn't expect to like this but will probably be back. This Ally McBeal meets Northern Exposure. Best line from pilot, when discussing the male-female ratio in Alasks, from the woman's point of view, "the odds are good but the goods are odd."
The show is akin to Ally McBeal in the lead, semi-waif-like diaphanous lead character who is going through a tough spot in her life and is thrown into a world of odd and somewhat prickly other personalities. It's those personalities and their prickliness which helps advance the show's Northern Exposure feel, along with the somewhat off-beat and odd behavior of some of the wildlife.
But where the show is either better written or better performed than McBeal is that I never had the feeling that Heche's character's quirkiness was forced or created for her.....it sort of flowed from the sort of woman she portrays and the circumstances in which she finds herself. Men In Trees will probably be open to criticism in that its got a definitely "feel good" edge which can border on the overly cute and I expect could get to be cloying even for a viewer like me who generally has a high tolerance for saccharine.
The show is akin to Ally McBeal in the lead, semi-waif-like diaphanous lead character who is going through a tough spot in her life and is thrown into a world of odd and somewhat prickly other personalities. It's those personalities and their prickliness which helps advance the show's Northern Exposure feel, along with the somewhat off-beat and odd behavior of some of the wildlife.
But where the show is either better written or better performed than McBeal is that I never had the feeling that Heche's character's quirkiness was forced or created for her.....it sort of flowed from the sort of woman she portrays and the circumstances in which she finds herself. Men In Trees will probably be open to criticism in that its got a definitely "feel good" edge which can border on the overly cute and I expect could get to be cloying even for a viewer like me who generally has a high tolerance for saccharine.