Excuse me if this blog is a little bleary-eyed, but I'm on an early-morning plane back to Vancouver after attending the ABC All-Star Party last night. It sounds like a sporting event, but it's really just a gathering in a hotel ballroom where actors mingle with TV critics, get photographed in pretty clothes, and eat free sushi. I must say, I did feel like I was "on the TV" when I stood on the red carpet in a borrowed dress, watching the flashbulbs pop. A few minutes later, I had to go back and do a live interview at the beginning of the whole press line, which involved sneaking past the back of the red carpet, my cream high-heeled boots sinking into the dirt of the flower beds. The universe always has a way of keeping me humble.
This week's episode of Men in Trees [Thursdays at 10 pm/ET] is "History Lessons," or as we called it, the never-ending rummage sale. What will be about 15 minutes on screen took us days to shoot. Luckily the rummage sale was hosted by Mai (Lauren Tom), so we were all kept entertained. I busied myself by trying to actually buy things from the rummage-sale set, but to no avail. I am truly my parents' daughter (they never met a garage sale they didn't like). But I know you want to hear about more than rummage sales, after Marin and Jack's parting last week. I understand that the ladies out there aren't too happy with him, but in his defense I will say that he and Lynn have a very long history together. Even though Marin is trying to move on, there is a lot of love going on in this episode, with Ben and Theresa back together. Of course, there will be complications there, because as you know, Sara returned to Elmo at the end of last week's episode. And I hope you're happy that Annie and Patrick have reunited! In fact, something very big is going to be happening for Annie and Patrick this week, but you'll have to watch to find out. I think it may be one of my favorite episodes. OK, I know I say that a lot, but trust me, this is a good one.
We literally went up a mountain to shoot some of the scenes in this episode. The entire crew took all their gear up a very swingy tram and ascended to the apex of Grouse Mountain. When you see those beautiful scenes between Marin and Stuart Maxon, know that you aren't looking at a green screen, but some genuine Vancouver beauty. From the top of Grouse Mountain you can see all of Vancouver, the ocean and a lot of the outlying mountain ranges. (You can even see West Lion Mountain, where, if you read my Week 8 blog, you'll know I got trapped in the pitch dark.) Derek Richardson and I were finished shooting for the day, but both of us are pretty thrifty, so we decided to take advantage of the free passes, snowshoes, ice skates, catering and possible drinks. Derek had scoffed a little at my enthusiasm to get up the mountain, while he languished on the phone inside his trailer. I'm sure he probably reconsidered our plan when I banged on his door repeatedly yelling, "Move your ass, Richardson, the sun is going down, and we gotta get to the top of that mountain!" However, my efforts were rewarded by an incredible pink and orange sunset going down over the entire city. Then we strapped on some snowshoes and began trekking along a trail covered in several feet of snow. Derek had threatened to push me into the snow earlier, but luckily I fell enough times on my own that that proved unnecessary.
As the sky grew darker, we decided to wander off-trail and up the top of the mountain, despite my aforementioned history of getting lost on hikes in the dark. If anyone is looking for a good workout, this was no joke. Then we began to realize that we couldn't really see any lights anymore, so for a while we were snowshoeing blind, but in the end we emerged victorious on the top of the ski hill. At this point I think I said something like, "I can't believe we get paid to do this." Then we used our snowshoes as miniature skis, and tried to sail down the mountain, wiping out about every 20 feet. At the bottom we were greeted by the beautiful sight of James Tupper and Anne Heche ice-skating in perfect circles in the rink outside of the lodge. Then it was almost time for our show to air for the first time after Grey's Anatomy, so we all headed to the bar to find a TV. I was hoping to catch my friend on Grey's, but at the last minute the hockey game went into overtime. I wasn't willing to try to change the channel and face the wrath of a bunch of screaming Canadian men — who are even scarier than American men when they yell, because they don't do it as often. But we were able to see our show, which was a fantastic episode, and we did our usual bit of cheering and telling each other how much we love everyone on the show. This happens a lot here at Men in Trees.
One of our writers, the sensitive yet masculine Tim Davis, said to me up on Grouse Mountain, "You're just snowshoeing so you'll have something to blog about." Maybe so. Maybe my recent journeys to the Middle East and misadventures in the darkness of the wilderness are a thinly veiled attempt to be more interesting. If so, I thank this blog and you readers for making my life so much more exciting!
Enjoy the big news this week!
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