So remember that TV show about a bunch of quirky but lovable romantics living in Alaska, who approach the ups and downs of life and love with an affable sense of humor? No, I'm not talking about the long-dormant Northern Exposure; I'm talking about ABC's Men in Trees, starring Anne Heche.

Photo credit: ABC/Michael Courtney

Earlier this week, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reported that ABC has officially canceled the series, which suffered from oft-shifting time slots. It has aired on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, at various times, over the course of its two seasons since it premiered in September 2006. It was also pulled from ABC's prime-time schedule several times (once to make room for October Road, and more recently due to the WGA strike), leaving large gaps between new episodes.

Not surprisingly, ratings for the show have been uneven. I admit, Men in Trees is not the most revolutionary show on television, but I found myself liking it and liking Anne's character, Marin Frist, a big-city relationship expert (she writes self-help books) who relocates serendipitously to small-town Elmo, Alaska.

Yes, there were some annoying (and sometimes offensive) characters on the show, but overall the episodes that I saw were heart-warming and cozy, and I mean that in the best possible way. I freely admit that I have a big soft spot for romantic comedy, and Men in Trees did it pretty well. The relationship between Marin's biggest fan, Annie (Emily Bergl), and Patrick (Derek Richardson) was a little bit odd and a little bit sweet. … continue reading

Don't judge the number on this list!  Six is my lucky number.  Or am I just saying that six is my lucky number as an April fool's joke?  You can't be sure what is or isn't true today, can you? Now that I have made you paranoid, here are my Top Six Moments in Entertainment that I wish were just bad pranks rather than true events.

6. Anne Heche Phones Home

Anne Heche has had some public ups and downs but nothing shines so bright as her attempt to board the Mothership.

In 2000, Heche (aka Celestia, aka AreYouKiddingMe?!) was found wandering in a rural area outside Fresno wearing only a bra and shorts (attire only acceptable for Dinah Shore weekend).  AreYouKiddingMe?! rang a stranger's doorbell and requested directions to a gateway into outer space and then asked if she could use their shower. (I always freshen up before exiting the planet.)

5. Cher Retires...

...again and again and again.  The artist only known by one name (and Mama Bear to Chastity Bono, pictured below sporting a mullet) has been entertaining the world for over 40 years. She won an Academy Award, Grammy Award, Emmy Award and three Golden Globes.

Sadly, Cher hung her wigs up for good during her Farewell Tour in April 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl. We miss you Cher we miss you ... but wait! We will NOT miss you anymore because you're back in effect at Caesar's Palace performing the Cher Resurrection Cher Returns tour!

You tricked us Cher! We thought you were going to sit home in a rocking chair crocheting until death came knocking at your door. Good one Cher! You really April-fooled us this time! (P.S. more butt tattoos, please.)

4. Winona Ryder Needs to Borrow Five Bucks

In 2002, Hollywood's not so-girl next door Winona Ryder was convicted of stealing $5,500 in clothing from Saks Fifth Ave.  The two-time Academy Award nominee has worked with Tim Burton and sex goddess Angelina Jolie, yet all she ever wanted was a petite oyster-colored sweater set.

In one afternoon, Ryder set pixies back 20 years. Tinkerbell is the only one we can trust now. … continue reading

In this week's video blog, Lori and I discuss the cinematic women who've saved the world from impending doom — because nothing's hotter than a woman who chases tornadoes, electrocutes evil sharks, or creates a lot of complicated mathematical charts and graphs!

Since not everyone's as big of a disaster movie nut as Lori is, we're giving you a video cheat-sheat on the disaster movies with the best female leads: Saffron Burrows creates the perfect killing machine and then tries to undo it in Deep Blue Sea, Hilary Swank goes on a mission to jump-start the earth's motor in The Core, Vivica Fox rescues the First Lady from an alien attack in Independence Day, Shelley Winters does some deep-sea diving in Poseidon Adventure, Kim Delaney saves California from falling into the ocean in 10.5 and 10.5 Apocalypse, Kate Winslet floats in Titanic, and Anne Heche and Linda Hamilton duck lava bombs in Volcano and Dante's Peak.

All while slinging witty one-liners and sporting just the right kind of sexy mussy hairdo! (Um, them, not us - although we do make sarcastic comments in our vlog, and Lori does occasionally have a whisp of hair out of place.)

Because we've upgraded our software, we now have nifty new theme music! You'll also be happy to know the snarky captions are back; unfortunately, the new video editing software doesn't come with a spell-checker, so you'll notice a few typos. But life's too short to do it all over just because Hilary Swank insists on spelling her name with only one "l". (Although I don't have an excuse for leaving the "i" out of "premiere", except I had that old saying "there's no 'I' in "team" stuck in my head. You can blame my basketball coach for that.)

Besides commentary on the movies, you'll also learn about how I narrowly escaped a tornado in Fargo, North Dakota; why Lori believes mentoring is important even in the face of world annihilation; and why we're both hoping we're in New York when Mt. Rainier finally blows.

Watch the vlog here now! … continue reading

Saturday at 10:00 p.m. on ABC, the four-part series Masters of Science Fiction debuts with "A Clean Escape." The Twilight Zone–esque anthology sounds promising: The first part features Judy Davis as a psychiatrist investigating Sam Waterston's short-term memory loss, and later installments bring us Anne Heche and Elisabeth Rohm in other far-fetched tales.

But the promise may not have a payoff — so far, the reviews aren't stellar. It's not to be confused with Showtime's successful, innovative Masters of Horror series; sadly, there's no "Sick Girl" or other lesbionic Angela Bettis chapter here. And the time slot doesn't exactly guarantee viewers. But I'll tune in for almost anything Judy Davis does. She's crazy-brilliant.

Speaking of that, I first noticed her in My Brilliant Career. Then there were A Passage to India, Where Angels Fear to Tread and the nightmare-inducing Naked Lunch. Oh, and a little something called Serving in Silence. She gets better and better: Did you see the way she channeled Nancy Reagan and Judy Garland in The Reagans and Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows? It's hard to find a misstep in her career, especially if you overlook Gaudi Afternoon.

So whether Masters of Science Fiction will be worth it after the first episode remains to be seen. I do know that nearly everything Davis does is a master class in acting, and that's enough for me.

The first segment of our video blog this week is a rundown of the glitzy ABC Summer Press Tour Party Lori and I attended Thursday night, in which we eavesdropped (unsuccessfully) on Miranda Otto, admired Dana Delany's power walk, met Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller, had a run-in with Anne Heche's publicist, and chatted with Bonnie Somerville. Among other things.

Before we get to the video, here are a few photos from the party:

Dana Delany and Lucy Liu

Bonnie Somerville and Miranda Otto

… continue reading

This is a live blog from the bi-annual Television Critics Association conference. See more TCA live blogging here.

It's Men in Trees time on the last day of the TCA. I like this show, and my mom loves it, but I stopped watching about halfway through last season because there were just too many shows on the air and not enough time in the day to watch them all.

ABC begins the promo for last season, and the cast files out on stage. Anne Heche looks great in her pale pink dress, and I like her hair like this. She seems happy, almost giddy. I find myself instinctively rooting for her. I'm a sucker for the underdog.

I don't even recognize half of the rest of the cast, which is what I get for tuning out mid-season. But where's Sarah the prostitute? And Cynthia Stevenson? And that bartender guy?

The promo ends and Anne starts clapping and yelling "yay!" No reaction from the reporters. This is a tough crowd.

The first question is the first of many variations on the topic of why ABC is running the last five episodes from the first season with the second season? There's no good answer except that ABC wanted the space to promote other shows. Creator Jenny Bicks (seated between Anne and James, below) says they've since gone back and filmed a "bridge" episode that will be inserted before the five from last season.

The cast is waiting for the next question, but what they get is a deafening wall of silence. We're only two minutes in, and no one has a question? This is not a good sign. Although I think this has less to do with the show than with the fact that it's the last day of a very long three-week press tour, and everyone's too exhausted to think. … continue reading

Joan Chen is an actor and director whose work I've admired for years.

How can you not respect a woman who, when faced with a dearth of interesting roles from a (still!) largely white industry, will go and make her own films? And brave the displeasure of the Chinese government in the process? Chen has also been good to lesbian audiences, accepting roles in films with lesbian stories, such as What's Cooking and Saving Face. She spoke with AfterEllen.com about Saving Face and also did an interview with iFilm.com: … continue reading

It’s nice to know that some things in life never change. The sun will rise and set each day in its never-ending loop through space and time. The tides will ebb and flow as they perform their magnetic dance with the moon. And Anne Heche will still be nuttier than a fruitcake.

In divorce papers filed this week, Heche's estranged husband Coley Laffoon claims that the former half of the world’s most famous lesbian power couple was a bad parent to their 5-year-old son, Homer, and a persistent passenger on the crazy bus.

“[Heche] has at times exhibited bizarre and delusional behavior for which she refuses to seek professional help.”

To this, the current Men in Trees star shot back with her own statement that read: … continue reading