<P> "I Am a Tree" was written by Primetime Emmy Award nominee and series executive producer, Krista Vernoff . Filmmaker and television producer Jeff Melman served as the director, his first such credit since "Blues for Sister Someone" in the second season . The soundtrack used in the episode included Moloko's "The Time Is Now", The Chalets' "Theme From Chalets", Bitter: Sweet's "The Mating Game", Mat Kearney's "Crashing Down" and Roland Clark's "Open Your Eyes". Also featured in the episode was "Open Your Eyes", the fifth single from the Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol's album Eyes Open . Similarly to "Chasing Cars", the band's previous single featured in the series, the song gained significant popularity after being used in the series, resulting in a drastic rise in the sales number on iTunes . Several one - time guest actors appeared in the episode, including Richard Roundtree, who portrayed Donald Burke, and Javier Grajeda, acting as Jeffrey Hernandez . Although fictionally set in Seattle, Washington, filming primarily occurred in Los Angeles, California . Scenes in the operating room were filmed at the Prospect Studios in Los Feliz, Los Angeles . </P> <P> Following his appearance in the second season, Dane returned to the series in this episode . According to Dane, he was originally hired by the series producers in order to film one episode, but was ultimately asked to return . "As far as I know, I was doing one episode . That's what I signed up for . But because of who the character was, there was a lot of room for him to come back . I got real lucky, they invited me back ." When offered the series regular position, Dane was not aware of the character's future on the show, noting the boldness of the character's introduction in the previous season, by contrast to his first appearance in the third season . Fellow cast member Pompeo offered her insight on Sloan's reintroduction, noting that the inevitability of the character's return was due to his overwhelming popularity, mainly among the female audience, who immediately responded to the concept of the character . Dane only makes a short, uncredited appearance in the episode, seeing his naked character exiting a steamy bathroom . The scene has become one of the most iconic of the series . Dane offered his outlook on the scene, "It was a spectacular entrance . It was all about this brand new towel, which had a hard time staying together . Every time I put it together and let my hands go, it was almost like throwing caution to the wind ." </P> <P> The episode received mixed to positive reviews among television critics, and underperformed the previous episode in terms of viewership . "I Am a Tree" was originally broadcast on September 28, 2006 in the United States, on the American Broadcasting Company . The episode was viewed by a total of 23.48 million Americans, down 1.93% from the previous episode "Time Has Come Today", which garnered 25.41 million viewers . In terms of vieweship, "I Am a Tree" ranked second for the night, just behind CBS's juggernaut CSI . The episode did not win in viewership, as its 8.2 Nielsen rating ranked second in its 9: 00 Eastern time - slot and the entire night, for the rating of the key 18--49 demographic . </P>

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