''The Ex List'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series based on the Israeli series ''The Mythological X'' created and written by

Sigal Avin Sigal Avin (also spelled: Segahl Avin, ) is an American- Israeli writer and director. Early life Sigal Avin was born in Miami, Florida, U.S. and returned to Israel with her Israeli-Jewish parents at the age of ten. When she was sixteen her par ...

. The Americanized version, developed by

Diane Ruggiero Diane Ruggiero-Wright is an American television writer and producer. Her credits include '' That's Life'', ''Veronica Mars'', '' Free Agents'', '' Dirty Sexy Money'', '' Big Shots'', the ''Mythological X'' remake '' The Ex List'' and '' iZombie' ...

, premiered on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

on October 3, 2008. Avin and Ruggiero acted as executive producers with Jonathan Levin, Avi Nir, and Mosh Danon. The series aired on

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

in Canada and on Canal Fox on

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. The show was short-lived due to poor ratings and reviews, and lasted less than a month, with less than half of the produced episodes airing.

Premise

After a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

tells her she's already dated her future husband, a woman explores all her past relationships to determine who it was. According to the prediction, she will remain single for the rest of her life unless she locates him within a year.

History

All 13 episodes of ''The Ex List'' were scheduled to air on Channel 10 in Australia over the summer non-ratings period of 2008-09 at 9:30 p.m. on Mondays, however after two episodes the series was pulled due to low ratings. ''

Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The sh ...

'', the series which preceded it, was bumped back to the 9:30 p.m. slot and repeats of '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' began airing at 8:30 p.m. However, after these changes ratings did not improve. The series was also dubbed in French and was called ''Bella et ses ex''. The series started airing on Series Plus, June 1, 2009 in Canada, Mondays at 10 p.m. The series is also still being aired on Canal Plus Fox in Spain with the title ''Todos mis novios''. All 13 episodes were available to buy on demand at Amazon.com and iTunes for USA residents, however they have since been pulled and Amazon.com now says the series is unavailable due to their license having expired.

Production

The series was shot on location in the Ocean Beach and

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...

communities of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, as well as along Seacoast Drive in

Imperial Beach, California Imperial Beach is a beach city in San Diego County, California, United States, with a population of 26,137 as of the 2020 census. It is in the South Bay area of San Diego County, south of downtown San Diego and northwest of downtown Tiju ...

. On September 12, 2008, creator and executive producer/

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

quit the series after being unable to reach an agreement with

over the direction of the show. Six episodes of the show had been filmed before Ruggiero departed. Executive producer Rick Eid had taken over

show runner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

duties to finish the 13-episode order, but the series was cancelled after only four episodes aired. All 13 episodes were completed, despite cancellation of the series during production.

Cast

Elizabeth Reaser Elizabeth Ann Reaser (born July 2, 1975) is an American film, television, and stage actress. Her work includes the films '' Stay'', '' The Family Stone'', '' Sweet Land'', '' Against the Current'', '' The Twilight Saga'', ''Young Adult'', and '' ...

as Bella Bloom *

Rachel Boston Rachel Boston is an American actress. She has had leading roles in a number of independent films, and was a regular cast member in several television series. She starred in the NBC drama series, ''American Dreams'' as Beth Mason from 2002 to 200 ...

as Daphne Bloom *

Alexandra Breckenridge Alexandra Breckenridge (born May 15, 1982) is an American actress. She began her career with supporting roles in the teen comedy films '' Big Fat Liar'' (2002) and ''She's the Man'' (2006). She later played reporter Willa McPherson in the FX ...

as Vivian * Mark Deklin as Elliott *

Adam Rothenberg Adam Rothenberg (born June 20, 1975) is an American actor, best known for his role as Capt. Homer Jackson in the BBC One drama mystery series '' Ripper Street'' (2012–16). In film, he has starred in '' Mad Money'' (2008) as Bob Truman, ''Tenness ...

as David "Augie" Augustine *Amir Talai as Cyrus *Anne Bedian as Marina the Psychic * Josh Braaten as Marty (Daphne's husband)

The Exes

Eric Balfour Eric Salter Balfour (born April 24, 1977) is an American actor. He made his film debut in the Lifetime movie ''No One Would Tell'' in 1996, followed by the drama '' Shattered Image'' (1998), followed by roles in '' What Women Want'' (2000), Rise ...

as Johnny Diamont (Episode 01: ''Pilot'') *

Eric Winter Eric Barrett Winter (born July 17, 1976) is an American actor. He has appeared in the television roles of Sergeant Tim Bradford on the ABC show '' The Rookie'' (2018-present), Rex Brady on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', FBI Specia ...

as Jake Turner (Episode 02: ''Climb Every Mountain Biker'') * Michael Weaver as Ronny (Episode 03: ''Protect And Serve'') *

Brian Van Holt Brian Van Holt (born July 6, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Bo and Vincent Sinclair in ''House of Wax (2005 film), House of Wax'' and List of Cougar Town characters#Bobby Cobb, Bobby Cobb on the TV series ''Cougar Town' ...

as Shane Gallagher (Episode 04: ''Do You Love Me, Do You Surfer...Boy'') *

Michael Landes Michael Christopher Landes (born September 18, 1972) is an American actor of television and film. Personal life Michael Christopher Landes was born to Patricia and Bernard Landes on September 18, 1972, in The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the no ...

as Josh Dubinsky (Episode 05: ''Momma's Boy'') * Reid Scott as Steve Bolla (Episode 06: ''Daphne's Idealized Wedding'') *

Kevin Sorbo Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He has had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' (1995–1999) and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). ...

as Professor Harris Bertram (Episode 07: ''Art Professor'') *

Josh Cooke Josh Cooke (born November 22, 1979) is an American actor. Early life Cooke attended Harriton High School, a small public high school in suburban Rosemont. He was a member of Harriton Theater Company and directed a show his senior year. He has ...

as Luke Crane (Episode 08: ''Trustafarian'') *

James Tupper James Tupper (born August 4, 1965) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Jack Slattery on the ABC television series '' Men in Trees'', Dr. Chris Sands on the NBC medical drama series '' Mercy'', and David Clarke on ABC's ''Revenge''. He a ...

as DP (Episode 09: ''Flower King'') * Ben Weber as James Thorp (Episode 10: ''The Spark'') *

Josh Stamberg Joshua Collins Stamberg (born January 4, 1970) is an American actor. He was regular cast member in the Lifetime comedy-drama series ''Drop Dead Diva'' from 2009 to 2012, and later had recurring roles on ''Parenthood (2010 TV series), Parenthood'', ...

as Wade Redden (Episode 11: ''The Babysitter'') *

Kristoffer Polaha Kristoffer Polaha is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles on television as Jason Matthews in ''North Shore (2004 TV series), North Shore'', Nate Bazile, Nathaniel "Baze" Bazile in ''Life Unexpected'', and Henry Butler in '' ...

as Philip Emmerson (Episode 12: ''Metro Guy and the Non Ex'') *Michael McLafferty as Roy Avis (Episode 13: ''The Other Foot'') *Melanie Specht as Tessa (Episode 13: ''The Other Foot'')

Episodes

Critical reception

South Coast Today ''The Standard-Times'' (and ''Sunday Standard-Times''), based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is the largest of three daily newspapers covering the South Coast of Massachusetts, along with '' The Herald News'' of Fall River and ''Taunton Daily G ...

'' called the series "''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...

'' with a whole lot more sex, better-looking people and an emphasis on hedonism and narcissism as opposed to karma and redemption." '' Time Out'' called the show's premise "dorky." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' was more positive, giving the show a B+ rating and saying the show "could be one of the more charming new shows of the fall." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' was also positive about the show, saying "just because something's almost unforgivably cute doesn't mean it can't also be very good and very funny." CBS squeezed into the worst top 10 with ''The Ex List''. “It had one of the least appealing main characters of any recent network show I can remember,” said John Crook of Tribune Media Services.

Ratings

The series premiere attracted 6.85 million viewers and posted a 2.0 in the 18–49 demographic, ranking first in both viewers and the demo for its time slot. Ratings steadily declined, and on October 31, CBS replaced the series with a

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. The two types of reruns are those that occur during a hiatus and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word "repe ...

of ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', which topped the highest-rated episode of ''The Ex List'' by 65%. The network subsequently canceled the series.

Home media

At the ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' premiere, Elizabeth Reaser announced an international DVD release of the series will include 13 episodes. "I'm still shooting the show, which is odd. The scripts have been rewritten to give

ans Ans or ANS or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Ans, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium * Ans, Denmark, a village in Denmark * Angus, Scotland, UK; a council area by its Chapman code * Ainsdale railway station, England, UK (by station cod ...

some closure.

ella Ella is a feminine given name, which also used as a surname. Ella (or similar) may also refer to: Places United States * Ella, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Ella, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Ella, Pennsylvania, an unincor ...

will figure out which ex is the one. I do find the guy, and it's someone we met in an earlier episode."Ausiello Files
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ex List 2000s American comedy-drama television series 2000s American romantic comedy television series 2008 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings American television series based on Israeli television series CBS comedy-dramas Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in San Diego County, California American fantasy drama television series