Giving "The Ex" The Ax

It doesn't rank very high on my list of developing stories, but I feel I should at least make a passing reference to the welcome demise of the new CBS comedy-drama The Ex List, until recently showing at 9 PM EST on Fridays. The program starred the theoretically pretty actress Elizabeth Reaser (best known, certain sources tell me, for a role in Grey's Anatomy) as Bella Bloom, a woman told by an ethnically vague fortune teller (Brazilian, perhaps?) that she had already met and dated her life mate, and needs to find them again or she will die alone. The series promised to follow Bella on this existential quest over the course of an entire season, as she tracked down all previous lovers and boyfriends in order to determine whether he was The One (italics decidedly mine).

The only reason I even remotely care about or have even heard of such dreck is that The Ex List was being filmed entirely in our little community of Ocean Beach. This means that streets have been shut down, store fronts commandeered, and beaches monopolized. One very brief scene involving the quasi-lovely Bella and her father was filmed directly across the street from our house one morning, a process which involved shutting down the entire block the previous evening and filling the area with moving trucks and horse trailers loaded down with equipment. It was amusing to watch the intense effort needed to deliver a 35-second scene that might or might not even make the final cut. In these times of economic shrinkage and endless war, it was also revolting.

Jane and I watched a few episodes with friends out of simple curiosity, and concluded the entire program was an hour-long train wreck (yeah, that's right - CBS blocked off an entire hour for this schlock). The brief thrill of seeing a familiar beachfront or favorite bar was overwhelmed by the excruciating banality of the plot and the fumblingly oafish attempts at humor (Sample witticism- Bella: He's changed. Vivian: Yeah, he's changed into somebody who doesn't like you). When even an attempt to insert a joke about a merkin fails, you know you're sinking fast. Our friend Sage watched the initial episode with us, and after one particularly brutal exchange loudly exclaimed, "Oh, this show is just butchering our town!" During a neighborhood block party last week, I somewhat drunkenly told our next door neighbor (the one whose home was used as a backdrop) that I thought the show was "utter swill".

So I'm delighted to announce that this program has been dropped from the CBS lineup after a paltry 4 episodes due to extreme viewer disinterest (for those who understand or care about such things, the series premiere brought in 6.85 million, which is considered very low). I guess I couldn't help but take some interest in this program as it was being filmed both figuratively and literally in my backyard (or front yard). Still, I rejoice the passing.

Click here for info on the demise. Look above for a totally-uncalled-for photo comparison between lead actress Elizabeth Reaser and ER's Noah Wyle (a similarity Jane first pointed out to me and has continued to insist upon ever since).