The basic assumption I'm running with is that every episode, at least in the first season, will feature Bella re-meeting one of her old boyfriends on a weekly basis until she discovers who the right one is (my money is on her most recent ex). The rest of her friends meanwhile will have their own ups and downs but mainly be there to help Bella with her list.
That's all well and good, and the pilot is certainly funny enough, but I'm certainly not the intended audience (what with me being a guy and all). The pilot did do enough to keep me interested and watching, but that was mainly due to her ex of the week. The episode also featured the women repeatedly wearing bikinis and other revealing outfits on a regular basis, which may be another way of enticing men to watch, but I don't see it getting added to my TiVo list. The real question, in my mind, is whether there will be any backlash against the series for it depicting a wonderful woman who simply doesn't feel complete without a man. Such a topic in no way bothers me, but, again, I'm a guy (and a happily married one).
The Ex List certainly has enough going for it that it could be successful, the writing was amusing enough and the actors all young and good-looking. The show that airs before it, Ghost Whisperer, is female-skewing, and that's the intended audience for this show, so it's not a bid fit. I'm certainly curious enough about how they sustain the premise when Bella is told that she only has a year to find the guy.
In short, The Ex List, based solely upon my viewing of the pilot episode which may be altered in ways no one can dream of prior to the series' starting, is a definite maybe.
The Ex List will air Friday nights at 9pm ET/PT on CBS.
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1 - Josh Lasser
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