Ladies and Gentlemen, Set your TiVos!

…or DVRs… The Apple wouldn’t want to offend any of Adam’s passionate supporters….

From Israel, to Hollywood, to San Diego, and… finally… to YOUR living room — tonight is the debut of Adam’s newest television offering, THE EX-LIST, and we’re all really excited about it.

So tune in tonight at 9PM ET on CBS!

Watch Adam discuss body hair with Alexandra Breckenridge and perhaps even answer that time-honored rhetorical question: “When did having a vagina become a full-time job?”

If anyone can get to the bottom of it, America, our Adam can.

Hell, while you’re at it, tune in every week this fall to see what other provocative topic Adam might be wrapping his lips around.

Seriously, though, at least consider getting a TiVo. We’re just trying to make things easier for you.

N.B. Viewers who fail in their mission tonight, should be able to view EX-LIST episodes here:

The Official CBS Ex-List Page

There’s even a fan forum at the site. Now get to work!

Note from amyro (8:30 PM): In addition to the CBS fan forum, Television Without Pity has decided to add the show to its roster of recapped shows. The forums there are always pretty lively (you’ll want to read the rules and FAQ before wading in) and there’s a nice interview with Elizabeth Reaser. As regular Apple readerz know, we screen all comments here, so, if you’re looking for a chat, you might head on over to one of the forums, but please leave a shout-out before you go.

E! Online’s Kristin Dos Santos featured Ex List star Elizabeth Reaser as one of the “Stars You’ll Love” this season and featured a little plug (and possible spoiler?) for Adam.

I picked up on some sparkage with you and Augie, Bella’s best friend. Could he be the one?

That’s a complicated relationship and they have sort of insane chemistry. It’s tricky; he’s her best friend but they obviously love and adore each other, and have some sort of chemistry, and maybe they have some history that was never acted upon. I personally want them to write as many scenes as possible with Adam Rothenberg (Augie), because he’s an old friend of mine from New York, and I just adore him.

Counting down to tonight’s debut of The Ex List with an interview done for CBS featuring our Adam and his co-star, Alexandra Breckenridge.

Diane Ruggiero with Adam Rothenberg and Alexandra Breckenridge at the Television Critics Association press tour (Photo: John P. Filo, CBS).

We here at the Apple have finally accepted that our summer break is over and we’re gonna be working on rolling out the backlog of Adam news we’ve piled up recently. Bad news first, just to get it out of the way.

Ex List head writer and executive producer Diane Ruggiero has walked off the project after a half-dozen episodes, citing the usual “creative differences.” In a candid account of the behind-the-scenes action with The (NJ) Star-Ledger‘s Alan Sepinwall, Ruggiero complains that the network kept pushing her back to the Israeli source material, in spite of her attempts to broaden the half-hour, limited-run show into an hour-long, open-ended series.

“They would keep coming to me talking about how they wanted the Israeli version, they wanted the Israeli version, and I’m going, ‘Test audiences loved the psychic, who was only in one scene (in the original). They loved her sister; she didn’t have a sister in the original. They loved the flower shop; she didn’t have a job in the original.’

“I felt very strongly that she has to have a regular life, and this weird quest has to almost feel like a burden at times. She has to feel put upon, otherwise she bugs me. Every kind of spin they tried to put on it like that, they just wanted it to be happy and optimistic.”

Eventually, it seemed like there wasn’t anything Ruggiero and CBS could agree on.

***

The breaking point came early last week, when CBS hired Segahl Avin, creator of the original show, to consult on the series. Ruggiero realized CBS wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than an exact copy, and she quit.

“I’m not a f—ing transcriber,” she said. “Why would you hire me if you wanted a transcriber? I’m a pain in the a–. I have a specific thing that I do. If you don’t want that, go hire someone else.”

***

“I’ll never work at CBS again,” said Ruggiero. “The best thing to say is they hired me to do an adaptation of this show, and I think I did a really good job. I was proud of what I did in making it an American television show and putting my spin on it and doing my thing and changing it from being an Israeli half hour to being an American hour that was a romantic comedy. And they seemed really happy with it, and then all of a sudden it became, ‘We want the Israeli version.’

“And now they can do it.”

An apparently surprised CBS and production studio 20th Century Fox released a joint statement on Friday: “Diane is a gifted writer and developed a wonderful series. We are sorry that she has decided to leave the show but have tremendous confidence in Rick Eid and his strong team which includes Segahl Avin, the creator of the original Israeli format who will continue to be a consultant. We expect no disruption in production and remain excited about the upcoming premiere of ‘The Ex-List’ on CBS.”

Ruggiero’s talent, previous success on Veronica Mars and considerable personal charm were definite assets to the show, from a critical reception standpoint, if nothing else. The show debuts on Friday, October 3rd at 9 PM.

A few more publicity photos of Adam have turned up in The Ex List gallery at Nice girls watch TV …. We’ve pulled the Adam-only; click on over for more group shots.

With Alexandra Breckenridge (Photo: Matt Sayles, AP).

As we move into the dog days of summer, the networks are starting to rev up their promotional machines for the new fall season. The official website for Adam’s new vehicle, The Ex List is starting to fill out bios and such and has posted a new “Behind the Scenes” clip about the show that features our Adam. The early buzz seems to be largely favorable following the Television Critics Association‘s summer press tour, which wrapped up last week. The best rundown of The Ex List session we’ve found is from a posting by Will Harris over at Bullz-Eye.com.

Excerpt from the TCA recap after the jump.

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As we mentioned way back when, Adam was recently cast in yet another female-oriented project, the CBS drama pilot The Mythological X, which has turned into an official CBS drama series, The Ex List, controversially set to debut in Moonlight‘s old spot this fall. An import based on the series Mythological X, it’s the first Israeli series to be adapted for American network television.

A little clip from the series (with no Adam, sadly) can be found at the CBS site and cautiously optimistic reviews (also with no Adam) can be found at the New Jersey Star-Ledger and Buzz Sugar. It looks as though the original series was a one-year one-off, but showrunner Diane Ruggiero claims to have plans for the second and third seasons, should the show survive.

THE EX LIST (formerly Mythological X) is a comedic drama about Bella Bloom (Elizabeth Reaser, “Grey’s Anatomy”) – a single, 30-something, successful business owner who is surprised to learn from a psychic that she’s already dated her future husband AND there’s a catch: if she doesn’t find him in the next year, she’ll remain alone forever. During a bachelorette party for her sister, Daphne (Rachel Boston, “American Dreams”), Bella learns from the psychic she must revisit her past relationships and sort through the mistakes to find her soul mate. Skeptical, Bella begins to analyze every past liaison and failed romance with her close circle of friends, Augie (Adam Rothenberg, “Mad Money”), an endearing guy who has listened to Bella’s love woes since college, Vivian (Alex Breckenridge, “Dirt”), Augie’s long-term girlfriend, and Cyrus (Amir Talai, “Campus Ladies”), who’s chronically unemployed and full of wry observations. Once Bella witnesses proof of the psychic’s other predictions, her cynicism disappears and she begins her search. Along her trip down break-up lane, Bella is determined to remain optimistic and receptive, believing that when destiny reopens doors to the past, every relationship can matter in the future. Diane Ruggiero (“Veronica Mars”) and Jonathan Levin (“Charmed”) are executive producers for Twentieth Century Fox Television.

The Friday Night Lineup for CBS:
8:00-9:00 PM GHOST WHISPERER
9:00-10:00 PM THE EX LIST (New)
10:00-11:00 PM NUMB3RS

The Ex List has also been picked up by Global in Canada.

Update (June 26, 2008):
CBS has announced The Ex List will debut on October 3rd.

More Sunday Slices after the jump and birthday wishes can still be left at the post below.

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Adam’s been cast in the CBS drama pilot, Mythological Ex, an Israeli translation about “a woman who, after learning from a psychic that she already has dated the man she’s supposed to marry, revisits all her past relationships.” News at 11.

As noted in the post update below, our readers have been hard at work sending Tennessee news our way, so people looking for the newest news on that project may want to take a look at the comments section.