''Running Wilde'' is an American
sitcom
A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
created by
Mitchell Hurwitz
Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom '' Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''The Ellen Show''. He is ...
for the
Fox Network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations a ...
. It stars
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular chara ...
as Steve Wilde, a self-centered, idle bachelor and heir to an oil fortune. The series follows Wilde's awkward attempts to regain the affection of his childhood sweetheart, Emmy, an environmentalist who had been living in the South American jungle, but whose young daughter does not want to return there and who secretly enlists Steve's help to keep Emmy at his mansion, leading to farcical situations and misunderstandings.
Background
Mitchell Hurwitz
Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom '' Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''The Ellen Show''. He is ...
, Arnett and fellow cast member
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitc ...
had previously worked together on Fox's ''
Arrested Development
The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
''. ''Running Wilde'' had many stylistic similarities to ''Arrested Development'', including frequent cutaway gags and a narrator (Emmy's daughter Puddle, played by
Stefania LaVie Owen) who comments on the characters' motivations. Moreover, the series appears to exist in the same universe as ''Arrested Development'', as the fictional Bluth Company from ''Arrested Development'' is responsible for the design of the nightclub in the penultimate episode "The Pre-nup". The series provided the first U.S. network TV role for British actor-comedian
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of ''The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) and ...
, who plays Wilde's idle-rich friend and neighbor Fa-ad Shaoulin.
The show premiered on September 21, 2010.
The show was canceled mid-season because of low ratings after just 13 episodes had been produced.
The last four episodes of the series were shown on
FX in late April and May 2011.
The show was shot at
Sands Point Preserve, Long Island, New York. Keri Russell commuted from her home in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
, about 25 miles away, and Arnett commuted from his home in Manhattan.
Production assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...
s searched for props at a
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
in nearby
Manhasset
Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...
.
Plot
The show centers on Steven Wilde, a self-centered billionaire who is clueless about the real world. He has problems with
depression and often self-medicates with
excessive drinking. Emmy Kadubic, Steve's high-school sweetheart, is an activist who lives in a
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...
along with her daughter Puddle and her "
eco-terrorist
Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence ...
" boyfriend Dr. Andy Weeks. Puddle refuses to speak as an attempt to force her mother to move out of the rainforest. Steve invites Emmy to a party where he is to accept an award. Intrigued that Steve may have finally become a better person, she decides to attend but discovers that his own company is giving him the award.
Liberated from the jungle, Puddle finally decides to speak and conspires with Steve to convince Emmy to stay at Steve's estate. Emmy agrees to stay for Puddle, but only in the treehouse that Steve had originally built for her when they were young. As Steve tries to win back Emmy despite Andy's interference, Emmy vows to change him into a more selfless person.
Cast and characters
Main cast
*
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular chara ...
as Steven Wilde
*
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings on the FX spy thriller series '' T ...
as Emmy Kadubic
*
Robert Michael Morris as Mr. Lunt
*
Mel Rodriguez
Melvin Dimas Rodríguez (born June 12, 1973) is an American actor, best known for starring as Nurse Patsy de la Serda on the HBO comedy '' Getting On'', as Todd Rodriguez on the Fox comedy '' The Last Man on Earth'', and as Ernie Gomes on the S ...
as Migo Salazar
*
Stefania LaVie Owen as Puddle Kadubic
*
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of ''The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) and ...
as Fa'ad Shaoulin
*
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitc ...
as Dr. Andy Weeks
Casting
The first version of the pilot was filmed with
Jayne Houdyshell and
Joseph Nunez in the roles of Robert Michael Morris and Mel Rodriguez, but when the pilot was re-shot, casting changes were made. Though neither actor appeared in the finished pilot product, they are both credited in it.
Andy Daly
Andrew J. Daly (born April 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred as Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series ''Review'', and had a supporting role in the HBO comedy series ''Eastbound & Down'' as Terrence Cutler. H ...
played David Cross's part in the original pilot after the eruption of the
Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull (; ), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The vo ...
volcano stopped Cross from traveling out of the United Kingdom in time for the shoot in North America; Daly, who was contracted to ''
The Paul Reiser Show'', was hired with the knowledge that he would be replaced by Cross if ''Running Wilde'' was picked up as a series.
Episodes
Cancellation
The show was pulled from
November sweeps
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
and on November 30, 2010,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
announced that no new episodes would be ordered. Although the five remaining episodes were to air through December, Fox postponed two of them to air at the end of the month.
At the 2011
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts a ...
tour, Fox announced that the show was officially canceled.
The remaining episodes were aired starting April 28, 2011 on
FX.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 1615926
2010s American romantic comedy television series
2010s American single-camera sitcoms
2010 American television series debuts
2011 American television series endings
Television shows set in New York (state)
English-language television shows
Fox Broadcasting Company original programming
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television series by Lionsgate Television
Television shows filmed in Vancouver
Television series created by Mitchell Hurwitz