Running Wilde
Running Wilde is an American comedy television series created by Mitchell Hurwitz for the Fox Network. It stars Will Arnett 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.
| Running Wilde | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Mitchell Hurwitz Jim Vallely Will Arnett |
| Starring | Will Arnett Keri Russell Stefania LaVie Owen Mel Rodriguez Robert Michael Morris Peter Serafinowicz |
| Narrated by | Stefania LaVie Owen |
| Composer(s) | David Schwartz |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mitchell Hurwitz Will Arnett Jim Vallely Eric Tannenbaum Kim Tannenbaum Paul Young Peter Principato Anthony Russo Joe Russo |
| Production location(s) | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Tantamount Studios Principato-Young Entertainment 5 Hole Pictures Lionsgate Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox (episodes 1-9) FX (episodes 10-13) |
| Picture format | HDTV: 720p SDTV: 480i |
| Original release | September 21, 2010 – May 21, 2011[1] |
Background
Mitchell Hurwitz, Arnett and fellow cast member David Cross had previously worked together on Fox's Arrested Development. 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 character's 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, who plays Wilde's idle-rich friend and neighbor Fa-ad Shaoulin.
The show premiered on September 21, 2010.[2] The show was canceled mid-season due to low ratings, after producing just thirteen episodes.[3] The last four episodes of the series were shown on FX in late April and May 2011.[4]
The show was shot at Sands Point Preserve, Long Island, New York. Keri Russell commuted from her home in Brooklyn, about 25 miles away, and Will Arnett commuted from his home in Manhattan. Production assistants searched for props at a Macy's in nearby Manhasset, New York.
Plot
The show centers on Steven Wilde (Will Arnett), a self-centered billionaire who is clueless about most things in the real world. He has problems with depression and usually medicates it with excessive drinking. Emmy Kadubic (Keri Russell) is Steve's high school sweetheart. When the series opens, she is an activist who lives in a rain forest along with her "eco-terrorist" boyfriend Dr. Andy Weeks (David Cross) and daughter Puddle (Stefania Owen). Puddle refuses to speak at first, as an attempt to get her mother to move out of the rain forest. Steve invites Emmy to a party where he is to accept an award. Surprised at the thought that Steve has finally become a better person, she decides to go. At the party, she soon finds out that he is giving the award to himself, which is more like what Emmy expected.
The next day Puddle speaks to Steve, while he's intoxicated, about her thoughts on living in the jungle. Steve briefly thinks that the conversation is telepathic, failing to realize her mouth is moving. Steve and Puddle stage an intricate scenario to fool Emmy into staying at Steve's mansion, which fails. Emmy scolds Steve about taking advantage of a young girl who does not speak, and Steve takes the blame for Puddle's plan. This causes Puddle to speak to her mother, telling her that Steve must have some morality left in him, since he took the blame without gaining anything. Puddle explains that she doesn't like living in a jungle, and she wants to stay with Steve. Emmy agrees to stay for Puddle, but only in the treehouse Steve originally built for her when they were young. As Steve tries to win back Emmy, Emmy vows to change him into a more selfless person.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Will Arnett as Steven Wilde
- Keri Russell as Emmy Kadubic
- Robert Michael Morris as Mr. Lunt
- Mel Rodriguez as Migo Salazar
- Stefania LaVie Owen as Puddle Kadubic
- Peter Serafinowicz as Fa'ad Shaoulin[5]
Casting
Jayne Houdyshell and Joseph Nunez were cast in the roles that Robert Michael Morris and Mel Rodriguez took over, respectively. The first version of the pilot was filmed with these two, but when the pilot was re-shot, the casting changes were made. Neither actor ever appeared in the finished product, but they are still credited in the first episode. Andy Daly played David Cross's part in the original pilot after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull 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 he'd be replaced by Cross if Running Wilde was picked up as a series.[6]
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | U.S. viewers (millions) |
Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Anthony Russo & Joe Russo | Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely & Will Arnett | 5.87[7] | September 21, 2010 | WLD-101 |
| Puddle and Emmy arrive at Steve's house to protect their humanitarian cause but in Steve's attempt to win over Emmy, he ends up destroying her work instead. And Puddle helps Steve find a way to make Emmy stay. | ||||||
| 2 | "Into the Wilde" | Alex Hardcastle | Dean Lorey | 4.47[8] | September 28, 2010 | WLD-103 |
| Steve convinces Emmy to take a vacation with him, but Emmy's fiancé Andy arrives from the rainforest intent on winning her back. | ||||||
| 3 | "Oil & Water" | Troy Miller | Franklin Hardy & Shane Kosakowski | 3.86[9] | October 5, 2010 | WLD-104 |
| Emmy discovers that Steve is on the payroll at Wilde Oil and tries to get him to quit. When he goes to work for the first time ever, Steve discovers that he may actually like it. Emmy goes overboard with her plan to stop Wilde Oil. Steve and Emmy try to help Puddle with a science project. | ||||||
| 4 | "The Junior Affair" | Jeff Melman | Franklin Hardy & Shane Kosakowski | 3.28[10] | October 12, 2010 | WLD-105 |
| Emmy decides to get involved in Puddle's love life when she finds her daughter facing the same problem that she did with Steve at Puddle's age. Steve decides to impress Emmy by standing up to the boy's father the way he never did to his own father, but ends up impressing the father in a very unintended way instead. | ||||||
| 5 | "The Party" | Troy Miller | Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely | 2.92[11] | October 19, 2010 | WLD-102 |
| Steve and Emmy team up to throw a cheap, environmentally friendly soiree. Fa'ad tries to outdo Steve and Steve tries to pretend that the party is ironic while Emmy tries to prove that she is fun. | ||||||
| 6 | "Best Man" | Scott Ellis | Richard Day & Mitchell Hurwitz | 2.83[12] | November 9, 2010 | WLD-107 |
| Steve's feelings for Emmy prompt him to offer to host hers and Andy's wedding because he wants her to be happy. Steve plans an elaborate Renaissance-themed wedding, only to realize that he forgot to invite Andy. | ||||||
| 7 | "Mental Flaws" | John Fortenberry | Mark Driscoll | 3.36[13] | November 30, 2010 | WLD-106 |
| Steve wants to bring Emmy to a charity gala, but Emmy worries that Steve is only concerned with appearances. | ||||||
| 8 | "It's a Trade Off" | John Fortenberry | Gina Gold & Aururae Khoo | 4.07[14] | December 7, 2010 | WLD-108 |
| Steve and Emmy trade roles. Steve takes care of Puddle and helps her with her schoolwork, and Emmy lives Steve's life of parties and social events in an attempt to prove that she can maintain her integrity while being on the "A List". | ||||||
| 9 | "One Forward Step" | Scott Ellis | Franklin Hardy & Shane Kosakowski | 3.00[15] | December 26, 2010 | WLD-109 |
| Steve's stepmother comes to cut off Steve's money, just when Steve is trying to give Emmy money for a charity that she had made up. | ||||||
| 10 | "Jack's Back" | John Fortenberry | Jim Vallely | 0.45[16] | April 28, 2011 (FX) | WLD-110 |
| An old friend (Rob Corddry) of Steve and Fa'ad returns to their lives as a reformed man. But Emmy, mistaking Steve's intentions, assumes Jack is faking it for her benefit, and sets about pretending to seduce him, leading Steve in turn to mistake her intentions. | ||||||
| 11 | "Alienated" | Adam Bernstein | Christine Zander | TBA | May 6, 2011 (FX) | WLD-111 |
| Emmy forces Steve to give Migo a holiday, and then convinces him to join her at a protest supporting immigrants' rights. While Migo follows his passion, Steve takes out his anger at the separation by joining the opposing team - the 'rich white men' opposing immigration. | ||||||
| 12 | "The Pre-Nup" | Troy Miller | Richard Day | TBA | May 14, 2011 (FX) | WLD-112 |
| While Steve and Fa'ad begin plans to develop a nightclub on the site of a recent flood disaster, a jealous Mr. Lunt convinces Emmy to sign a prenuptial agreement stating that she would not take Steve's money in the unlikely event that the pair get married, leading to a chain of mistaken impressions. | ||||||
| 13 | "Basket Cases" | Mitchell Hurwitz | Jim Vallely & Mitchell Hurwitz | TBA | May 21, 2011 (FX) | WLD-113 |
| Wilde Oil causes an ecological disaster and Steve's father (Jeffrey Tambor) puts Emmy in charge of the cleanup. Eventually, Steve finds out that it's a plot to get Emmy away from him, and he joins her. | ||||||
Cancellation
The show was pulled from November sweeps and on November 30, 2010, Fox announced that no new episodes would be ordered.[17][18] Although the five remaining episodes were to air through December, Fox postponed two of them to air at the end of the month.[19][20] At the 2011 Television Critics Association tour, Fox announced that the show was officially cancelled.[3] The remaining episodes were burned off starting April 28, 2011 on FX.[4]
References
- "FX Scuttles Primetime Airings of "Running Wilde" For Final Three Episodes, But Will Still Burn Them Off - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. May 4, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
- Gorman, Bill (July 13, 2010). "Fox Announces Fall Premiere Dates For 2010-11 Season". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
- Running Wilde: FOX sitcom cancelled; no season two - TV Series Finale
- "Exclusive: FX to Burn Off FOX's "Running Wilde" Beginning Thursday, April 28". The Futon Critic. April 18, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- "Running Wilde Cast & Details". TVGuide.com.
- Andreeva, Nellie. "David Cross vs. The Volcano: The Peculiar Story Behind The 'Wilde'/'Arrested' Reunion". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
- Seidman, Robert (September 22, 2010). "TV Ratings Tuesday: Glee Sings; Modest Starts for Running Wilde,' Raising Hope,' 'Detroit 1-8-7?; 'Parenthood' Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
- Gorman, Bill (September 29, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, No Ordinary Family, NCIS, Dancing Up; Raising Hope, Detroit 1-8-7, Running Wilde Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- Seidman, Robert (October 6, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, No Ordinary Family, NCIS, Dancing, Parenthood Up; Raising Hope, Detroit 1-8-7, Running Wilde Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
- Gorman, Bill (October 13, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, Dancing With The Stars Adjusted Up; Detroit 1-8-7, The Good Wife, Raising Hope, Running Wilde, Life Unexpected Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
- Seidman, Robert (October 20, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: NCIS, DWTS Results Adjusted Up; Detroit 1-8-7, Running Wilde Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
- Gorman, Bill (November 10, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: NCIS, Glee, Life Unexpected Adjusted Up; Detroit 187, Raising Hope Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
- Gorman, Bill (December 1, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, Rudolph, The Grinch Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
- Gorman, Bill (December 8, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: One Tree Hill Adjusted Up; Raising Hope Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- Seidman, Robert (December 27, 2011). "TV Ratings Sunday: With 'Sunday Night Football' Sidelined, Fox Wins With NFL Overrun & Animation Repeats". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
- Seidman, Robert (May 4, 2011). "FX Scuttles Primetime Airings of "Running Wilde" For Final Three Episodes, But Will Still Burn Them Off". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
- "Running Wilde Mental Flaws". avclub.com.
- "Fox Mediocre No More". tvbythenumbers.com.
- "Exclusive: FOX to Drop "Running Wilde" from Lineup". TheFutonCritic.com.
- "Running Wilde - TV Times - Zap2it". Tvlistings.zap2it.com. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
External links
- Running Wilde on IMDb
- Running Wilde at TV.com