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.
Background
, 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 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. The show was canceled mid-season due to low ratings, after producing just thirteen episodes. 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, 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, 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 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 and daughter Puddle. 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.
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.
Episodes
Cancellation
The show was pulled from November sweeps and on November 30, 2010, Fox 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 tour, Fox announced that the show was officially cancelled. The remaining episodes were burned off starting April 28, 2011 on FX.
