Look. I get it. We all get it. Running Wilde is not Arrested Development. Even though both shows feature the same creator, two of its stars, a voiceover narration and a love for ridiculousness, they're not the same. They're not going to be the same. And we should all be OK with that.
In fact, we should just let Mitch Hurwitz, Will Arnett, Peter Serafinowicz and company see where their crazy train is heading and follow their own titular advice. Run wild!
After watching the first four episodes -- which, if you haven't seen yet, you can do so at the show's site or on Running Wilde's Hulu page -- you can see that whatever stretch you had to make to make sense of the pilot episode, there's something endearingly silly about where this series is heading. That is, if I even could tell you where it's heading. But it's worth finding out.
I could go back decades to cite Seinfeld or Cheers as examples of shows that found their footing and then some, but even just going back to Parks and Recreation may do the trick. P&R started as a blind spin-off of The Office that attempted to spin its entire first season around a literal hole in the ground. Once they got that storyline out of the way, P&R soared in its second season by focusing on its characters.
FOX stuck with 'Til Death through four seasons, based on Brad Garrett. FOX sticks with seemingly any animated series til death, based on who knows what, exactly. Seth MacFarlane? With such talents as Hurwitz, Arnett and Serafinowicz, not to mention David Cross, Keri Russell, Mel Rodriguez, Robert Michael Morris and Stefania Owen, why not keep Running Wilde?
Just see what Serafinowicz did in real life earlier this week when asked to ring the opening bell on NASDAQ! Roll the clip:
As a huge Arrested Developement and Will Arnett fan, I wanted to like Running Wilde. I really did. But I don't. I'm not sure why, whether it is trying too hard or the lack of chemistry (or its just not funny) but it's already off my DVR list.
Posted by: Harris | November 01, 2010 at 09:50 AM