Running Wilde

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Running Wilde

#1 Post by domino harvey » Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:17 pm

So it turns out Mitchell Hurtwitz and Jim Vallely's followup to Arrested Development, Running Wilde, is a whole lot better than I was led to believe. I place 100% of the failure of the series on the pilot episode, which is shockingly unfunny and not very promising. Since critics only got the pilot for review, they all dropped their justly negative remarks and never watched the show again, leaving it without any critical acclaim and audiences followed suit. I certainly wouldn't have kept watching if I hadn't already bought the DVDs and was determined to stick with it to get my money's worth. But I ended up polishing off the series pretty quickly, as the show very quickly turns itself around and is quite amusing, though every episode has more or less the same structure, which makes the short single season seem like just enough without it getting overly repetitive. It is also perhaps a little too indebted to Arrested Development's legacy and there are a couple groan-worthy in-jokes for fans, but the series itself often shines on its own merits. Keri Russell and Will Arnett play somewhat generic characters, but with game gusto, and I particularly like how the show often uses one of my favorite comedic principles, twisted internal logic, to stack grand comic contradictions.

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tarpilot
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:48 am

Re: TV of 2011

#2 Post by tarpilot » Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:52 pm

I think that's finally the push I needed, as it's on Netflix and I've been meaning to give it a shot for months now. On the topic of AD-alumni, any thoughts on the deceased Better Off Ted? The outrageous speed at which its jokes are hurled produces some necessary clunkers, but it's that same energy and infectious cartoon logic that tempts me to declare it the closest we've come to Tashlin since Gremlins 2 (though 30 Rock at its best is also pretty close).

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: TV of 2011

#3 Post by matrixschmatrix » Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:22 pm

I love that show, though I think of it more as a follow up to one of Fox's early misbegotten children, Andy Richter Controls the Universe- it's from the same show runner, and it has a really similar feel.

It doesn't necessarily have the sort of deranged comic epic feel that Arrested Development (and to a lesser degree, Archer and Community) do, it does have a similar density of jokes- and a really killer cast, whom I'd love to see used as well elsewhere. I also wish I could get the damn second season on DVD.

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: TV of 2011

#4 Post by ianungstad » Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:01 am

Another part of the problem with Running Wilde was that FOX aired some of the episodes out of order and there were a few instances in which the show would refer to a previous episode but the episode being referred to didn't premiere until weeks later. Fox execs felt that the later episodes were stronger (which is true) so they bumped them up to earlier in the season to try and salvage the show in the ratings. I think they are in production order on Netflix, so that shouldn't be an issue.

The show wasn't terrible but I did think it was only average. It felt too much like an Arrested Development rehash. Puddle's narration was excessively used. Ron Howard was fine as an omnipotent narrator in Arrested Development but in Running Wilde, Puddle is an actual character and her narration really didn't make sense in a lot of instances. The show didn't develop much outside of the Steve/Emy relationship. (The on/off again romance was already getting very repetitive after a dozen episodes) The overall eccentricity of the material and a decent amount of funny jokes made the show worth a watch. I can't say that I really miss it though.

It was certainly far better than the other David Cross/Will Arnett sitcom "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret". Just awful.

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Andre Jurieu
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Back in Milan (Ind.)

Re: TV of 2011

#5 Post by Andre Jurieu » Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:06 pm

I tend to agree with ianungstad on the quality of Running Wilde. It certainly wasn't as bad as some reviews made it out to be, but it wasn't particularly successful either. Arnett and Russell were actually pretty good playing off one another, but I thought Mel Rodriguez and Peter Serafinowicz were the really great aspects of the show, even with their limited screen time (well, maybe Fa'ad actually got a lot of screen time). Rodriguez was quite remarkable at finding humor with really simply lines. I actually thought that Cross wasn't as engaging, even though the concept of his character was kind of amusing.
domino harvey wrote:I place 100% of the failure of the series on the pilot episode, which is shockingly unfunny and not very promising. Since critics only got the pilot for review, they all dropped their justly negative remarks and never watched the show again, leaving it without any critical acclaim and audiences followed suit.
There were a few critics who kept on reviewing the show on a weekly basis. In fact, I think the AV Club stuck with the show until it went off the air. Unfortunately, they did not find the later episodes to be all that funny.
domino harvey wrote:...I particularly like how the show often uses one of my favorite comedic principles, twisted internal logic, to stack grand comic contradictions.
Agreed on that point. It was actually kind of impressive how twisted their characters' internal logic became over the course of a single episode. Sadly, I think that's why some critics kind of became frustrated with the show, as it bordered on ludicrous at times.
tarpilot wrote:I think that's finally the push I needed, as it's on Netflix and I've been meaning to give it a shot for months now. On the topic of AD-alumni, any thoughts on the deceased Better Off Ted? The outrageous speed at which its jokes are hurled produces some necessary clunkers, but it's that same energy and infectious cartoon logic...
Without a doubt, I think Better Off Ted was one of the best shows that was ever placed on network TV in the past decade or so. Regrettably, I realized that it was the same creator of Andy Ricther Controls the Universe a little too late and I was only able to watch a couple of episodes while it was on the air, mostly because I never remembered when it was on. I caught up with it on PVR while visiting my sister for a week, since she had the entire 2nd season saved. After watching that season, I immediately purchased the 1st season DVDs. It was a fantastic parody of corporate culture and its absurd plots were perfectly delivered in their rapid-fire style. I would actually say that the only current network TV show that comes close to mimicking its style is Happy Endings, though - obviously - Happy Endings substitutes Ted's skewering of office life in favor of concentrating of group dynamics.

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