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.

Production Companies: Tantamount Studios, Principato-Young Entertainment, 5 Hole Pictures & Lionsgate Television

Length: 30 minutes

Aspect Ratios: Standard Deviation / High Definition

Distributor: MGM Television Distribution

GoAnimate in Real Life Channel: FOX Broadcasting Company

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 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.

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