Running Wilde

Did You Know?

• The show was shot at Sands Point Preserve, Long Island, New York, with Keri Russell commuting from her home in Brooklyn (about 25 miles away) and Arnett commuting from his home in Manhattan.
• Production assistants searched for props at a Macy's in nearby Manhasset.
• The last four episodes of the series were shown on FX in late April and May 2011 after Fox canceled the show mid-season.

Background

Running Wilde, a Fox series from 2010, reunited Arrested Development creators Mitchell Hurwitz and Will Arnett with cast member David Cross. The show mirrored its predecessor with frequent cutaway jokes and a narrator, Puddle (Stefania LaVie Owen), who explained character motives. It also shared a universe with Arrested Development, as the Bluth Company designed a nightclub in the episode "The Pre-nup." British comedian Peter Serafinowicz made his U.S. network TV debut as Fa-ad Shaoulin, Wilde's wealthy friend. Low ratings led to cancellation after 13 episodes, with the final four airing on FX in spring 2011.

Plot

Steven Wilde is a self-centered billionaire who is clueless about the real world. He has problems with depression and often self-medicates with excessive drinking. Emmy Kadubic, Steve's high-school sweetheart, is an activist who lives in a rainforest along with her daughter Puddle and her "eco-terrorist" boyfriend Dr. Andy Weeks. Puddle refuses to speak as an attempt to force her mother to move out of the rainforest.

Steve invites Emmy to a party where he is to accept an award. Intrigued that Steve may have finally become a better person, she decides to attend but discovers that his own company is giving him the award. Liberated from the jungle, Puddle finally decides to speak and conspires with Steve to convince Emmy to stay at Steve's estate. Emmy agrees to stay for Puddle, but only in the treehouse that Steve had originally built for her when they were young. As Steve tries to win back Emmy despite Andy's interference, Emmy vows to change him into a more selfless person.

Cast and characters

The main cast of Running Wilde includes 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, and David Cross as Dr. Andy Weeks. The initial pilot shoot featured Jayne Houdyshell and Joe Nunez in the roles later played by Morris and Rodriguez, but when the pilot was re-shot, they were re-cast. Though neither actor appeared in the finished pilot product, they are both credited in it. For the original pilot, Andy Daly played David Cross's part 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 that he would be replaced by Cross if Running Wilde was picked up as a series.