My first impressions of Running Wilde? It’s funny, it very funny, but it is also silly. I mean, any show that features Peter Serafinowicz riding on a tiny horse is pushing the boundaries of ridiculous, right?
But somehow, magically, Michael Hurwitz pulls it off. I have no idea how, this show is crazy, it’s connection to reality is threadbare but, somehow, it’s funny, but it’s clever funny, not slapstick funny, despite all appearances to the contrary.
The jokes that made Arrested Development so funny are back too, along with two members of the cast. For example, Emmy (the female lead and environmental activist) has named her daughter Puddle, and like Bob Loblaw, it’s a name that gets funnier each time it comes up.
Ultimately, I have no idea where the show intends to go, the initial storyline makes for a great opening episode, but the implied follow up, where Emmy tries to shape Steve (
Will Arnett) into the ideal man kinda feels a bit too mainstream considering the bizarre way the show opens. But I trust Michael and I trust Will and I think that this show has the potential to go far.
I also think that Running Wilde is more immediately accessible to a new audience. Unlike Arrested Development where the jokes were sometimes in the things that weren’t said, in the subtleties of the characters, in knowing their quirks, in Running Wilde the jokes play to Will Arnett’s strengths. They are huge and visual, still clever, there’s still that intellectual payoff for knowing what was about to happen, but I get the feeling that while the show is nowhere near as down to earth as it’s predecessor, it might just be more readily accepted.
Either way, it good to have Will back on our screens, Keri Russell is a beautiful fresh breath of air and Peter 
Serafinowicz really has the potential to be a comic genius! Overall I thought the show was very very funny, but it is walking a fine line between acceptably silly and overtly ridiculous, but the longer it can tread that line, the funnier it will be!
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