Will Arnett, David Cross headline new sitcoms on FOX and IFC
“Arrested Development” fans perked up their ears this fall television season when hearing that two of the series alumni — and the two funniest on the show — would helm new TV series, Will Arnett in Fox’s “Running Wilde” and David Cross in IFC’s “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.”
If that was not enough to strike up a comparison between the two new shows, Arnett plays a recurring character in Cross’ “Todd Margaret,” and Cross plays a recurring character in Arnett’s “Running Wilde.”
This situation is unfortunate because “Running Wilde” does not look favorable in the comparison.
On the surface, “Running Wilde” sounds like it could be hilarious. Arnett stars as spoiled rich man Steven Wilde, who is forever living off his father’s money. The girl of his dreams, Emmy (Keri Russell), is a conservationist and, therefore, abhorred by his excess. But Emmy’s daughter Puddle — yes, Puddle — desperately wants to avoid the life in the wilderness that her mother has chosen. One thing leads to another, and Emmy and Puddle move into Steve’s house.
So great, Arnett is playing a jerk again, right? Wrong. Instead of playing a pompous character like in “Arrested Development,” here, Arnett plays the brainless protagonist with a heart of gold. The same style of humor coming from a man who does not know any better, instead of a man who does know better but doesn’t care, just falls flat.
In fact, no one on “Running Wilde” has any sort of edge whatsoever. Every character on the show can be said to genuinely care about everyone else. Therefore most of the characters do not stand out at all, and the secondary ones — like Steve’s employees at his house — are simply two-dimensional wastes of time.
To make up for this, the show goes to great lengths to establish the quirky factor. But most of the jokes about the environment and greed usually come off as preachy or forced. And hearing Puddle narrate the episodes with her childlike ignorance gets really annoying really fast. It only truly works with Steve’s brainless neighbor, Fa’ad (Peter Serafinowicz), because Serafinowicz plays him as so out of touch with reality.
What results out of “Running Wilde” is a show that is relatively harmless but tops out at being simply amusing. It’s so disappointing, but it feels like “Arrested Development” creator Mitchell Hurwitz and company have struck out again on recapturing the magic of “Arrested Development.”
It’s a pity that “Running Wilde” is the one that’s on a major network in primetime on Tuesdays, whereas the funnier show by far, “Todd Margaret,” is buried on Friday nights on a network most people do not get.
“Todd Margaret” is one of those witty British comedies. The downfall of that is its first season is only six episodes. It concluded on Friday, and IFC is beginning a rerun of the season.
Cross plays Margaret, a man who was just working a boring temp job until executive Brent Wilts (Arnett) hires him on a whim to head a company’s London division and sell a new energy drink called Thunder Muscle. Margaret moves to London and subsequently makes “increasingly poor decisions” as the title suggests.
On “Todd Margaret,” people have edge. Most of the main characters are liars and out for themselves. Most importantly, while “Running Wilde” is just amusing at times, “Todd Margaret” has at least one absolutely hysterical moment per episode. And it usually builds throughout the episode into a satisfying crescendo at the end. The pilot episode’s finish is good enough to hook anyone.
Somehow Cross can make even the most basic jokes — like an American not knowing who is on British currency — a laugh riot with his befuddled delivery.
And unlike in “Running Wilde,” where Arnett is the main character ironically, Arnett gets to really let loose in this one, more so than any other part he’s ever had. Here he’s a hotheaded idiot who curses out anyone who remotely bothers him. Who does not want to see Arnett play this character for the rest of eternity?
Avid “Arrested Development” fans that only have time to add one new show to their regular watching habits should definitely choose “Todd Margaret.” The pilot episode is online for free, and even without subscribing to IFC, a few of the show’s episodes are free through Comcast On Demand as well. Give this show a try.
