Have a confusing title

Come up with an unwieldy title that perhaps comes from the realm of psychology, so that the title of your show is almost instantly forgettable. For example, if you were to call the show Welcome Matt, an audience could immediately understand the concept: this must be a character named Matt and he must either be a welcoming person or stepped on. If you call a show Arrested Development it’s confusing and sufficiently disorientating to guarantee that a wide audience never discovers the fruits of your labor.

Audiences love fast cars and exciting vehicles

So see if you can put in some heavy machinery like a stair-car, that isn’t easily associated with speed or sex appeal.

Try to do too much for a 20-minute programme

If in your particular medium an audience is used to a simple plotline or maybe one or two stories, see if you can get eight in there, and find a way that they somehow intertwine. Also, it’s important that you have a lot of anxiety when they don’t intertwine, sufficient to deprive yourself of sleep so that you are miserable during the production of the show – but then upon completion of the show, you’re guaranteed to be miserable, because nobody will watch it.

Add a sprinkle of incest

They’ll never admit it, but viewers love sex. In fact, they love any sort of titillation, with the exception of incest. So focus on that.

First impressions are everything

So if you can screw that up, you’re made. With Arrested Development, we tried showing the deep disdain that connects a family. We wanted to hold up a mirror to American society. And, just as predicted, America looked away.

Don’t be afraid to give characters the same names

Audiences tend to run from confusion. So a show, for instance, where one character is named George Michael, one character is named Michael, one character is named George and one character is named George Oscar (and perhaps another character is named Oscar), will be the kind of show you can almost guarantee people won’t develop a fondness for.

Make easy jokes about minority groups

Whether they be Mexicans, Jews or homosexuals, any group can be dismissed with a few stereotypical cracks. At least, that’s what we tried to do. And given their “lack of coming to the party”, it seems we succeeded!

Squander iconic guest stars

As an example, Liza Minnelli has famously appealed to the homosexual audience. Note: it’s very important to alienate the homosexual audience first, or they might “come to the party”.

Don’t bother with a laughter track

Audiences don’t always know “when to laugh”. By omitting a laugh track you can almost guarantee they’ll never find out.

Audiences like nicely dressed characters. They also enjoy nudity

Split the difference by putting your character in a pair of cut-offs and call him a Never-Nude. Advanced: feel free to dip him in a vat of blue paint. That’s a real turn-off.

Make a show for British sensibilities

And then show it in America.

Ah, Mitch. So smart. So funny. So misunderstood. Here’s hoping your next project finds its intended audience and is exactly as funny as it should be. And also, let’s hope whatever network you work with next gives you fighting chance! (Deadline)

Will Arnett as a billionaire is hilarious, right? “Running Wilde” shows each week how Steven Wilde (Arnett) blows his money in competition with fellow billionaire Fa’ad (Peter Serafinowicz), and creates a wacky surreal world of servants and caretakers. It was actually going to be a lot darker if Arnett had his original vision.

More after the jump…

“When we were first talking about doing this show actually I was talking to Mitch [Hurwitz] about the idea of these people in this life and how lonely that must be,” Arnett said in a conference call with the media today. “We originally began the show with Steve on the verge of committing suicide and then deciding not to. That seems dark but that was because we really wanted to explore that. So I think that is something we’d like to get into further into the series. One of the functions of the Fa’ad character is to almost be like the extreme version of Steve in a way. In much the same way that Niles was an extreme version of Frasier. It sort of pushes Steve more into the middle for the audience. They both do live this very lonely existence. That’s one of the things we wanted to examine.”

Until the very special suicide episode, “Running Wilde” will focus on romantic stories between Steve and Emmy (Keri Russell), and heartwarming ones with her daughter Puddle (Stefania Owen). Spoilers follow, but hilarious spoilers.

“We have an episode coming up in two weeks where we tell the story of how Steve and Emmy were going to go to the prom together and then weren’t allowed to be there together. We tell this story of Puddle going to a school dance and how she’s faced with a similar situation. Through that we discover what happened between Steve and Emmy years ago. This boy who’s supposedly not allowed to go to the dance with Puddle because the dad has said Puddle is this kid  grew up in the Amazon, she’s not rich and is not of the same social stature, and Steve now realizes that his dad was wrong so many years ago when he forbid him from being with Emmy. He goes and confronts this boy’s dad played by Andy Richter. What ends up happening is that the guy misinterprets Steve as he talks about not holding people back who are in love, he misinterprets that and thinks Steve coming onto him and the guy turns out is secretly gay. Steve at the same time, as the guy comes onto Steve, Steve misinterprets that as fatherly affection. It’s very much a Mitch Hurwitz story. Things get very complicated.”

For those just joining, Emmy is Steven’s childhood sweetheart. As a teen, Steven rejected Emmy in favor of expensive presents. Now Emmy is an environmentalist who’s lived with a tribe in the Amazon. She comes back to try to stop Wilde Oil, and thinks a good way to do that is living on Steven’s property in their treehouse.

“We have an episode where his stepmom arrives back on the scene and he’s desperately trying to get her out of the picture as she’s trying to turn his life upside down. All with the idea that his objective is to get Emmy to live with him in the house because she’s really the only person he’s really been in love with.”

The love story raises some questions itself though. These aren’t just mismatched lovers who learn something in the end. “What’s complicated is the fact that Emmy, she’s not just this one-dimensional character, she wants Steve to change his tune and then she’ll be fine. She’s engaged. In a way what she’s doing is kind of sh*tty. She’s essentially moved in with this other guy who she’s had a relationship with. It’s complicated.”

So far Puddle seems like the mature one, but that’s going to change too. “I think Steve and Puddle are going to grow to be a lot closer too so that adds another dimension to it. You have this guy, Steve in essence becoming a father like figure to Puddle for better or worse by the way, because who knows if he’s the best role model. She’s really becoming a kid for the first time and Steve is forced to be somewhat more responsible. I think he really likes Puddle so he’s filling the role of male parent in a way, in the way that Andy (David Cross), her fiancé, can’t really do. So she’s allowing him to grow up and he’s allowing her to be a kid.”

This week’s episode, “Oil & Water,” says that Steven vows to quit Wilde oil. That would make “Running Wilde” a short trilogy rather than a series. “It does seem that way although as it turns out, like the mob, you can’t quit Wilde oil.”

“Running Wilde” airs Tuesdays at 9:30 on Fox.

I was the only person who liked “Running Wilde” when they sent the original pilot out over the summer. I thought it was very Mitch Hurwitz-y, it made me laugh and I could see where it was going for a series. Of course, I like things no one else likes so they’re not going to cater a show to me. I like the reshot version of the show a little less, but maybe this is what the general public will like.

Will Arnett plays Steven Wilde, a rich trust fund baby who’s somewhat Gob-y, although he was more Gob-y in the original version so maybe one of the notes was “less Gob-y.” He’s somewhat self-centered and oblivious to the world around him. That’s not to say that Arnett is rehashing his character, it’s just funny to base a show around that type of main character and then take him somewhere he couldn’t go as part of an ensemble.

More after the jump…

Already in the new scenes it seems like they’re trying to make Steven nicer, which is just plain impatient. He already starts learning a lesson by the end of the episode. Can you give him at least the first act to be an A-hole who needs to be redeemed? He’s getting a humanitarian award from his father’s oil company and he knows that looks bad, but his concern is that a girl won’t like him, not that he’s a fraud.

Steven’s childhood sweetheart Emmy (Keri Russell) lives in the jungle trying to save an endangered tribe from Wilde Oil. The show treats the environmental movement with the same irreverence as the wealthy community, having fun with clichés like chaining yourself to a tree. Her fiancé Andy (David Cross) is the same as in the pilot only played by David Cross now. That character doesn’t suffer in the new version. Her daughter Puddle (Stefania Owen) doesn’t speak because she hates it in the jungle and is trying to get her mother’s attention. I’d be pretty pissed too if my name was Puddle.

All of the characters are well defined in their roles. I really liked a character that was removed from the original pilot. Steven had a maid who was kind of like his nanny with a whole system for dealing with his needs. I don’t think the new butler Mr. Lunt (Robert Michael Morris) is as endearing or funny. Nothing against Morris, I just think the other character was more defined.

The best elements of the humor are the weirdly surreal ones. Steven is in constant competition with his friendly rival Fa’ad (Peter Serafinowicz), and they find obscure ways to compete that are probably real but just out of our world enough to be funny. It’s got a sort of “Arrested Development” format with narration and cutaway gags, and they mess with that very device in the first episode. Even the background music they play is a joke. The humor is layered and fast-paced.

The parts that worked for me are still there, mainly in the scenes that weren’t reshot. Emmy and Puddle go to Steven’s award ceremony to try to get his help with the tribe. What Steven does for them is brilliantly misguided and outrageous. I could see this show moving forward where every week, Steven tries to do something good but his ideas are even worse than the problem. It would probably take five years to fix his bad behavior.

“Running Wilde” was great comedy material where people try to be good but they’re so bad at it that it’s funny. I’m concerned now that they’re already too self-conscious, too worried about people liking them and that’s the death of edgy comedy. Hopefully now that they’ve tinkered with the pilot enough, they can just move on and tell stories with these characters and the network, viewers and critics will give them a chance.

"Running Wilde" premieres Tuesday at 9:30/8:30c.

Tobias is joining Gob on the new Mitch Hurwitz-created sitcom, "Running Wilde." It’s as close to an "Arrested Development" reunion as we’re going to get for awhile, or maybe ever. According to TV Guide, David Cross will appear on the show’s first seven episodes:

‘Wilde’ centers on the budding relationship between Steve Wilde (Arnett), a spoiled and selfish man-child and son of an oil tycoon, and Emily Kabdubic (Keri Russell) an environmental activist and Steve’s ol high school flame.

Cross will play Andy, Emily’s fiancé, a radical environmentalist and Wilde’s rival for Emily’s affections. The comedian takes over the role from Andrew Daly, who played the part in the show’s original pilot.

Looks like we all now have a new sitcom to watch this fall. Only time will tell if it will be as genius as "Arrested," a tall order to say the least, or if it will even remain on air after its initial 13 episode order. "Running Wilde’s" success depends solely on the people sitting in their recliners as the warm glow of Mark Harmon on "NCIS" softly lules them to sleep.

Catch the premiere of "Running Wilde" Tuesday, September 21 at 9:30PM on FOX. (TVSquad)

You "Arrested Development" fans are like delusional ex-girlfriends. Sure, the three years you spent with the show were wonderful, and I know it left you with some very special memories. I’m not asking you to forget that. But the fact of the matter is that it’s been gone for four years, but you still talk about it like it was yesterday. The way you bring it up to anyone who will listen is creepy. Just last week, at that party, you asked a total stranger if they had seen it. Doesn’t that come across as pathetic and desperate to you? Face the facts: "Arrested Development" is gone, and it’s not coming back. It’s moved on, and it’s time you did the same.

The best way to get over an old relationship is to start a new one, which is why I’d like you to meet "Running Wilde." It has Mitch Hurwitz and Will Arnett, which is pretty cool. I know it’s not the same, but you can’t go around comparing every show you watch to "Arrested Development." It’s not healthy, and it’s just setting yourself up for disappointment. Why don’t you go in with an open mind and give it a chance? Also, maybe you should up your dosage of Wellbutrin. You’re not looking so good. (Movieline)

See Will Arnett in the "Running Wilde" trailer after the jump.