Running Wilde: Season One

Canceled after its 2010-11 first season, this Fox sitcom revolves around an odd-couple pairing: oil company magnate Steve Wilde (Will Arnett), a poor little rich man-boy, and ecologically correct Emmy Kadubic (Keri Russell), the one who got away. Since high school, Steve has become a single millionaire, while Emmy is now a single mother to her unfortunately named 12-year-old daughter Puddle (Stefania Owen), who also serves as narrator (any information about her father must have wound up on the cutting room floor). When Steve isn't trading quips with his assistants, Migo (Mel Rodriguez) and Mr. Lunt (Robert Michael Morris), or competing with his neighbor, Fa'ad (Peter Serafinowicz), he's trying to win Emmy's affection. Unfortunately, the two have nothing in common (and the actors share little chemistry). Steve's pursuit begins when he flies Emmy in from her work in Peru and puts her up on his property, where her claims of anti-materialism melt in an instant, making her seem hypocritical, despite her efforts to help Steve become a better man. The arrival of Emmy's fiancé, Andy (David Cross), naturally puts a damper on Wilde's plans but fails to add much humor to the scenario. Despite a few clever sequences, this is one show that never really comes together, making its cancellation seem both appropriate and merciful. Compiling all 13 episodes, this is not a necessary purchase. (K. Fennessy)