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Talk Back: What Did You Think of FOX's New Comedies Running Wilde and Raising Hope?

As premiere week slogs on, I'm curious to know what you thought of the two newest comedy entries to the network lineup, with last week's series premieres of FOX's Raising Hope and Running Wilde.

Personally, I wasn't much taken by either of them, with the latter being truly depressing to me because it represented what will likely be the best shot at an Arrested Development reunion we can hope for, as it brought together creator Mitch Hurwitz, Will Arnett, and David Cross in one place.

But the pilot--both versions of it that I saw--left me cold and, while the second episode is sitting right next to me as I type this--I don't really have much impetus to watch it. Especially as the numbers last night were less than stellar.

I feel the same way about Greg Garcia's Raising Hope, which tries way too hard to be wacky and zany and instead overflows with poop and vomit jokes, none of which were all that funny.

But now that both episodes have aired, I'm curious to hear what you thought. Did you tune in to one or both of these? Did you find them funny? Did the combination of Will Arnett and Keri Russell win you over?

And, most importantly, will you tune in again next week?

Talk back here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I was hoping that Running Wilde would be worth sitting through Raising Hope. Raising Hope wasn't too awful, and I wonder if my high expectations for Wilde did me in?

I haven't been a big fan of "Hung" always thinking that it could be really funny, but it just kept missing, then it seems like the last two episodes of the last season indeed were funny.

I am not sure I would wait for two seasons for Hope or Wilde, and I probably wouldn't have for Hung if it didn't come on right after True Blood.

Thanks for all your Fall Season reviews Jace! I have enjoyed reading everything!

Amie
Brandon said…
I thought both shows have pretty high potential. Raising Hope is a funny premise and Martha Plimpton and Chloris Leachman make it worth watching. That show had a lot of the small, in the background type jokes (Chloris just eating pickles) that I enjoy.

Running Wilde is no Arrested Development, but it's hard not to like Will Arnett. The pilot seemed a little rushed and a lot more setup than jokes.... but there has to be a reason Fox signed it up, unless it was just a "sorry" to Mitch for cancelling AD.

Either way, I'll definitely tune in the next couple of weeks to see where these shows are going.
jgodsey said…
i couldn't wait for Running Wilde to be over. I got the serious impression it was meant to be for children...8-10 year olds.

I had no expectations about either that show nor Raising Hope. but i confess i liked Raising Hope...and i was surprised how much. Indeed Martha Plimpton and Chloris Leachman make it worth watching. If it were just them on a park bench i'd watch. So i will definitely tune it again.

But i suspect Fox will do what Fox does best. kill it before it finds its feet or its audience.
Linda S said…
My sense of humor must be more lowbrow than I had hoped, because I actually enjoyed Raising Hope. It managed to hold a few surprises. Of course, I do come from a long line of hillbillies, so maybe blood is finally telling.

On the other hand, I thought Running Wilde was excruciatingly unfunny. I can't imagine how they are going to build on the setup -- they have nowhere interesting to go. I loved Arrested Development and this was a huge disappointment.
Unknown said…
Loved the premise of Running Wilde, have a pretty good idea of what they want to do and will watch anything with Keri Russell in it ....... Go see Waitress to get an insight as to her potential in this matched with a comic great Will Arnett!
Brad said…
Both were fairly weak starts (as was the season premiere of Glee), but I'll keep watching, out of respect for Greg Garcia's plotting and Will Arnett's comedic ability. Even with the weak premise, Arnett made me smile several times.

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