I was shocked to discover that Life is Wild's creator is Michael Rauch, also creator of my much-beloved, much-unwatched Love Monkey, where single life was an urban jungle. That's the only feeble connection I can make to Life is Wild, where family life is a South African lodge. His involvement gives me some hope, even if the sense of humour and sharp observations of his previous show have not translated to the current one, at least not yet.
I got this screener from Canada's newly launched E! Channel and I assumed it was another Canada-South Africa co-production, explaining, perhaps, the same quality issues that plagued Jozi-H, for example. The use of Canadian musician k-os's "Crabbuckit" only cemented that assumption. So it was a surprise to discover this has the money of an American network – even if it's the CW's smaller pockets – and someone at the helm who previously created a show that was squarely aimed at my sensibilities. This gives me some hope Life is Wild will get better than the clumsily written and acted original pilot, but it's clearly not aimed at me in any case. Still, I'll be curious to see if it can juggle the sappy family and cool teen audiences.
Life is Wild premieres Sunday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. on the CW and on a date to be determined on the E! network in Canada. Or catch the pilot on Yahoo TV starting September 30.
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