“Wilfred” was originally an Australian series that received $1.5 million of government money even though — or perhaps because — it was “peppered with profanity, full-frontal nudity and jokes about rape.” Now Jason Gann, the creator and star of the original, has brought his show to FX, where he once again plays the titular character, a dog described as “part Labrador retriever and part Russell Crowe on a bender.”
“Wilfred” also stars Elijah Wood as Ryan, a troubled young man whose failed suicide attempt coincides with Wilfred’s arrival next door. Due to Ryan’s peculiar mental state, he sees Wilfred as a surly Australian man in a dog suit rather than the ordinary canine belonging to Jenna (a bubbly Fiona Gubelman), the literal girl next door and Ryan’s love interest. It’s a simple enough conceit, but the execution is darker and stranger than any other comedy on TV — and that includes “Wilfred’s” schedule-mate “Louie,” also debuting Thursday.
The heart of “Wilfred” is the interaction between meek, depressed man-child Ryan and Wilfred, the barely-tame animal acting on instinct. I’m not exactly a fan of Elijah Wood, and I’ve 
It’s Gann’s portrayal of the foul-mouthed, pot-smoking dog that truly makes “Wilfred” compelling. The show — adapted for an American audience by David Zuckerman (“Family Guy,” ” American Dad,” ‘King of the Hill”) — never explains or dwells on exactly what Wilfred is or how Ryan sees him as Gann’s ruthless man-dog. Wilfred can’t be a strict manifestation of Ryan’s id, because Wilfred is privy to secrets in Jenna’s life that Ryan couldn’t otherwise know. But he also can’t be just a dog who speaks in Ryan’s view of the world, because there are plot points that depend on Wilfred’s ability to read and use a computer.
Three episodes in, Wilfred is neither wholly canine nor solely in Ryan’s imagination: what he is is the truest archetype of the trickster character on television. Wilfred is by turns lovable, destructive, cunning, and cruel, but he’s also susceptible to the most common habits of a dog (digging holes, getting tricked into going to the vet). And the fact that “Wilfred” never addresses these complexities is one of the show’s finest qualities. It would be easy to show cuts of other characters watching Ryan talking to an actual dog in order to get laughs, but “Wilfred” never does that. It doesn’t take the easy way out.
Although there are some smartly-written exchanges good for the occasional chuckle (Ryan chastises Wilfred for quoting Dune at one point), viewers expecting a laugh-heavy sitcom will likely be surprised and turned off by the show’s dark tone. And though I’m intrigued by the complexities of Gann’s character, I’m not entirely sold on “Wilfred” just yet, either. But I’ll be watching nonetheless: “Wilfred” is too mind-bendingly strange to ignore.
“Wilfred” debuts Thursday, June 23rd, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on FX.
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Sounds like a bad- ass “Calvin & Hobbes”. I’m in!
The Calvin and Hobbes comparison is pretty evident. Even the recap of the ambiguous nature of Wilfred reminds me of Bill Waterston describing Hobbes. I’m paraphrasing here, but something about how Hobbes was neither a manifestation of Calvin’s imagination, nor was he a magical doll that came to life. The nature of Hobbes didn’t really interest Waterston. Calvin sees him one way, the world sees him another, and that was that.
Elijah Wood’s character died, he’s living in purgatory until everyone else in the show dies and they can move on together. Clearly.
If this is half as good as the original, I’m in. You can still see them on ifc.com
I can see a show like this going on for years and years and years as we watch them age kind of like M*A*S*H. Or Oprah.
It would be more transgressive with Mel Gibson’s arm up the young man’s ass.
You okay Matt? That’s a lot of words for one post on here.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this, but I had to check the byline to make sure you wrote this and not Danger or Josh.
I still have a bad taste from being bombarded with the commercials in between Archer, but aside from that it looks promising.
The originals are dark as fuck but hilarious. The best parts are when it shows Wilfred and the guy (Adam in the Australian version) sitting up late at night smoking weed and watching t.v., trying to name all the Baldwin brothers or debating who plays what role in movies, with Wilfred always getting one or more facts wrong and refusing to be corrected. Very relatable for anyone with a stoner friend. I recommend the episode “Ice Dog Cometh”, probably the funniest.
I’ve been watching the original the last week and yeah, if it’s half as good, I’m sold. Granted there won’t be as much high quality nudity … or disturbing nudity … but at the same time I’m glad to see he took it in a different direction than just redoing the story from the original (no depression, dude is an out of work loser living with his girlfriend who struggles with the death of her ex).
I do hope they keep the other animals though. The neighbor’s cat and Wilfred’s dad were great.
You’ve seen three episodes? Do you get screeners now or did you always get them? Either way this whole thing wreaks of a legitamacy that I’m not accustomed to here. Please tell me you’re at least drinking whiskey before noon.
Solid review though- definitely looking forward to the show.
NICE! It’s like real life family guy! I hope there’s a baby in it
@Chazz: Yes, I got a screener. I apologize for any legitimacy, real or imagined.
Sounds genius, I’m gonna keep my expectations low as fuck tho so I don’t get dissapointed.
@Matt – That your first screener or do you get them often? You seem to watch stuff at the same time we all do, but if you are getting screeners, you are going up in the world.
I’ve liked this since I saw the first trailer. The darker the better. If Macaulay Culkin shows up to break Elijah’s leg the better too.
Sounds a bit like “Harvey” the old 1950 film with Jimmy Stewart. Only vulgar. And no rabbit.
It’s really bothering me that FX is referring to this as an “FX Original Comedy.” How is it an original? It was already a show!
Also: I’m really excited about this, even though it’s been adapted by the guy behind Family Guy (hasn’t been funny in three years) and American Dad (has never been funny).
I am Australian and watched the original, it is brilliant. The only thing that worries me is how Australian it was, can that really convert to a US audience ?? We will see. http://www.dailystooge.com
From Ric The Real Stooge
oh, sweet. now matt’s going to develop an inferiority complex about australian tv when people tell him the original was better.
Matt, is it inappropriate to post that I went to UCLA with the girl next door actress and that she blew my roommate? Because if so, I will definitely not talk about how she was apparently so good at it that her nickname in our apartment sophomore year was Hoover .
Wake up Mutley, you’re dreamin again
So after watching the show last night i really like it. wood plays a character kind of like norton in fightclub. the dog wilfreds dynamics are very interesting hes an antagonist that keeps the story progression. he also helps you like the main character more then originally. Now my question is why during the barking scene before he meets wilfred he assumes hes a human.
Wilfred motorboating the waitress? Did not see that coming. Laughed so loud it made my neighbor’s dog bark.
Post shitting-in-the-boots dialogue: Wilfred complimenting Ryan on the shape of his stool. Awesome.
Sold!
For those who haven’t seen Wilfred yet, imagine Donnie Darko only ….different.
So many similarities to Donnie Darko, so much based on time travel. Beginning of the 3rd episode where the clock goes backwards and he loses a tooth and Wilfred says that hasn’t happened yet. If you’ve read “The Philosophy of Time Travel” that goes with Donnie Darko it makes more sense. Wilfred seems like the manipulated dead or a 4th dimensional character with super hero like qualities. Ryan is given some of these qualiities (loses tooth broken eye socket yet fine). In DD, he puts the axe into the head of the school mascot which is made of solid bronze. Sprinklers turning on when walks by the perv’s house, looks down find’s his wallet. Gretchen says you’re not a super hero and DD says “how do you know i’m not. Can’t live in fear, they stress that a lot in DD as well. “Cellar Door” thing from DD, came from the poet Wilfred. Wilfred always knows what’s going to happen before it does. Ryan taking pills at the beginning like DD before he sees Frank. Unsure what the artifact would be that came from 4th dimension to start it all, have to watch 1st episode again. Can’t wait to see where they go and how much they decide to explain.
The comedic timing is so amateur. Line, bang and hold… It is like they are afraid of accidently throwing a punch line away. Jason Gann’s acting is very much on the surface. It is like he is doing standup instead of acting. Woods is great, but he won’t save the show alone.