You can feel the two sensibilities competing in the show’s themes. The series - adapted from a darker, more daring Australian show of the same name - is being reworked by David Zuckerman (“Family Guy,” “American Dad”) for American audiences, and Randall Einhorn (a TV director for shows such as “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation, and “Happy Endings”) directs many of the episodes (including the pilot). Ed,” or The Beaver or Lars and the Real Girl, or any other show where the lead forms a therapeutic relationship with an imaginary friend, and that’s all we need to understand. Gann - equal parts deadpan and boorish, like a muted Dane Cook minus half of the douchebaggery - is compelling enough that we overlook the obvious, and in a matter of minutes, we readily give in to the conceit. Supernatural explanations, dreams, and hallucinations are ruled out early on it’s just the way it is, and “Wilfred” is not the kind of show that begs answers. The world sees Wilfred as a dog Ryan sees Wilfred as a man dressed in a dog suit. Wilfred - played by Jason Gann in both the American series and Australian one it’s based upon - is part Australian Shepherd, part Russell Crowe on a bender. The next morning, his attractive neighbor, Jenna (Fiona Gubelmann), asks Ryan to take her dog, Wilfred, for the day. Elijah Wood - formerly Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Puppet Master on “Yo Gabba Gabba!” - plays Ryan, a depressed introvert struggling to find social and professional happiness, who, in the opening scenes, fails to take his own life after revising his suicide letter three times. As Jason Gann said in a recent interview, “Someone afterwards…when they saw the pilot one day, said ‘Elijah Wood!! Comedy!! Who knew!?’ I said, Elijah knew. He obviously knew when he came in to do this… what he was going to bring… and just talking on and off set…off camera, he’s a really funny guy.”ĭirected by Randall Einhom (“The Office” and “Parks & Recreation”) and adapted for FX by David Zuckerman (“Family Guy”), the 13-episode series airs in June, 2011.I’m reluctant to pass judgment on a show based on the first 23 minutes of a series, but if the pilot episode is any indication of the series as a whole, F/X’s “Wilfred” looks to be a casually amusing, but not a particularly resonant television program. The show has created a new niche in sitcoms and is described as an “out there” comedy that gives Elijah Wood a chance to show his comedic chops in his first television series. Eventually, Wilfred draws Ryan out and their relationship diverts him from his depression as Wilfred becomes his alter-ego and friend. Unfortunately, Wilfred’s raunchy, self-serving tendencies challenge Ryan and have him questioning his grip on reality. Ryan struggles daily as he tries to keep Wilfred under control. To her and everyone else, Wilfred appears as a normal dog but to Ryan (and the audience) Wilfred is a full-grown man in a very bad dog costume. His plot is spoiled when his attractive neighbor (Fiona Gublemann of “Californication”) asks him to watch her “dog”, Wilfred, during the afternoons. Ryan (Wood’s character) is a depressed, neurotic man preoccupied on the best way to commit suicide. The advertisements are appearing on FX television of Elijah Wood’s, aka Frodo Baggins, upcoming comedy series, “ Wilfred“ an American remake of the hit Australian TV sitcom by the same name and with the same…dog? Jason Gann (co-creator of the original series) reprises his Aussie role as Wilfred, a very cheeky canine, who plays the part in a very bad dog suit.
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