Wilfred Digs His Way Into a Second Season
When a beyond-bizarre TV show about a man in a dog suit can captivate young adults as well as the 55-plus gang, there’s a doggone good chance it’s a hit. Such is “Wilfred,” the FX Network’s latest addition to its growing collection of funderground sitcoms. This 30-minute Thursday night reality-bites-fiction gem stars Wilfred, a bearded guy in a frumpy gray dog suit with his nose painted black, and his friend Ryan, a has-been wanna-be-again attorney.
Wilfred’s antics range from unbelievably crude to immeasurably smooth as he encounters everyday life with his best human friend. The fantasy component is that Ryan is the only person who can see Wilfred in his man-like form, while everyone else perceives him as a run-of-the-mill dog. Throughout each weekly episode, Wilfred both antagonizes and adores Ryan in ways that push the envelope of conventionalism past the edge of the Twilight Zone.
Wilfred smokes, drinks and displays guttoral animalistic tendencies when you least expect to see them, usually with stuffed animals. He manipulates Ryan into situations that can make viewers squirm while laughing out loud, but then displays a sensitive nature that can make the audience utter a collective mental “Awwww.”
Wilfred occasionally reverts to hard-core dog-like tendencies, which is displayed when he switches from deep conversation to chasing a laser light, destroying a vacuum cleaner, or being duped by a neighborhood kid who pretends to throw a ball while hiding it behind his back.
Originally airing in Australia, “Wilfred” was adapted for American television by David Zuckerman, of “Family Guy” fame. The show’s Australian co-creator, Jason Gann, portrays the dog’s character with just enough zing to pull it off brilliantly. Elijah Wood costars as Ryan Newman. The show debuted in June 2011 on FX, and was signed for a second dogsational season less than two months later.