Wilfred

Wilfred is a new show on FX that's airing as a lead-in to their wonderful show Louie on Thursday nights.  I'd seen a clip of this show earlier and had no idea what to expect.  It appeared to be a show that could be either completely amazing or an achingly high concept miscarriage.

Elijah Wood plays a depressed man, Ryan, whose suicide attempt is interrupted by the cute girl next door, Jenna, who asks if he would watch her dog Wilfred while she's at work.  The catch is that Wilfred appears to be an Australian man in a dog costume that only Ryan can see.  Wilfred can talk, smokes pot, drinks beer, loves nachos, and has a knack for getting Ryan to break out of the rut his life has become.  They strike up a friendship where Wilfred becomes Ryan's Tyler Durden, getting him to let go and live a little. Like Tyler Durden, we're not sure if Wilfred is conjured in Ryan's head, or if he's something entirely different.

On my first viewing, I thought it was pretty damn good, but it took a second viewing with my wife for it to really open up.  I caught things that I didn't the first time, and the situations became more absurd when I consciously thought about the dog everyone else saw, and not the man that Ryan was having a conversation with.  So far I'm loving the show, and can't wait to see what else is in store.

Wilfred is based on an Australian show of the saw name that ran for two seasons on SBS One.  Jason Gann is one of the creators of the show, and reprises his role as Wilfred for the US version.  I've seen the first Australian episode, and it's refreshing that they took the show in a new direction without spoiling the original by being a mere facsimile.

I heartily recommend this show.  The US version can be found on FX at 10pm.

Or watch the Australian version here: