By Stacey Harrison
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Last week I wrote a review for the new TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced, in which I said that once you heard the show’s description, you had all the information necessary to decide whether you would like it. That couldn’t be further from the truth with FX’s Wilfred, which takes a high-concept comedy premise and goes several different directions with it — all of them interesting.
Elijah Wood plays Ryan, a guy who sees his hot next-door neighbor’s dog, Wilfred, not as a pooch but as a guy wearing a dog suit. Yet instead of being a broad, dog-poo filled comedy, Wilfred actually explores some heavy topics — suicide, cowardice, trust, happiness — while still bringing the funny. Played by Jason Gann, who starred in the Australian series on which this version is based, Wilfred is the angel and the devil on Ryan’s shoulders. He gets Ryan into all sorts of trouble, but also forces him to deal with aspects of his himself — mostly self-inflicted shortcomings — that are keeping him from living the life he wants.
Wood told me in an interview that a useful description of the show is that it’s Harvey meets Fight Club. Put another way, it’s about a man rediscovering his inner soul, but without having to start an anarchist group that blows up skyscrapers. Wilfred never comes out and says what exactly is going on with Ryan, whether he’s mentally ill, or if he’s just operating on a higher frequency than his fellow man, and that’s part of the fun. After the initial shock, he just accepts Wilfred as he sees him.
There’s also the undeniable comedy that comes with seeing Gann-as-Wilfred do horribly inappropriate things to women who come up to pet the cute doggie, all the while flashing Ryan an impish grin. As human as Ryan sees him, though, poor Wilfred also is unable to resist his canine tendencies, which leads to situations like Wilfred giving meaningful advice one moment and chasing a laser pointer the next.
Smartly paired with Louie, which also premieres tonight on FX, Wilfred is another sharp comedy that effectively uses absurd situations to get at real truths. Will Ryan ultimately become a better person following Wilfred’s advice? Hard to say. But it’s going to be fun, and educational, watching to find out.
Photo: Credit: Michael Becker/FX
