WILFRED

The most lovable character on U.S. television combining network and cable is a dog. Not just any dog, Wilfred is a real dog to everyone but Ryan who is in an emotional life crisis. Ryan sees Wilfred as a human man in a dog costume that has all the characteristics of a canine but is never at a shortage for verbal conversation.

When Ryan is in the throes of a suicide plan, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. He writes a suicide note, takes pills, lays down and waits for death. This all does not seem like a typical sitcom premise that is preparing the audience for laughs. When a neighbor antagonizes surrounding home owners by revving his motorcycle, this sets back Ryan's plan. The pills are slow to take effect so to help the process along, he begins to jump rope, revise his suicide note and scans the medicine cabinet for more drugs to ingest.

When banging on his front door pushes him back into reality, astonishment is his only emotion. When looking out the window, Ryan discovers it is morning. Jenna, a new neighbor who Ryan has waved to, is at the door hoping he would dog watch for the day because her dog is too mischievous when she is gone. He sees the dog, now known as Wilfred, standing upright at the end of the walkway. Jenna leaves wilfred along with his bag of doggie toys and heads out, leaving Ryan and the dog alone.

The audience learns all about Wilfred side-by-side with Ryan. Wilfred likes to treat himself with a bit of the cannabis and offers to share with his new favorite puppy sitter. Wilfred is a sly, risky, sometimes spiteful dog who enjoys the roller coaster ride he is able to put Ryan on through different scenarios that put him in the middle of one dilemma after another.
Wilfred is the smartest sitcom to premier so far at the start of the summer season. David Zuckerman has taken an already proven concept and drove it home for American audiences. Jason Gann, who played Wilfred in the Australian version, is reprising his role for FX along with Adam Zwar, who originally played Ryan. They have created an incredible work of comedy that will easily transfer to American cable television. Network television does not have the vision to take on such an amazing show because they prefer to repeat and repeat the repeat like beating a dead horse.

FX along with A&E, AMC, Lifetime, TBS, TNT, SCFY and USA Network are all vying for viewers beyond network programming. The creativity in conjunction with great writers who want to do more than rework what has already been done, often successfully. "Wilfred" is a great step forward for Fx that challenges the rest of the cable family to continue to create new and ingenious shows from comedy to drama.

While we are fans of the sitcoms recorded in front of a live studio audience, "Wilfred" would not pen well with a live audience because the humor is fast, which leaves little time to pause for the laughter. Congratulations, FX on another successfully intelligent smart, always demanding show that requires complete attention from the viewers.