Wilfred on FX: Dark Humor for Dog People

Upon hearing the premise for Wilfred, I pictured a weird cross between Harvey, Alf and Lassie, and wondered if it could work.

But it seems the surrealist comedy about an anxiety-ridden Ryan (Elijah Wood), who sees his neighbor’s dog, Wilfred, as an Australian man in a dog suit (Jason Gann)—is breaking new, darkly funny ground.

Wilfred enters Ryan’s life just after a failed suicide attempt and begins spitting canine insight at him, according to Time: “Ryan agrees to watch Wilfred for a day, and within minutes, the man-dog has slumped on his couch, fired up a homemade bong and convinced Ryan not to take the job that he's been dreading to start… ‘You come when you're called. You don't rub your arse on the carpet. Aren't you tired of doing what everyone else wants you to do?’”

But Wilfred’s not all raunchy shrink. He’s a real dog to everyone but Ryan—protective of his dog-mom (Ryan’s crush), insanely loyal, and obsessed with the usual canine accoutrements like tennis balls and bras.

For the dog-lover, this show goes way beyond a neurotic lead to identify with.

We peer into life as a dog, WIlfred, something we’ve all wondered about on our way to those jobs we were dreading to start.