TV Review: Third Season of FX’s ‘Wilfred’ Starts with Promising Shift

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CHICAGO – Changing showrunners often proves the kiss of death for comedies. If you watched the Dan Harmon-less fourth season of “Community,” NBC owes you an apology. And so hearing that “Wilfred” was going to tweak its behind-the-scenes staff by moving David Zuckerman from showrunner to exec producer and sliding writer/producers Reed Agnew & Eli Jorne into lead roles, there was reason for concern. Don’t worry. The show is actually better — smarter, funnier, and better-paced. I had issues with the first two seasons of “Wilfred,” the second of which was just released on Blu-ray and DVD, but the start of the third season is easily the most promising to date.

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

Why does “Wilfred” feel different? Well, it’s just funnier. The writing seems less focused on “man in dog costume” jokes, the dialogue is crisper, and the laughs are bigger. The plotting seems more refined and less pot-fueled and even the performances by Elijah Wood and Jason Gann feel more energetic and alive.

At the end of season two of “Wilfred,” Ryan Newman (Elijah Wood), the suicidal guy who sees his neighbor’s dog Wilfred (Jason Gann) as a man in a dog costume, had his world rocked when he found an old crayon drawing of his childhood with Wilfred in the background. How is that possible? Has Ryan always seen Wilfred? Is Wilfred, as he suspects in the premiere, an immortal? Or is Ryan just crazy? The premiere centers on Ryan & Wilfred trying to figure out exactly what’s going on while the second episode features Zachary Knighton of “Happy Endings” as Wilfred’s nemesis, a mailman.

Wilfred
Photo credit: FX

Wilfred learning about death (all dogs think you die every time you leave and come back from the other side when you return), meeting his clone, impressing Ryan’s boss — there are some very funny subplots at the start of season three of “Wilfred” and this is a show that I would never call “very funny” in its first two seasons. It’s always been a mild diversion, somewhat off tonally and in terms of pacing, often allowing jokes to pound themselves into the ground with repetition. The first three eps of the new season are tight, well-paced, and, most of all, funny. I welcome the new “Wilfred” showrunners.

Wilfred: The Complete Season 2 Photo credit: Fox

The second season of “Wilfred” was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD with serviceable transfers and a few special features.

Synopsis:
Elijah Wood and Jason Gann return for another fearlessly funny season of Wilfred… the story of a dog and his man. Following the first season’s cliff-hanger finale, Season Two finds Ryan making a fresh start with a real job and a new girlfriend. But with Wilfred’s help, Ryan discovers he still has a lot to learn about life, including “squishy” viral videos and the ongoing cuteness war between dogs and babies. Get your paws on Season Two - with a shocking season-ending revelation that will change everything.

Special Features:
o Stay Exclusive Short
o Deleted Scenes
o Blooper Reel
o News At Noon With Jenna
o Wilfred/Ryan Mash-Up

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com